By Phillip Williams
A 16-year-old Gladewater girl, Ameri Shaye, is making a name for herself in the musical entertainment world as she has just won a major honor from the Josie Music Awards and has a performance tour scheduled in the United Kingdom next year.
Shaye, daughter of Amanda Garrett, won the JMA award in the “songwriter achievement” category Sept. 18 at the 7th annual JMA show, held at Country Tonight Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Garrett said the Josie group is the “largest independent award show in the world with a reported 38,000 music submissions from around the globe,” and that her daughter’s was among only 2.6 percent of submissions to become a nominee.
Shaye, who is home schooled and “spends all her free time working on her music and writing songs,” is signed to Dr. John’s Surgery Records in the UK. Having performed since age six, she released her debut EP (Extended Play album) last year and is now in studio working on a pop/rock EP for release next spring.
Her work can be found on all social media sites shown on Ameri Shaye Music, and her songs are on streaming platforms and radio across the globe.
She will perform locally from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Pacific Street Trader’s Mall and Village.