Kerri Woelke is shy. Really and truly. It’s an occupational challenge for the roots/alt.country styled singer/songwriter, but one she faces willingly because of her sense of “rightness” about what she is doing. “If sharing my songs can move one person, or help someone not feel so alone, that is a pretty amazing thing,” says Kerri. “Being able to do creative work that is helpful to people is my dream occupation.”

Kerri’s childhood preference for hanging out in her room drawing and singing along with her karaoke machine revealed an obvious musical passion and gifting, but it wasn’t until a high school theatre production that she faced her fears and stepped into the spotlight. When she did, the surprise she encountered was that people liked her singing and her songs.

Despite that first experience, Kerri tried a lot of other creative career outlets, collecting what she calls a “box of failed attempts” to bring together her passions and her vocations. In the end, “it all kept coming back to music”. Affirmation from her family and friends helped carry her through the trials of learning to play guitar despite having a roommate whose preference for silence forced her to practice in her tiny shared dorm-room bathroom, engaging the craft of writing her own material at a deeper level, and eventually, several years and bands later, facing the crowd as a solo performer.

When she won a performance competition in which the prize was a 3 song demo, which then led to a full-length album through the same label, it was time to engage more fully.
Her first record, (self-titled) received two Covenant award nominations, Folk/Roots Album of the Year and CD Design of the Year (designed by Cyndi Koshowski) as well as a WCMA (Western Canadian Music Award) nomination for Outstanding Christian Recording.

Kerri is presently an Artist in Development with Canadian indie label Signpost Music. She continues touring across Canada, and is currently working on her second album “Where we Were”, slated for release in time for a national tour in which she will be opening for award-winning artist Steve Bell, beginning in September 2008.
Her current project (both in life and in music) is to explore the question “Do you really love me, or there a catch?” That question, combined with her sense of calling to her creative vocation, is what helps her face her shyness and step out onto the stage. She says it’s getting easier every time.