Prairie Sky Bio’s

Jeannette Sinclair - Guitar & Vocals

Jeannette’s early musical influence was from her late mother, Edna, the “life of the party” until her passing at 96 in 2022. Edna came from a musical family in northern Alberta playing guitar and singing with her older brothers, George & Jimmy Pierce on fiddle and banjo. Later her younger brothers, Vic & Donald took up guitar and mandolin. Vic taught himself pedal steel guitar & became a well known country artist in Canada touring with various musicians including local fiddler Alfie Myhres & others on the Wilf Carter Show in 1957. In his later years, Vic performed with his sons in the Pierce Brothers band in the Langley, BC area.

Singing and jamming around the kitchen table was a tradition in the Sinclair family that continues today. In the early 1990s, Jeannette was introduced to live bluegrass music at the Blueberry bluegrass festival and was drawn in by the tight harmonies, highly skilled acoustic musicians and late night jamming around the campfire.

Along with her new friend Sheila, who also had a love of bluegrass music, they began playing for fun with friends which lead to the formation of a couple local bluegrass bands, Sweetgrass and later Wildwood Flower.

Prairie Sky was also formed through a mutual appreciation of acoustic music and great friendships. Jeannette is grateful to play music with bandmates, her ‘sweetie’ Kenny Mak, Sheila Hallett, and Marty Srayko. She aspires to keep learning and working on improving her skills as a musician. In recent years she’s been enjoying song writing which can be challenging at times but also rewarding. Jeannette’s passion for playing music is like “food for the soul”. She believes that music helps to lift peoples’ spirits, especially live music, and can help to build bridges among diverse groups of people.

Sheila Hallett - Banjo & Vocals

Sheila Hallett took up the banjo in the mid-1990s with encouragement from her former work colleague, Jeannette Sinclair. A visit to the Blueberry Bluegrass and Country Music Festival with Jeannette and an introduction to the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society, presented her with a perfect opportunity to honor her love of music. The banjo just seemed the right instrument to learn. She settled into the bluegrass community, along with her children, and volunteered for several years for both the weekly bluegrass jamming circle and the annual Blueberry Bluegrass Festival.

She has played in various Edmonton bluegrass bands over the years with Jeannette. She says ‘fortune shined’ when she, along with Jeannette and partner Kenny Mak formed Prairie Sky. Sheila’s banjo playing has expanded with lead playing in a four-person bluegrass configuration. She is inspired by the band’s harmonies and the opportunity for every member to step up to the mic and sing lead. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Sheila works to come up with tasty back-up and breaks for the many varied songs that members bring to the band. She has dabbled in song writing and is proud of her bandmates for doing the same.

Maybe it’s the autograph of Earl Scruggs inside her banjo’s resonator that keeps her striving to improve as a player. A deep respect for bluegrass and great instrumentalists of any genre, Sheila pulls inspiration from a wide swath, including band members and the local music community.

Marty Srayko - Guitar, Mandolin, Resonator Guitar & Vocals

When Marty was 11, his brother brought home an electric bass. It was a complete surprise and a defining moment, especially after his brother allowed him free access to the new instrument. Using the Hal Leonard instruction booklet that came with it, Marty soon taught himself some simple tunes. His brother, who had an eclectic music collection, provided the material and the method for how to listen to music and analyze its components, Marty further developed his ear by teaching himself guitar and learning how to solo. He joined a local wedding band at the age of 15 and later performed with various rock bands in pubs and halls.

He became fascinated with Bluegrass and Folk music later in life upon hearing bands like The Tony Rice Unit and The Seldom Scene, and he developed his acoustic style while a member of a Calgary-based band, Deliverance. He started playing mandolin about 10 years ago, inspired by Adam Steffey, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, and John Reischman. Over the last few years, he has continued to explore different acoustic music genres, while writing and jamming at home with his daughter (they recently began performing as Magpie Mourning). He recently discovered the wonderful bluegrass community in Edmonton, which has exposed him to new tunes, new styles, and great people, including his band-mates in Prairie Sky.

Kenny Mak - Bass & Vocals

Kenny started banging on bongo drums with chopsticks at an early age to Hank Williams "Cawliga". That started an obsession in drums & percussion through high school, until he picked up the electric bass at 15 and never looked back.

He grew up with music in the house all the time. Family friends would come and play and sing in the living room, which was a major influence (even if he hated it at the time). He picked up Ricky Skaggs “Sweet Temptation” album, and as sure as the title, he was sucked into the bluegrass and acoustic realm, never to look back.

Kenny met his sweetheart Jeannette at Fiddler's Roost and even sang his first song with her (awww!). "I'm very blessed to have a partner that loves music like I do, and that we play in a band together." We love going to festivals and jams together.

In 2015, Kenny produced and played numerous instruments on the CD project "Three for the Show" for local Edmonton country artist Chuck Porter, and has played for various local artists.

Jeannette Sinclair & Michael Martin Murphy at the Blueberry Music Festival