About
Shanik Hughes
Singer-songwriter, actress and founder of Aurora Sessions.
Shanik Hughes is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and actress based in Austin, Texas. Her career spans more than three decades across television, film, theater and music in Mexico, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
She began performing at age three in national commercials, trained at Televisa’s Centro de Educación Artística (CEA), TVI Studios in Los Angeles, Broadway Dance Center in New York and Actors Workshop in Miami, and went on to roles in Rosario (Univision), Corazón Valiente (Telemundo/NBC), Libre Para Amarte (Televisa) and Todos Queremos a Alguien (Pantelion Films).
In 2020, Shanik stepped into music as an independent artist. She started by recording cover songs, then explored different genres until she found her own sound. “For me, music has been more than just music,” she says. “It’s been a spiritual journey.”
In Austin, Shanik performs original music in English and Spanish with her 6-piece band. She is a SXSW Official Artist, has played The Continental Club and Antone’s, to name a few, and is a two-time awardee of the City of Austin’s Live Music Fund, which has powered live performances, new music and videos, and an international press tour. Her EP Princesa Rebelde took her to her Mexico City debut and was covered by press across Mexico, Argentina and the US.
In 2026 she founded Aurora Sessions, a full-day gathering of live music, movement and art that everyone co-creates. Her bilingual podcast, Shine Your Light, blends guided meditations with stories from her own life.
She is a proud mother, and her daughter is her biggest inspiration. It keeps her thinking about legacy: the community we build today, and what we leave for the generations to come.