Shawn Lane ~ Biography Give Shawn Lane A Brass Note on Beale Street Shawn Lane, born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 21, 1963, became a much loved and celebrated, world-renowned musician before the time of his death, on September 26, 2003. Shawn started playing the piano by ear at age four and played the cello in grade school at age seven. He began playing the guitar at ten years old and was proclaimed by The Memphis Commercial Appeal, to be a child-prodigy at 11 years old. That same year, he won the Strings and Things Battle of the Bands at The Overton Park Shell. Winning two years in a row, first with his band Tyfoyd, and the following year with his second band, Savage. When he was fourteen, in 1977, he auditioned and was hired by Black Oak Arkansas. He toured the US Canada, Alaska and Mexico with BOA from age fifteen to eighteen, billed as The Eighth Wonder of the World. He also played at The Bill Clinton Gubernatorial Inauguration in 1983. After all this touring, he returned to Memphis to study, widen and refine his musical knowledge. Many people got recordings of his music and shows, then bootlegged and passed them around. Shawn became an under-ground cult hero of the guitar. In 1985, Mike Varney recorded him on Shrapnel Records. The album was entitled US Metal Vol IV, and his solo guitar work, was on Sratosphere II. In 1987, he played with The Willys throughout Memphis and on Beale Street. One night while playing at The Peabody Hotel, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, reportedly heard Shawn and fell off his chair. It is told, that once during a riff duel, he blew Ted Nugent off the stage. Throughout the years, Shawn worked with many artists including Larry Raspberry, Jimi Jamison, Eric Gales, Eric Johnson, Mark Lindsay, Robert Duvall, D.C.Talk, Al Kapone, Ringo Starr, Dweezil Zappa, Alex Chilton, Joe Walsh, Sam & Dave, and a very long list of others, too many to mention. He did years of studio session work in Nashville for Trey Bruce and many others, including Ardent Studio in Memphis. In 1989, he was asked to play on the Highwaymen II album, featuring Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. Shawn was introduced by his friend, Reggie Young to Jim Ed Norman and was signed by Warner Brothers in 1991. Released in 1992 was his first solo album Powers of Ten, in which he produced, composed and played all the instruments. He then toured the US and Canada with his own P.O.T. band, using that, for his later release of Powers of Ten Live. That same year, he received the Best New Talent Award from Guitar Player Magazine, and simultaneously, Best Keyboard Player Award in Keyboard Player Magazine. Starting his own record label Eye Reckon, in 1999, he released Tri-Tone Fascination which included several well-known Memphis musicians. Re-mastered and re-released in 2000. Meantime, Shawn was involved in teaching and developing curriculum for music conservatories in Europe, including GIT in California and in Nancy, France, He held many clinics and in 1994 recorded two (very popular) instructional videos Power Solos and Power Licks. His first tour of Europe in 1994, was with his friend and fellow musician, Joey Trafolla. On Shawns second trip overseas, he met and joined Swedish bassist, Jonas Hellborg. They recorded seven CDs and one DVD. Shawn toured Mainland China with pop singer Wei Wei. In 2002 Shawn, played in Argentina and in 2003, hailed as a true rock star, he toured India, with Souvik Dutta and other notable musicians. Shawn played venues all over Memphis, in DDT with Paul Taylor, and the Dickinsons. He recorded a CD Polaris, with North Mississippi Allstars. His last album was recorded in Holland with Richard Hallebeek and was released in 2004. Since Shawns untimely passing, his music continues to draw much attention, as seen by the Italian director, Daniele Luchetti, who used his music Infinity in the movie, La nostra vita, which played and won many awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. Shawn recorded on hundreds of albums for various artists and acquired numerous awards. Now in the works, by a famous film maker in the UK, is a Documentary on his life. There have been five Memorial Converts for Shawn. India (2004) In Memphis (2005) France (2006) Italy (2007) Ireland (2009) and The 10 Year Memorial (2013) in Memphis. Two tribute albums were made, Shawn Lane Remembered Volumes 1 and 2. Shawn was signed with Charvel and Ibanez Guitars, and is still currently signed with Vigier, and has his own Signature Series guitar. Shawn has been featured in every major music magazine, US and abroad, and in Guitar World Magazine, he was acclaimed the Worlds Fastest Guitarist, playing 18 notes per second accurately. The American Guitar Institute said he was an overflowing jug of music and knowledge, he was the greatest guitar player that ever lived, and advanced the instrument to the next level.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 17:32:11 +0000
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