John Shannon

I believe in the awakening power of song," says lyricist, vocalist and guitarist John Shannon. “To me, mysticism in music is recognizing the mystery of the life journey that we are on, combining it with the awareness of the mystery of sound, and exploring song from there.”

John Shannon began his journey with the guitar at the age of six picking up his father’s old Gibson 12-string acoustic. Finding music to be a worthwhile endeavor and a place to visit often, John decided to follow the guitar and its teachings closely throughout childhood, high school, and into college where he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.

AS A STUDENT

Before heading to music college, John connected with two important teachers: saxophonist Eric Kloss and pipe organist Mike Ross. These two teachers taught John to connect with sound and to play music as freely as possible both in technicality and in concept. Once at Berklee, John studied with guitar greats Mick Goodrick, Rick Peckham, and Wayne Krantz. John also took the time to study with other instrumentalists there such as trombonist Hal Crook and trumpeter Tiger Okoshi. It was during his time at Berklee that John assembled the instrumental band Waking Vision Trio which has gone on to make 3 records, gain an underground following, and tour throughout Europe and the U.S.

AS A SIDEMAN

After graduating college with a Bachelor’s in Performance, John moved to New York City to begin a career of freelancing and spearheading. It was there that John began playing with Sonya Kitchell which led to recording on her acclaimed record Words Came Back to Me as well as much touring throughout the United States. With Sonya, John performed on Late Night with David Letterman, the Craig Ferguson Show and got to play with Ben Harper on Etown, a live concert radio show in Boulder, Colorado. Shortly after leaving Sonya’s band, John began subbing for legendary guitarist David “Fuze” Fiuczynski in jazz-fusion star Hiromi’s SonicBloom which toured throughout Europe and Japan. Around the same time John could be found playing regularly with alt-jazz singer Pyeng Threadgill, touring around the states and Europe.  John also joined psychedelic-sufi-trance-rock band Haale and spent a year on the road in the U.S and France with her. Some highlights included David Byrne’s One Note Series at Carnegie Hall, the Bonaroo Music Festival, and Preservation Hall with members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans.

AS A SONGWRITER

In 2008, John released his own record on the ObliqSound label - the collection of ethereal songwriter material entitled American Mystic. For the next two years John continued playing and developing his music on tours in the states and Europe eventually being asked to perform at the Wanderlust Music and Yoga Festival in California and at the MIDEM Festival in Cannes, France.

John continues to live and play in New York City with such artists as James Maddock, Oli Rockberger, Cariad Harmon and Tony Grey. John continues to spearhead his own groups San Jacinto and John Shannon & Wings of Sound. His second record on ObliqSound, John Shannon & Wings of Sound: Songs of the Desert River, is set for release in Spring 2011.

AS A TEACHER

John has been teaching since the age of 15 and has a knack for getting students to learn the basics of the instrument while keeping their curiosity about music alive. John believes in taking from the masters what works for you and developing your own unique approach from there.

John believes in teaching how to play the guitar from the ground up and also offers a unique approach to students in the idea of balancing right brain and left brain functions through guitar practice. The development of skills such as:

TECHNIQUE
how to play in an articulate manner (left brain) while serving your own self expression (right brain)

RHYTHM
how to enter into a flow while playing music (right brain) and understand what rhythms you are playing (left brain)

EAR TRAINING
how to train your ears to identify harmonies (left brain) and also to locate what resonates with you to begin to build your own relationship to harmony and note choice. (right brain)

READING MUSIC
how to read music heiroglyphics (left brain) with feeling (right brain)

SOUND CONSCIOUSNESS
how to train your awareness to hear and adjust the sound you are making, not just the notes you are playing. (both hemispheres)

SONGWRITING
how to express yourself through song writing, or how to find the kind of song you’d like to write. (both hemispheres)

FREE PLAYING
learn the skill of playing free of form. (no brain! lol) Advanced.

CONCEPT PLAYING
writing concepts to improvise on rather than traditional notation charts. Advanced.

The main point is to have fun learning how to play the guitar; everything else is take it or leave it."

Get Started with BML to set up a lesson with John.