Shawn Lane, 1963-2003
Published September 28, 2003
Guitarist Shawn Lane (no relation) passed away on Friday. He had been ill for some time. Damn.
UPDATE
Here's a bio from the Eclectic Earwig Reviews site:
- Shawn Lane
21 March 1963, Memphis TN - 26 Sept. 2003
Guitarist Shawn Lane, who progressed from a teenaged hard-rock star to a master of world fusion music, has died after a drastic battle with lung disease. He was forty years old.
Lane began his musical interests very young, studying piano and cello from the age of four. He took up the guitar at eight, and it remained his principal instrument from then on. He quickly became a legend in Memphis' music scene as the feisty young kid began his professional playing and recording career when he was 12. At 14 he was hired into Black Oak Arkansas towards the end of the boogie-rock band's peak of fame. The teen wonder shocked and amazed audiences at stadium shows across the nation. He also performed with the band at Governor Bill Clinton's inauguration.
Four years later Lane quit performing entirely to concentrate on his family and studies. He returned to playing at the age of 20, in the house band of the Peabody Hotel. His growing resume included recordings and gigs with DDT, Joe Walsh, Alex Chilton, Sam & Dave, dc Talk, and country supergroup The Highwaymen. The last association led to his Warner Brothers recording contract and the release of Powers of Ten in 1992, along with opportunities for instructional videos and workshops. That year Guitar Player Magazine named Lane their Best New Talent; he also made second place in Keyboard Player Magazine's ranking of keyboard artists.
In 1994 Lane began working with Jonas Hellborg, a phenomenal Swedish bass guitarist who had taken part in the second edition of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two became fast friends and enduring partners, most notably working in trio sessions with various percussionists: Kofi Baker, son of Cream drummer Ginger Baker; Jeff Sipe (Apt. Q-258) from Aquarium Rescue Unit; and the Indian percussion-playing brothers Vinayakram Selvaganesh (Good People in Times of Evil, 2000, Bardo) and Vinayakram Umashankar. Temporal Analogues of Paradise (1996, DEM), recorded with Sipe, was a Miles Davis-like pastiche of live concert segments assembled into two mind-boggling half-hour tracks of improvisation.
In 1999 Lane released his second album as a leader, The Tri-Tone
Fascination, on his own Eye Reckon label while keeping up a hectic schedule
with Hellborg. His health problems began in 2001, at which time Lane backed off
from performing and folded the label with several sessions unreleased. By the
end of the year he was gigging with the local group Time Bandits, and in 2002
he rejoined Hellborg and Sipe for a world tour. His last recording was Icon (2003, Bardo) with Hellborg and the Vinayakrams.
In early September 2003 Lane began suffering severe chest pain and underwent various medical tests while preparing for a new album with Hellborg and Ginger Baker. He was expected to remain on oxygen for the remainder of his life, but passed away within a few weeks.
- Shawn Lane, 1963-2003
- Published: September 28, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Writer: Dave Lane
- Dave Lane's BC Writer page
- Dave Lane's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Saw this one late. Wow, what a tragedy. I love his work with Hellborg and Sipe... Wow. Condolences to his family, loved ones, and appreciators.
I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Shawn Lane. His was a stellar talent the likes of which can never be replaced. It's heartbreaking to lose him so soon... Heartfelt good wishes to his family.
so many notes, so little time...
thnx, shawn...
i'll cry alone...
mallorn
There where reports that Shawn had died a few years back! I guess it's too much to hope for that these latest reports are wrong again.... I feel real bad for his sister who really did everthing posable to get Shawn known by a wider audience, the ironic thing is this may now happen........hope your a peace now Shawn, funny thing I was listening to the live version of all along the watchtower last night thinking sheesh how good is this!!
I have just heard of Shawn Lane's passing and was suprised and saddened. I have been a fan since I heard his work with Jonas Hellborg. He was an amazing talent. My condolences to his friends and family.
We loved him madly.
Shawn's version of All Along The Watchtower is outstanding. R.I.P
Shawn gave us another great lesson. No matter how great a man is, he is still human and cannot skip the ultimate step in this life. Let's learn the lesson and be prepared for that. Rest in Peace Shawn.
Great tunes. I will never forget your performance at the R.O.A.M. festival in North Carolina. Don't let this minor setback keep you from playing. I hope you've progressed to where you wanted to be. See you again sometime.
Shawn Lane was a phenomenal musician in every sense of the word, and dug the 70's bubblegum hits just as much as Mozart and other classical composers.
The one thing that kept him from being a guitar superstar is that he didn't want to do what the record companies wanted him to do. If he would have bowed to the wishes of the recording industry, his name and fame would have been very well known. Instead, Shawn Lane did what Shawn Lane wanted to do, and he did it sooooooooooooooooo gooooooood!!!!
If you haven't heard Shawn's playing, you are sincerely missing out on a true unsung legend of the fretboard.
We have truly lost one of the greatest pure musicians the world has ever seen.As a guitarist he was almost superhuman.He was so good we guitarists always kept him to ourselves and in the end that kept him from superstar status that he deserved but preserved him as a truly pure musician without regards to commercial success.He will be missed. Bill
I am deeply moved by this tragic news.
You have influenced so many to push past the norm. My condolances are with your friends, fans and family. God Bless
Michael Taris-Fan
Thank you for all the condolence and for your love of The Man and his Music His Gentle Soul is Free Please Help us To Keep His Music and Memory Alive!! Diane and The SHAWN LANE Family Please visit our website
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No way! That's really shocking, I didn't even know he was ill. Gotta dig out that three-disc Hellborg/Lane/Sipe show I traded for a long time ago for tomorrow, in memory. Damn, that's sad.