Shawn Lane

Shawn Lane
Background information
Born	March 21, 1963(1963-03-21) Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Died	September 26, 2003(2003-09-26) (aged 40) Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Instrumental rock, jazz fusion, world fusion
Occupations	Musician, composer, producer
Instruments	Guitar, piano, keyboard
Years active	1977–2003
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Jonas Hellborg, Black Oak Arkansas, Jeff Sipe, The Willys
Website	shawnlane.com
Notable instruments
Vigier Excalibur

Shawn Lane (March 21, 1963 – September 26, 2003) was an American musician. In a career which spanned nearly thirty years, he released two studio albums and collaborated with a variety of musicians, most notably with bassist Jonas Hellborg. Although his first instrument was the piano, he is best known amongst guitarists for his exceptionally fast playing skills. Guitar World magazine wrote that "Few, if any, guitarists can play faster than Lane could, and his arpeggio sweeps and precision-picked lines blasted more rapid-fire notes than the average human mind could comprehend."

Biography

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Lane began playing piano with his sisters at the age of eight, but did not play guitar seriously until he was ten. He progressed very rapidly on the guitar and soon found it to be his natural instrument. At age thirteen he began to practice heavily, developing his technical abilities. Word began to spread around Memphis about a talented young guitar player, and at fourteen he auditioned for the lead guitar spot in Black Oak Arkansas. Black Oak Arkansas had been a popular Southern rock band, but at the time when Lane joined them, their popularity was declining. At age fifteen Lane saw Allan Holdsworth perform at a concert with progressive rock band UK, which heavily inspired him to develop his own style of playing guitar. Lane would tour with Black Oak Arkansas for the next four years but, as the original band members dropped out, he recruited players from his high school days and began to play a style closer to jazz fusion than the country rock style for which the band was known.

At eighteen Shawn Lane was married and burnt out from touring with Black Oak Arkansas, so he decided to take a break and learn more about music.^{[citation needed]} Over the next eight years he studied music, composing on his own and mainly continuing to play piano.^{[citation needed]} Much of the material on Lane's first studio album, Powers of Ten, was written on piano as he considered it his main writing instrument. He quickly developed his technique on the keyboard as well, taking influence from pianists such as Franz Liszt, Art Tatum and Georges Cziffra.

He began to create demo tapes which garnered interest from Warner Bros. Records, which resulted in a recording contract. Except for one cover song, Lane wrote all the material and played all the instruments on his debut album. The album sold well and earned several magazine awards. During the production of the album Lane continued to play live shows and did session work. He also performed on The Mark Varney Project's Centrifugal Funk album along with Brett Garsed and Frank Gambale and began recording and performing with drummer Sean Rickman.

Lane released two more solo albums following his debut. Powers of Ten Live!, recorded live in 1993, and The Tri-Tone Fascination.

When Lane met Jonas Hellborg a musical relationship was formed. They both enjoyed classical, rock, Pakistani, and Indian music. Lane and Hellborg played with drummer Jeff Sipe in a jam band commonly referred to as HLS (Hellborg, Lane, Sipe). Sipe was already well known in the jam band scene as the original drummer for Aquarium Rescue Unit, and helped HLS get exposure all over the world.^{[citation needed]} Later, Lane and Hellborg formed an East-West fusion band with Indian musicians V. Selvaganesh and Umamahesh. In February 2003, Lane and Hellborg toured India with drummer Andrea Marchesini. Lane's last concert performance was at Smilefest in North Carolina with Hellborg and Jim Britt.

For many years in the '80s and '90s Shawn played in a Memphis bar band called The Willys.

Equipment

During the Powers of Ten years, Lane used an Ibanez Saber and Ghostrider, as well as a sunburst yellow Charvel 750XL. For amplification, he used Holmes Mississippi Bluesmaster amps—often four at a time set at various levels of delay from one another. He used multiple amps because he liked to play in quadraphonic. In addition to the Holmes, Shawn used a Westbury (later Nady) overdrive pedal. Later in his career with Hellborg, he used and endorsed Vigier guitars; specifically the Excalibur, of which a Shawn Lane signature model was made available in 2005. Throughout this time, Lane used various amplifiers. Lane used several Line 6 DL4 delay pedals at the same time. In 2003, a video was shot of him playing a Martin Backpacker guitar in Shillong, India.

Death

Lane had psoriasis throughout his life and also suffered from psoriatic arthritis from the age of about thirteen. This did not impair his playing but caused difficulty walking, and required treatment with steroids which seriously affected his weight—so much so that he weighed over three hundred pounds in the years before his death. He also smoked constantly. His friend Vijay Raj Singh, a noted physician and a multi-instrumentalist Indian musician, had moved from Memphis but had remained close to him during his final years. On September 26, 2003, Lane died in a hospital in Memphis, shortly after being told that he would have to remain on medical oxygen the rest of his life. He is interred in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.

Discography

Solo albums

• 1992: "West Side Boogie" (promotional single)
• 1992: Powers of Ten
• 1999: The Tri-Tone Fascination
• 2001: Powers of Ten; Live!

With Jonas Hellborg

• 1995: Abstract Logic
• 1996: Temporal Analogues of Paradise
• 1997: Time Is the Enemy
• 1999: Zenhouse
• 2000: Good People in Times of Evil
• 2002: Personae
• 2003: Icon: A Transcontinental Gathering

Other appearances

• 1984: U.S. Metal Vol. IV - Unsung Guitar Heroes, Stratosphere II
• 1995: Two Doors, Michael Shrieve
• 1998: Fission, Jens Johansson
• 2004: Richard Hallebeek Project, Richard Hallebeek, Brett Garsed and Lalle Larsson

External links

• Official website
• Steppin Out, 2005 article in the Memphis Flyer
• Shawn Lane at Find a Grave
• Article in All About Jazz by Souvik Dutta
• Guitar Vigier Excalibur Shawn Lane Master
• Guitar Vigier Excalibur Shawn Lane