Shawn Lane

Shawn Lane (March 21, 1963 – September 26, 2003) was an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He is best known for his solo albums Powers of Ten and Tri-Tone Fascination as well as his long stint with former John McLaughlin bassist and virtuoso in his own right Jonas Hellborg. Shawn Lane was born in Memphis, Tennessee. At the age of eight he accompanied his sisters on the piano, but did not play guitar seriously until he was ten. At fifteen, Shawn saw Allan Holdsworth at a UK concert and was inspired to develop his own method of playing guitar. Over the next eight years or so, he studied music and composing on his own and mainly worked on playing piano. Much of the material on Powers of Ten was conceived at his piano, as Shawn considered it his main writing instrument. He began to create demo tapes for "Powers of Ten" which got into the hands of Warner Brothers Music through his friend Reggie Jackson. The people at Warner Brothers liked what they heard and offered Shawn a record deal. Shawn wrote all the material on "Powers of Ten", except for a cover of "West Side Boogie" by Ray Gomez, and he played all the instruments. Shawn's first album did well for an underground cult guitarist and earned several awards in magazines. On September 26, 2003 Shawn died in a hospital in Memphis, TN. He is interred in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.