Shawn Lane (1963-2003) born in Memphis, Tennessee; began learning guitar at the age of 10. By then he had spent quite some time learning piano, but decided that guitar would be his natural instrument. He along with bassist Jonas Hellborg have worked on many album between 1995 and 2003. This guitar virtuoso suffered from psoriasis and arthritis through out his life, which made walking very difficult. In 2003 he passed away in a hospital in Memphis.
Shawn Lane is best know for his solo album Powers Of Ten released in 1992. Most of the music was composed on Piano initially as he considered it his main writing instrument. Like most virtuoso guitarists Shawn Lane's compositions are very vivid. Unlike regular virtuoso instrumentalists he had 2 instruments with which he was proficient. The Piano compositions on Powers Of Ten are very impressive. He preferred keeping the music quite soft, using distortion in a very pleasant manner. The composition very often have jazz and progressive elements in them. Songs like Not Again, West Side Boogie and Paris cover a wide range of musical styles. To me, he is an artist who closely resembles Eric Johnson. On the whole a must try for people interested in instrumental music.
Shawn Lane auditioned for the lead guitarist spot in the band Black Oak Arkansas at the age of 14. Youtube has a video of him shredding at the age of 16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXADYMCreLg Shawn Lane matured from that point on and went on to be a virtuoso.
The Tri-Tone Fascination is another of his solo albums that is quite interesting. Unlike Power Of Ten this album is slightly less palatable, although the album lives upto ones expectations.
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