Shannon Lyon’s is bringing his music to Fernie. Lyon’s upcoming performance at Infinitea T-Bar and Boutique on Monday, July 22 is part of a 24-date tour spanning from Ontario to Vancouver Island.
“When I was a teenager, I saw Neil Diamond in concert. I remember thinking I can do that. So I went out and bought a guitar and found out quite quickly that I couldn’t,” said Lyon. That was Lyon’s start nearly two decades ago.
“When I hear Shannon [Lyon], I hear the rhythms of the Midnight Cowboy, the harmonies of an earth-bound angel, the acoustic guitar that knows the pain of a heart, the steel guitar that stirs the lonely and restless lovers. But most of all, I hear the voice that echoes Earle, Farrar and Buckner, a voice that haunts you like a heavy fog on a barren field on a cool October morning,” said Bob Egan, who has played for Wilco and Blue Rodeo.
“Playing is quite physical. We all love melody and music. (Music) is very archaic and tribal and I’ve never turned away from it. I’ve put a lot of time into my own music. Then I started working with other musicians recording their music. They say to learn something, you do it. To master something, you teach it,” said Lyon.
It’s Lyon’s first lengthy Canadian tour since the mid-1990s as he has spent the last decade touring in Europe. Lyon is a hard-working musician who has released 10 studio albums and also has his own studio, producing and mixing albums for other artists, particularly other singer-songwriters. Over the years, he has toured and shared the stage with artists like Ray LaMontagne, Lucinda Williams, Blue Rodeo and Bruce Cockburn.
Lyon was the first Canadian signed to Richard Branson’s post-Virgin Records label V2 in 2004 with the release of the critically-acclaimed album ‘Wandered’, which was produced and recorded in a 17th-century farmhouse in the south of Holland with acclaimed Dutch producer Bj Baartmans.
Lyon signed with Canadian roots label Busted Flat Records, and has since released five of Lyon’s albums, including his latest, ‘Broken Things’.
‘Broken Things’, which was recorded Holland and released last year, is stripped down and raw. Billboard magazine describes the album as “meticulously crafted songs that rely largely on his talent for words and melody...untainted and pure!”
Shannon has lived in various parts of Eastern Canada and he moved to Holland in 2000. Having spent almost a decade living and performing in Europe, he has an interesting perspective about being a working musician inside and outside Canada.
Come out to Infinitea to soak up Lyon’s melodies as he shares stories from his life as a troubadour and working musician while living in Canada and in Europe. To learn more about Lyon, visit www.shannonlyonmusic.com.