What Instruments Did Shawn Lane Play? · The Shawn Lane Guitar Method

What Instruments Did Shawn Lane Play?

Well he started out on Cello actually at a young age. Then Piano and Guitar and after the left Black Oak he had already developed his Guitar Chops which he was inspired by a show he went to at 14 when he went and saw this band not knowing who they were called UK. Seeing Allen Holdsworth for the first time and hearing him blew his mind, so the thing about Shawn is he would hear things or see things growing up and like the piano thing. Shawn always thought classical music was something that belonged in a museum or something until Billy Batte joined Black Oak Arkansas and he was a very very skilled Classical pianist and violinist and Shawn had never first hand witnessed someone actually play stuff like Liszt or Rachmaninov or Jascha Heifetz and when he actually observed this he was memorizing full scores on his guitar and was always playing with Billys keyboards and stuff.

Sids lifelong dear friend David Ragsdale is another one where his mom just like Sids mom where both Music Professors and David has a classical background but ended up going to join the band Kansas and there is videos of him and Sid and the last clinic I played with them too. So anyway when Shawn would actually observe a human in real life pull off what he perceived as something is not really there he would study and learn like a sponge. He was nowhere near the technical guitar player at 13 and 14 but he could play some amazing Hendrix stuff and emulate anyone at 10. By the time he was 15 he learned firsthand the sounds of Allan Holdsworth so Shawn goes down that Rabbit hole and these techniques of Shawns he will tell you and us of course that it takes three years to truly develop to where it becomes instinct. So Shawn learned everything about the technical side of the guitar by the time he was 17 and got serious about piano learning like a sponge from Billy.

Now when he was 10 he was in I believe Typhoid, maybe Savage and they would practice in Mammaws house and the drummer would leave his drums there and Shawn watched him a few times then some other drummers and when they would leave Shawn would play his drums. He figured out Shawn was playing them so he started taking his stick home, well Shawn lived right by Yarbrough's Picking post on Summer and White Station and bought his own sticks. He loved playing drums. When he recorded powers of ten originally he actually would record the drums in real time on hi keyboard and played his keyboard like they were drums. Then Sean Rickman came down and the second release of Powers of Ten Sean Rikman played incredible drums over. Sean is also a very skilled guitarist, he plays Holdsworth stuff and was infatuated with Allen Holdsworth. So he met Allan at one point and Allan heard him play and Sean said he wanted to be Allans drummer and Allan thought he was joking and basically blew him off so the Rick found Shawn Lane.

When Shawn left Black Oak he paid his bills with the Willy's and they played a lot and were an incredible band. At home he never touched the Guitar, he always loved to play the piano and this continued until he died. He barely ever played the guitar. He would play and in his later years it had gotten really painful and we had to put him on size 8 strings and you could see the pain in his face. Shawn was amazing with his compositions and during the Poplar Lounge days which would be 99 and 2000 maybe? The months leading up to Argentina he would play Tony Suttons Godin with a built in Guitar Synth and also had his synth, plus Tommy Priokas was playing keys in that band and Barry Bays on Bass and Chip Laverne on drums.

Shawn would tell me that when you are playing a synth triggered instrument on guitar or synth or when you are playing a different instrument period it is important to take on the role of that instrument and play it like that instrument wants to be played. As a long time teacher and I know those of you who teach and Sid especially when a guitar player tries to play drums, bass, piano, whatever they sound like a guitar player trying to play that Instrument. Shawn would always say "Be the bassist, be the drummer, be the violinist" Get in that mindframe!

Randal Morton, Shawns close friend and Former World Champion Banjo Player handed Shawn his banjo one time and Shawn gripped it and played a couple notes then just let it rip.

5 comments