Shannon Hurley
Encyclopedia
Shannon Hurley is an American singer and songwriter. She was born in South Bend, Indiana
and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California
. She was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 25 artists on Myspace
in 2006. Music from her 2007 debut album Ready To Wake Up was licensed by Muzak
and has been played in department stores and restaurants throughout the world. Shannon's music can be heard on Sirius XM Radio, Adam Carolla
's ACE Broadcasting Network, and the internet soap opera Venice: The Series
. She is a featured vocalist on "Sun Gone Down", a track by Protoculture released in July 2011 on Re*brand/Armada Music
. Shannon's second full length album California will be released independently July 2011.
and her mother and aunt sang in several local bands. Shannon learned piano at age 8. Her family moved to Colorado Springs
while she was a teenager. She took up trombone and enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder
, where she earned a degree in music composition. While a student at CU, she composed and published a sonata for piano and trombone. Shannon became the stage manager for Boulder's Fox Theatre, working with such artists as Bonnie Raitt
, Willie Nelson
and Julian Lennon
. Shannon studied songwriting under Patrick Leonard
, who wrote many hit songs for Madonna
, such as "Live To Tell
" and "Like A Prayer
". During this time, Shannon began playing in bands around Boulder, including a folk trio named Frieden and the jam band Jyemo, who toured the midwest and mountain region throughout the 90's and 00's.
in 2001. She joined Planet Earth, a tribute to Duran Duran
. It was in this band that she met bass player and future husband/collaborator Ben Eisen. Shannon began writing songs, and they toured the grueling open mic circuit of Los Angeles. In 2003, Shannon recorded her self-titled EP and she toured the west coast in support. In 2004, Shannon co-founded Don't Call Us Tori, a showcase for Los Angeles' best female singer songwriters, which included Kyler England of The Rescues
, Kat Parsons, and Marina V
. Shannon also performed as a touring keyboardist for former Disney Channel
star Brie Larson
, seen on the Showtime series United States Of Tara and the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
.
Shannon recorded her second EP, Sunrise in 2006. She began to gain a sizeable following online, utilizing social networking websites and garnering praise from Rolling Stone Magazine, who listed her as one of their Top 25 Bands On Myspace
, along with notable artists like The Airborne Toxic Event
. Rolling Stone called Shannon's Music "Something you could see playing in a college dorm room of the girl you're making a move on." Shannon's full length debut Ready To Wake Up was released in November 2007. The album featured tracks produced by Guy Erez and Michael Woodrum, and was applauded by many in the blogosphere like the site Lyrical Venus and numerous online radio stations like KGRL and Sirius XM Radio The music licensing company Muzak
picked up on the album and began playing tracks from it in their thousands of stores, malls and restaurants throughout the world. While continually writing, Shannon performed live and toured with Russian-born singer songwriter Marina V
and was featured on her albums Live at Soundmoves, Modern Fairytale and My Star. In 2008, Shannon decided to submit tracks from Ready To Wake Up to the music sampling and remixing site CCmixter, inviting fans to cut up pieces of her songs and remix them. She received hundreds of entries, the best of which were released as the album Second Light: The Ready To Wake Up Remixes, which was released in December 2008.
In February 2009, Shannon and Ben moved to Nashville, Tennessee
. While she worked on songs for her follow-up album, Shannon was directed to an ad on Craigslist
posted by local producer Bryan Talbot, who was looking for a pop songwriter with songs to add electronic and ambient beats to. Inspired by the overwhelming response to her remix contest, Shannon decided to pursue the new project. Titled Lovers and Poets, the band featured Bryan and Shannon's production efforts, Ben Eisen's bass lines and Shannon's pop songs. Shannon and Bryan eventually parted ways over creative differences, but the project continued, this time as Shannon and Ben. In August 2010, Lovers and Poets released their self-titled debut album, to much critical praise from blog sites like We All Want Someone To Shout For and Keeping An Ear Out,. In October 2010, several tracks from the album were featured on the ACE Broadcasting Network podcast The Film Vault.
Shannon spent 3 months as a lounge performer at the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City
, Vietnam
from December 2009 to March 2010. She performed at the Park Lounge six nights a week to packed audiences. While in Vietnam, Shannon watched the devastation of the earthquake that ravaged Haiti
in January 2010, and decided to team up with her musician friends all over the world. Together they created Songs For Haiti, a compilation of songs of hope. All proceeds went to OXFAM America
, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending poverty and aiding in disaster relief. Songs For Haiti featured many well known artists, such as Peter Murphy
, Leigh Nash and Jenni Alpert
.
In April 2010 Shannon and Ben moved back to Los Angeles
and once work on the Lovers and Poets album was complete, Shannon began focusing on her follow-up, which will be titled "California" and is scheduled for independent release in July 2011. An early single from this album called "Beg Steal Borrow" was used in the web soap opera Venice: The Series
in November 2010.
In the fall of 2010 Shannon was approached by songwriter and producer Aruna to sing on a trance track she had penned with Sir Adrian and Raz Nitzan. Nitzan had Shannon in mind to sing it after he discovered her album with Lovers & Poets on the music site Amie Street
. The song debuted at Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance
festival 500 in Johannesburg
, South Africa
in a set by Protoculture on March 18, 2011. "Sun Gone Down" premiered on A State of Trance Radio (#511) as track of the week on June 2, 2011. On July 4, 2011 Re*brand/Armada Music
will be releasing Protoculture Feat. Shannon Hurley- "Sun Gone Down" with an extra mix by Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Chriss Ortega.
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. She was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 25 artists on Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
in 2006. Music from her 2007 debut album Ready To Wake Up was licensed by Muzak
Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
and has been played in department stores and restaurants throughout the world. Shannon's music can be heard on Sirius XM Radio, Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
's ACE Broadcasting Network, and the internet soap opera Venice: The Series
Venice: The Series
Venice: The Series is a web series co-produced by and starring American actress Crystal Chappell, and is inspired in part by the Otalia storyline on the daytime drama Guiding Light....
. She is a featured vocalist on "Sun Gone Down", a track by Protoculture released in July 2011 on Re*brand/Armada Music
Armada Music
Armada Music is a Dutch record label that specializes in releasing electronic dance music, primarily trance and house, co-founded by Armin van Buuren....
. Shannon's second full length album California will be released independently July 2011.
Early life
Shannon began studying music and singing at an early age. Her grandmother was a performer in vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and her mother and aunt sang in several local bands. Shannon learned piano at age 8. Her family moved to Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
while she was a teenager. She took up trombone and enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, where she earned a degree in music composition. While a student at CU, she composed and published a sonata for piano and trombone. Shannon became the stage manager for Boulder's Fox Theatre, working with such artists as Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
. Shannon studied songwriting under Patrick Leonard
Patrick Leonard
Patrick Raymond Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings....
, who wrote many hit songs for Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, such as "Live To Tell
Live to Tell
"Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range...
" and "Like A Prayer
Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the...
". During this time, Shannon began playing in bands around Boulder, including a folk trio named Frieden and the jam band Jyemo, who toured the midwest and mountain region throughout the 90's and 00's.
Music career
After graduating from college, Shannon moved to Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 2001. She joined Planet Earth, a tribute to Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
. It was in this band that she met bass player and future husband/collaborator Ben Eisen. Shannon began writing songs, and they toured the grueling open mic circuit of Los Angeles. In 2003, Shannon recorded her self-titled EP and she toured the west coast in support. In 2004, Shannon co-founded Don't Call Us Tori, a showcase for Los Angeles' best female singer songwriters, which included Kyler England of The Rescues
The Rescues
The band released their first record - a four song, self titled EP - in March 2010. In June of that year they've released the LP "Let Loose The Horses", which has garnered notability and acclaim among various online blogs and music review websites, and has been featured on Best Buy's "Find Them...
, Kat Parsons, and Marina V
Marina Verenikina
Marina Verenikina is a Russian-American singer/musician. She was born in the city of Moscow in the Russian SFSR to a nuclear physicist father and a child psychologist mother. She now lives in Los Angeles and tours internationally....
. Shannon also performed as a touring keyboardist for former Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
star Brie Larson
Brie Larson
Brie Larson is an American actress and pop rock singer/songwriter. She is best known for her roles in United States of Tara, Sleepover, Remember The Daze and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
, seen on the Showtime series United States Of Tara and the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a 2010 comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The film is about Scott Pilgrim , a young Canadian musician, meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers , an American delivery girl...
.
Shannon recorded her second EP, Sunrise in 2006. She began to gain a sizeable following online, utilizing social networking websites and garnering praise from Rolling Stone Magazine, who listed her as one of their Top 25 Bands On Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, along with notable artists like The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event is an American indie rock band from Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. It consists of Mikel Jollett , Steven Chen , Noah Harmon , Daren Taylor and Anna Bulbrook...
. Rolling Stone called Shannon's Music "Something you could see playing in a college dorm room of the girl you're making a move on." Shannon's full length debut Ready To Wake Up was released in November 2007. The album featured tracks produced by Guy Erez and Michael Woodrum, and was applauded by many in the blogosphere like the site Lyrical Venus and numerous online radio stations like KGRL and Sirius XM Radio The music licensing company Muzak
Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
picked up on the album and began playing tracks from it in their thousands of stores, malls and restaurants throughout the world. While continually writing, Shannon performed live and toured with Russian-born singer songwriter Marina V
Marina Verenikina
Marina Verenikina is a Russian-American singer/musician. She was born in the city of Moscow in the Russian SFSR to a nuclear physicist father and a child psychologist mother. She now lives in Los Angeles and tours internationally....
and was featured on her albums Live at Soundmoves, Modern Fairytale and My Star. In 2008, Shannon decided to submit tracks from Ready To Wake Up to the music sampling and remixing site CCmixter, inviting fans to cut up pieces of her songs and remix them. She received hundreds of entries, the best of which were released as the album Second Light: The Ready To Wake Up Remixes, which was released in December 2008.
In February 2009, Shannon and Ben moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. While she worked on songs for her follow-up album, Shannon was directed to an ad on Craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
posted by local producer Bryan Talbot, who was looking for a pop songwriter with songs to add electronic and ambient beats to. Inspired by the overwhelming response to her remix contest, Shannon decided to pursue the new project. Titled Lovers and Poets, the band featured Bryan and Shannon's production efforts, Ben Eisen's bass lines and Shannon's pop songs. Shannon and Bryan eventually parted ways over creative differences, but the project continued, this time as Shannon and Ben. In August 2010, Lovers and Poets released their self-titled debut album, to much critical praise from blog sites like We All Want Someone To Shout For and Keeping An Ear Out,. In October 2010, several tracks from the album were featured on the ACE Broadcasting Network podcast The Film Vault.
Shannon spent 3 months as a lounge performer at the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
from December 2009 to March 2010. She performed at the Park Lounge six nights a week to packed audiences. While in Vietnam, Shannon watched the devastation of the earthquake that ravaged Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
in January 2010, and decided to team up with her musician friends all over the world. Together they created Songs For Haiti, a compilation of songs of hope. All proceeds went to OXFAM America
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending poverty and aiding in disaster relief. Songs For Haiti featured many well known artists, such as Peter Murphy
Peter Murphy (musician)
Peter John Murphy is an English rock vocalist. He was the vocalist of the rock group Bauhaus, and later went on to release a number of solo albums, such as Deep and Love Hysteria...
, Leigh Nash and Jenni Alpert
Jenni Alpert
Jenni Alpert , is an American pop songstress. Originally from Los Angeles, Jenni Alpert's powerful sultry voice and honest rich songwriting and soothing musical melodies grab listeners in every corner...
.
In April 2010 Shannon and Ben moved back to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and once work on the Lovers and Poets album was complete, Shannon began focusing on her follow-up, which will be titled "California" and is scheduled for independent release in July 2011. An early single from this album called "Beg Steal Borrow" was used in the web soap opera Venice: The Series
Venice: The Series
Venice: The Series is a web series co-produced by and starring American actress Crystal Chappell, and is inspired in part by the Otalia storyline on the daytime drama Guiding Light....
in November 2010.
In the fall of 2010 Shannon was approached by songwriter and producer Aruna to sing on a trance track she had penned with Sir Adrian and Raz Nitzan. Nitzan had Shannon in mind to sing it after he discovered her album with Lovers & Poets on the music site Amie Street
Amie Street
Amie Street was an indie online music store and social network service created in 2006 by Brown University seniors Elliott Breece, Elias Roman, and Joshua Boltuch, in Providence, Rhode Island...
. The song debuted at Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance
A State of Trance
A State Of Trance is the title of a weekly radio show hosted by prominent trance producer DJ Armin van Buuren. First airing in March 2001 on ID&T Radio , the show takes the format of a two hour mix in which he plays new trance music, both promotional and commercially released...
festival 500 in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in a set by Protoculture on March 18, 2011. "Sun Gone Down" premiered on A State of Trance Radio (#511) as track of the week on June 2, 2011. On July 4, 2011 Re*brand/Armada Music
Armada Music
Armada Music is a Dutch record label that specializes in releasing electronic dance music, primarily trance and house, co-founded by Armin van Buuren....
will be releasing Protoculture Feat. Shannon Hurley- "Sun Gone Down" with an extra mix by Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Chriss Ortega.
Albums
- Shannon Hurley (EP) (2003)
- Sunrise (EP) (2006)
- Ready To Wake Up (2007)
- Second Light: The Ready To Wake Up Remixes (2008)
- Lovers and Poets (2010) (released under Lovers and Poets)
- California (2011)