Shawn Gonzales

For nearly 20 years, Shawn Gonzales has been perfecting his art as a blues/world guitarist. Playing with legends such as The Wailers and John Lee Hooker, Shawn’s talent has carried him to stages all over the world, and has influenced a catalog of hundreds of original songs. After a European tour, and three new projects completed in 2007, Shawn is back to spread his worldly blues/rock sounds around the Bay Area, Texas and Ohio.Shawn has played all over Northern California, including: *Yoshis (Oakland) *Biscuts and Blues (San Francisco) *Boom Boom Room (SanFrancisco) *BB Kings (Hollywood) *Red Devil Lounge (San Francisco) *Maritime Hall (San Francisco) *Elys Mile High (Oakland) *The Blues Room (Oakland) *Heritage Festival (Sacramento) *JJs Blues Club (San Jose) *Waves (San Jose) *Fillmore Street Festival (San Francisco) *Freight and Salvage (Berkley ) *Haight Street Fair (San Francisco) *Mt. Shasta Acoustic Rock Festival (opening for Roy Rogers) Shawn has played in various venues and Festivals in Europe, most notably, The Kløften Festival and The Samso Festival.Originally from Northwest Ohio, Shawn began playing at age fourteen and in 1992 he found himself a winner in a guitar contest against his mentors. That same year he met Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels (CSNY) and they played gigs throughout Ohio over the next four years, developing the styles of Delta Blues, and Reggae. In May of 1995, Mr. Samuels introduced the 21 year old Gonzales to The Wailers at one of their performances in Detroit. Jr. Marvin invited Shawn to play the classic Bob Marley hit "Exodus" in front of a full crowd at the Majestic Theatre. Soon after, Shawn moved out west to pursue his music. Within the first eight months, he was introduced to 6 Time Grammy award winning Blues artist John Lee Hooker. He recorded an album with Mr. Hooker’s brother Archie and later was blessed to play one of the final recordings that John Lee made before passing. The song, titled “I Can’t Hold On,” was recorded in Mr. Hookers home in Redwood City, California on November 20, 1999 with Shawn on the acoustic slide guitar and John Lee Hooker doing vocals and playing electric guitar.Touring Europe in 2004, Shawn played in England, Denmark and Sweden, joining with Nils Poulin and the No Shoes Blues Band. He reunited with Calvin Fuzzy Samuel to play The Kloften Festival, The Samso Festival, Live Danish TV2, and touring the local bar circuit. The band recorded “Bar Drinking Boys” over the course of 3 days in a Danish studio, and was covered by local press resulting in a 2 page layout on the event. Returning stateside, Shawn produced, hosted and performed at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, CA He put on the “Berkeley Theater Jam,” bringing together 10 independent artists, backed by Shawn’s reggae band, “Dreaded Truth.” With a packed 250 seat theater, it was the perfect backdrop for the filmed event.Shawn has since produced several albums including “To The Floor, “Dubwave” “Dirty Pocket” “Down the Path” and “Never Give Up.” These albums showcase the unique breath of his talents with influences stemming from Delta and world blues, and Caribbean and reggae sounds. Shawn travels back to Europe annually, and is now making his rounds stateside. I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace) Evil Ways
Cat Fish Blues/Voodoo Chile
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