Shannon Tower
Is a singer, songwriter and guitarist with her own
unique style of music that crosses between alternative and folk. With her unique
vocal style and writing abilities, her songs are both haunting and energetic.
Her message is as much politically relevant as it is personal. Shannon Tower was
raised in Eugene Oregon, where at the young age of nine she performed her first
solo at a school concert. When she saw the tears in the eyes of many audience
members during her performance, she knew at that moment the stage was her home.
Ever since she was a little girl she used a journal to write down her deepest
thoughts and feelings. As she approached her high school years she realized her
power to communicate intimate thoughts and ideas was through her ability to
write. She left home at eighteen and moved to New York to explore and find her
voice and after two years moved to Portland Oregon. Self taught guitarist since
the age of 23, Shannon started to combine her talent for lyrical poetry with
songs composed on her guitar. Using a unique rhythmic pulse of the music, her
unorthodox playing technique appears both fluid and percussive. Shannon writes
about many different lifes situations, these include the Iraq war in her song
POWER PLAY. Homelessness, poverty and the real consequences that are
incurred in her song THINK ABOUT IT. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS is a song
that stems from personal experience with a mothers abusive behavior and neglect.
Music has always been apart of Shannon's life. Such artists as Bob
Dylan,Joni Mitchell,Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Natalie Merchant and Ani
Difranco have influenced her. Shannon Tower has been playing music in the
Portland area for years with a variety of different musicians. In 2004 she met
lead guitarist Grant Warrens, who later introduced her to electric violinist
Jeff Sullivan. The three of them played as a trio for a greater part of a year
then started playing with a variety of drummers and bass players.
Grant Warrens
Has played in bands in California, where he grew up, as
well as in Texas, Japan, and now with Shannon Tower Band in Portland. Primarily
a lead guitarist, he also writes music, and regularly co-writes with Shannon and
the other band members.
Jeff Sullivan
Was born in the San Fernando City Hospital and grew up
in Los Angeles. He studied music and violin until the age of twenty. He began to
improvise and played with local musicians forming a band in 1985. He briefly
died in 1987, and returned to life as a struggling but dedicated musician. He's
worked with many artists in the studio and on stage. Bands include Sex and
Violins, Baghdad Nadsat (Eye of Newt), Brand New World, Leoardo's Bag, Ron Kat
& the Soul Disciples, Jon T Howard Band and Melissa Flannigan. His
influences are Hendrix, Floyd, Pretty Things, Zappa, Bowie, Beatles, Crimson and
all the great electric violinists: Pappa Creach, Suzana Harris, David Cross,
Jerry Goodman, Jean Luc Ponty, David something and Stephanne Grappelli.
Paul Seer
Was born at 2 a.m. in a chevy pickup traveling about 65 mph. His first year was spent in a trailer park by the railroad tracks. His mother was an German immigrant, and his father was from Texas. Some people hear voices: Since a young child, Paul has always heard music. He grew up listening to The Stones, The Beatles, and Beethoven. He plays bass, keyboard, and guitar, and performed for years in an afro-cuban hand percussion ensemble. Composing and recording music continues to be an avocation which brings him great joy. His hero's are Apollo, Mary Magdalene, and working class people everywhere.
Joe Day
Joe's earliest musical influence was his uncle Danny, whose 8-track collection of classic rock chestnuts Joe inherited at age seven, at the dawn of the cassette age. One of Joe's few regrets is that he didn't grow up to be Gene Simmons. But he did pick up the guitar around age thirteen and the bass at sixteen, all the while polishing his singing skills as a choir geek in middle and high school. Shortly after college, where he earned a degree in jazz studies and arranging, his flirtation with the drums developed into a full blown addiction, and drums have been his primary instrument ever since. As much as he loves exploring new sounds on the kit or just plain old going off, nothing makes him happier than shaping a song from behind the drums.