Shauna Sweeney

In a town like Ft. Lauderdale where seasoned musicians have been holding down gigs since she was in grade school, Shauna Sweeney says she still feels like an amateur. But in the last three years, this bubbly, charismatic songstress has played 600+ shows across South Forida and the east coast, flooring crowds and critics with her disarmingly candid lyrics and powerful, earthy vocals. On a sunflower-dressed guitar, Sweeney offers up solid, percussive rhythms and she keeps fun, groovy beats on her African djembe drum. The name “djembe”, she tells me, comes from a Bamanakan/West African term for “everyone gather together”. This phrase could also be used to describe Shauna’s talent for drawing an audience. Local recognition has provided her opportunities to perform at venues such as Miami’s legendary Tobacco Road, the Cruzan Ampitheater’s VIP room for the Dave Matthews Band concert in West Palm Beach, the South Florida Folk & Acoustic Music Festival, the Miami Dade County Democratic Party’s Independence Day event and the VIP room for 2008 home games at the U of Miami Hurricanes Football games.
Raised in Suburbia-ville, West Hartford, CT until the age of 14, Shauna credits her family and a highly arts-oriented education for encouraging her musical prowess. With the help of a school recording program, she recorded and published three songs by age 9, one of which became the theme song for a CT Public Television documentary. Her enthusiasm for singing began even before that; “I remember riding in the car with my mother late one night when I was about 5 or 6. She was teaching me a simple tune that she’d learned as a child, and I started singing a harmony part. As I listened to the different notes, ringing together and complementing each other, I can vividly recall having the sensation of a magical door being opened up.”
After relocating to Ft. Lauderdale at 14, Shauna jumped head first through that magical door. She began singing with acoustic rock band Never Enough, filling local venues to capacity. With six years of top drawer choral experience—including singing with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra—and an “uncanny knack”, as one band-mate would claim, for harmonies, this outgoing singer soon was offered opportunities to perform with other musicians around town, including folk-indie favorites such as Eric Schwartz, Ellen Bukstel, and Latin Grammy Winner Paul Hoyle, who calls Shauna "...one of the most personable and charismatic musicians I have ever encountered!"
At 17, Sweeney was granted a scholarship to Emerson College and moved to downtown Boston. After soaking in some of Beantown’s abundant musical varieties and performing at venues such as the legendary Club Passim, the songwriter’s insatiable curiosity inspired her to see more. Over the next four years she logged 100,000 miles behind the wheel of her rav 4, living for brief stints in Orlando and Chicago, and playing shows up and down the east coast, including a ten-city tour produced with then-partner Ryan Haire. She credits this time with giving her additional perspective and creative fodder. Missing the ocean waves and jonesing for some studio time, Sweeney returned to South Florida and can be found performing her tunes at some favorite local venues (see schedule below). Her highly anticipated first original EP, Cliff Jumping, produced by Summer Blanket frontman Keith Michaud at Elegbaland Studios in Lake Worth, FL, is slated for release in October 2008.
Shauna seems to understand that she's in an unpredictable, crazy industry that can be rough on idealistic folks like herself. But this budding entrepreneur welcomes challenges. “Of course, as with any profession, there are down sides to this business,” she says with an easy, honest smile. “But every single time I’m ‘at work’ at a gig or in the studio, I have fun. I meet cool, interesting people constantly. And I get to make music every day. What could be better than that?”
SHAUNA SWEENEY
Acoustic Originals & Covers
RUM SHACK w/ JASON MONTERO
Every Wednesday 9pm to 1 am
Ladies Night!! (Lake Ave & L St)
606 Lake Ave, Lake Worth ph.561.588.2929
BIZAARE CAFÉ
Every Friday 8- 11pm
921 Lake Ave, Lake Worth (Lake Ave & H St)
ph.561.588.4488

OLD KEY LIME HOUSE w/ JASON MONTERO
Every Sunday 3-7pm,
300 E. Ocean Ave, Lantana (Just east of Dixie Hwy)
561.582.1889 for info
HOSTING OPEN MIC NIGHT @ KINGSHEAD PUB
EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT, Sign Up @ 8pm
2692 N University Dr 13, Sunrise.
NE corner of Univ. & NW 25th Ct.,
Between Sunrise & Oakland Park Blvd
954.572.5933 for info
For music & additional details:
[email protected]
www.myspace.com/shaunasweeney
http://www.shaunasweeney.com