Shayne was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up in Omemee, Ontario on the banks of the Pigeon River. The village of 700 was also home to Canadian music legend Neil Young but that is a story for another timeHowever, there is, indeed, a town in north OntarioHe played in his first bands while attending high school in the heart of the Ottawa Valley,
playing the pubs and the dance halls of Northern Ontario. Finishing high school, he left Canada and moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico where, after playing in several established bands, he formed his own group, The Growth. The band practiced in the dungeon of 16th century El Morro Castle, played the bars and military clubs of the city and produced several local radio hits, written and sung by Shayne.The University of Georgia was the next stop and, while completing a degree in Film and Literature, he co-founded Frank, the favored band of Athens' pre-R.E.M. art crowd. They eventually signed with Phil Walden, manager of Otis Redding and founder of Capricorn Records, but broke up before releasing any original material.A New York period was spent hanging and painting the Verrazano Bridge after which Shayne moved to Hawaii where he studied Biochemistry and slack key guitar.
A short stint in medical school was followed by a trip to the Jeu de Paum Museum
in Paris which proved to be a life changing experience after which he reentered the art scene in earnest. In Atlanta he reunited with old Athens friend and Grammy nominated designer, Flournoy Holmes and his firm Wonder Graphics and began doing photography and design for recording packages.Finally the west coast beckoned and Shayne spent several years in Hollywood.
He worked on album packages for everyone from Rod Stewart to Quincy Jones, art directed MTV specials for Weird Al Yankovic, and generally did what was required.Musically, he played on the soundtracks of several motion pictures and in a number of almost there bands in venues as varied as the biker bars of the San Fernando Valley to the Roxy Theatre on Sunset on a bill with Kris Kristofferson, Cher, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne.He established a recording studio, producing his own material as well as that of others including one of the first examples of the Compton Sound for an artist known as The Arabian Prince, a founding member of N.W.A. It became a KDAY staple and has become somewhat of a electro/hip hop classic.An opportunity to explore the East was offered and Shayne accepted, landing in Hong Kong. Here he performed on television, having a hit with his Deep Heart on BMG, did production work for EMI and music for Cathay Pacific Airlines.Returning to Hollywood, he scored a film and worked on the soundtrack of several more with old friend Steve Dorff. He recently put together a band for MTV star Alex Murrell and appeared with her on MTV. Steve and Shayne recently wrote for and produced the new album for former Righteous Brother and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member, Bill Medley, "Damn Near Righteous." It includes contributions by Phil Everly and Beach Boy Brian Wilson and was released to rave reviews.
Reviews:
Deep Heart
Shayne Fair knows how to render a mood, folks. "Deep Heart" has a great, soulful golden moon hovering in its crisply dusted late summer night's sky... an oddly warm breeze energizes supple salted air on a crisp Pacific night. Production a la Michael Been, Mark Knopfler, Daniel Lanois... This track encourages embers to glow... mp3.com
The Temple & The Clay
A great laid-back groove, along the lines of Chris Isaak sharing a midnight cab ride with Mark Sandman, and commiserating over lost love. Good vocals, and great production values, the moodiness comes through plainly, and the guitar solo towards the end is well done. An excellent song....mp3.com
California Goodbye
Unusually Soulful, Shayne..Bill Medley
Here's a video I made for "Trespassing" in my yard....
(found objects!)
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