Livestream for March 8th: http://198.27.68.65:8112/stream
Shannon McMahon, a singer/songwriter from Stratford, CT, creates contemporary folk music with rich vocals and songs that resonate with a strong sense of the human experience. She started writing songs at age 10 and has been playing live shows since she was 15.
The above is Shannon’s official bio, but I’ve been attending Shannon’s performances in Second Life for more than 10 years now and have had the pleasure of getting to know some of the stories behind the songs. If you get the chance, ask about the beloved guitar that was stolen from the back of her car, the Vietnam vet who asked her to write about his experiences in the war, or her search for a long lost relative. It’s all been grist for Shannon’s creative mill and the results run the gamut from funny and sad to wistful and full of regret.
Shannon is also someone who can take a cover and makes it her own. Her version of Tori Amos’s “China” got me through several months of turmoil and I’ve requested “Desperado” so many times now that I’m sure she wants to run when she sees me coming (JK). But I think the reason I’m so fond of Shannon’s work is that she’s not afraid to probe beneath surface of her life for words and melodies that capture something essential about being human. It should come as no surprise then when Shannon says that, “Music has been my therapy, my constant, and I could never live without it.”
Shannon’s early musical inspirations were Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Gordon Lightfoot. “Those were the three big ones,” she says. “I really wanted to be them. I wanted to have been born earlier so I could have shared stages with them and be on the folk scene. Their songwriting and music gave me something to shoot for.”
These days, Shannon is performing mostly in virtual reality. “The pandemic has made it difficult to be out among people, so the ability to share music virtually has been such a benefit. I’m so glad to be sharing my music. I love the idea of music as a hug —something that makes people feel good.”
My official request for Shannon is that she sings the song she wrote about and for her mother. There really is no better way to celebrate the women who have shaped our lives than through song.
To learn more about Shannon, visit: https://www.shannonmcmahonmusic.com/
Shannon’s music is available on Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.
P.S. If you would like to make a donation to cover the costs of hosting the event and paying these amazing musicians, you can do so here: https://paypal.me/BraidedLives?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
Braided Lives is my project and Joanne is my given name :-)
If you are interested in being a sponsor of the event, with your name mentioned and logo displayed, please email me at JenaBall@CritterKin.com
Thank you!
Jenaia