Shawn is an aspiring singer-songwriter, avid Browncoat, and active duty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard. He was born in Grand Prairie, TX (a suburb of Dallas) in 1967 and has been playing music for most of his life. He currently lives in Pleasant Hill, CA.
Shawn moved around a lot as a kid before finally staying in the same house in Montgomery, TX from the 5th grade until dropping out of high school after 11th grade. He joined the brand new band program in the 5th grade and started playing drums.
While in high school, he played drums and sang lead vocals in "Aftermath", a three piece rock band, but they only played in a couple of clubs and parties. Along the way, he started playing around on the guitar and piano and learned enough to write songs. The usual method was to write a song and then turn it over to a better guitarist to actually play the thing.
Shawn dropped out of high school school at 17, got his GED, and then tried college for a year but found himself on academic suspension after two semesters. The job market being what it was for 18 year old high school dropouts, Shawn decided to join the Navy and in April, 1985 went off to boot camp in San Diego, CA.
Shawn spent 5 1/2 years in the Navy and was honorably discharged in 1990. After a few months, he joined the Coast Guard where he is still an active duty officer.
Throughout his Navy and Coast Guard career, he continued to write songs and work on the guitar. In 2010, with the support and encouragement of family and friends, he released his first studio CD, "no audible dialog".
Shawn writes all of his stuff, dislikes copyright and collection societies, and so releases all of his material under creative commons. If you're a musician and are so inclined, feel free to cover, copy, sample, etc. The only thing he asks for is proper attribution.
Shawn hangs out fairly regularly with the San Francisco Browncoats, is on the board of directors of the California Browncoats, and can be found volunteering at the Browncoat booth at both Comic Con and Wonder Con.