These three young lions, with their innovative sounds and original songwriting, have captured the world, highlighting clubs and festivals everywhere. Shannon says “people don’t know what they like until they hear it. Once they hear it, look out!”
Mem Shannon & The Membership are from New Orleans and while their music is rooted in the blues, it’s soaked through with the Crescent City syncopated sound and oozes with funk. Shannon was born in New Orleans and began playing clarinet at age nine. By the time he was 15, he was playing guitar, inspired by his father’s blues record collection, but B.B. King was the artist who really turned him around.
“I started in high school on clarinet then picked up guitar and stayed with it,” he said. “As a matter of fact, Ivan Neville and I went to school together and graduated the same year.”
Shannon is a talented guitarist, singer and songwriter. He combines elements of funk, jazz and rock and roll into his guitar playing, and his soulful vocals are not your usual blues style. There are a lot of things about Mem Shannon that are exceptional, including the way he writes songs, the way he sings them, and the way he presents them. He’s a rock and roll kid who played in a variety of cover bands in high school in his native New Orleans, but always had a healthy appreciation for blues and gospel music. On his songwriting, Shannon said, “I have been doing original tunes from the very beginning. Blues is a storyteller. There are many different stories. I have been telling my story for a long time.”
In the early days, he began playing in wedding bands around his hometown. Shannon’s first band right after high school, the Ebony Brothers Hot Band, played dances, parties and neighborhood bars. A second group called Free Enterprize, found work doing covers. However, his father passed away unexpectedly in 1981, and as the oldest son in a close-knit family, he began driving a cab to help pay the bills.
He also played guitar in the Dedicators, a gospel group, but there was no money whatsoever in that. Shannon put his music aside for a while, but began playing again in 1990 after being encouraged to do so by an old friend. Shannon began working out lyrics and song ideas.
Regular gigs followed at a few clubs in the French Quarter. In 1991, he spotted an ad in a local newspaper advertising a talent contest. Shannon and the Membership won the contest, ensuring them a spot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, plus $1,000 and a television commercial.
His songs were inspired partly by his life and experiences driving a cab. His breakthrough recording from 1996 “Cab Driver’s Blues,” got national attention. Because of the interesting nature of the recording, which includes snippets of conversation with passengers from his cab interspersed with the music, Shannon’s story attracted the attention of producers at PBS-TV, CBS-TV’s “Sunday Morning,” and editors at The New York Times.
The additional buzz from that album led to further media coverage from folks like “ABC World News,” CNN and “E! Entertainment Television,” NPR and a much anticipated/celebrated performance at the South by Southwest Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas.
Shannon forged his reputation as an international touring musician easily.
“I never got established much in New Orleans, so I played on the road. I wanted to see the world instead of trying to get established in my hometown. It’s a catch-22 situation for me.”
His music isn’t stuck in a jump-shuffle mode. He takes a broader view, incorporating elements of funk, jazz, swamp rock and classic rock into the Membership’s blues-based sound.
Mem Shannon and The Membership tour have played most of the premier blues and roots festivals, while headlining clubs across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. They were part of an all-star tribute to Muddy Waters at The Kennedy Center for a televised special for PBS and NHK/Japan.
(For more information, visit the website at: http://www.myspace.com/memshannon)