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Shannon Bryant has had strong musical influences while growing up in her native London, Ont. Most notably, her grandmother’s cousin, Francis Henry, was one of the original members of the Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians band.
Her own musical journey kick-started in Dublin Ireland during a "find yourself" backpacking trip she took after finishing her degree in philosophy. She cashed in her return ticket home to Canada and started working and singing in a restaurant-piano bar in Dublin. The experience cemented her decision to pursue a career in music and when she returned home six months later she joined her first band, the eleven piece R&B group, "Midnight Soul Revue".
Shannon later explored the world of jazz and fell in love with the beautiful melodies and rhythms of Brazilian and Latin music. She merged these new musical styles with her pop background and ended up forming the “Shannon Bryant Quartet”. Bryant performed at festivals such as the Sunfest World Music Festival in London Ontario, the Sarnia Jazz and Blues Festival and the Harrison Park Balloon Festival. She also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra in the popular Jeans and Classics show.
Just before Shannon’s move to San Francisco in 2000 she received a Canadian FACTOR grant to record her pop single, Two Souls. This was her signal to focus more on her original material. Bryant took a leap of faith and moved to San Francisco convinced that it was the right creative environment to continue expanding her music career - it was.
In March of 2004 Shannon headed to the San Francisco chapter of the Recording Academy with her demo in her hand and became a member. As fate would have it, that very day she was selected to perform on stage with Carlos Santana in a tribute to Mickey Hart for the 2004 Recording Academy Governor's Awards. Bryant has also worked as a vocal coach with Global Alliance on the LWAK Kenyan and American gospel artists CD/DVD and was the representative for Canada at the Yerba Buena Gardens 2003 International Music Festival.
Shannon’s recent work includes her self-produced CD, Oceano. Oceano is an original album that blends Pop, Brazilian, Eastern, and jazz rhythms with Bryant’s intimate vocals. Oceano has aired on CBC Radio across Canada and was one of Mark Rheaume’s top picks for 2007 on CBC’s, “Fresh Air”. Shannon is currently in creative mode and working on her next album.
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