John Shain

Originally from Massachusetts, Jon Shain ended up adopting Durham, NC as his home, after attending Duke University and, more importantly, finding a musical home; a place where he would add the blues to his rock and soul background and come up with his own unique style.

Jon remembers his earliest intentional exposure to music by way of his dad, a member of the first rock & roll generation: “When we were listening to the radio in the car, we were always listening to…’the golden oldies,’ the music of the ‘50s and the early ‘60s…He would be quizzing me: ‘Who’s this?’ [I’d say] ‘Is it Roy Orbison?’ ‘Yup, that’s right.’” Jon cites the strong melodies of this music, as well as Motown, as key for his development.

After picking up the guitar in his younger days, Jon ended up in a college rock band that had a bluesy edge. Their style attracted the attention of blues DJ, Slewfoot, and through him they ended up as the backing band for Piedmont blues legend, Big Boy Henry, providing Jon with a kind of “apprenticeship” in the blues. “At the same time,” Jon says, “I was really exploring the fingerstyle acoustic thing.” This would set the stage for his further adventures in blues-centered music-making.

Jon went straight from finishing his history degree into full-time music. His band worked hard, touring and recording on their own, but never broke through in a major way. After later hooking up with Dave Mattacks (drummer for Fairport Convention and many other major acts) as a producer for two albums, he and his partner on bass, FJ Ventre, “really paid attention to what they were doing…and we kind of learned how to make records…”

The duo parlayed that knowledge into a broader music career that pays the bills in a more predictable way. “We branched out to be producers for other people.” Jon adds, “I was already teaching guitar, so it was a pretty natural move to start helping people record too.”
After nine solo albums and two duo efforts, Jon has again teamed up with FJ to create their newest album, Restless Soul Syndrome, due for release in April 2024. On it listeners will enjoy a unique mixture of improvised piedmont blues, bluegrass, swing and ragtime sounds.

To find out more, visit www.johnshain.com. Listen to the interview here.