Tommy Shannon  

The life and times of a consummate bass player

(extremely skilled and accomplished)

Tommy is an American bass guitar guitar player best known as a member of the blues-rock group Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble.  Like many bass players, Tommy began on the guitar in a local band during high school and later moving to bass. They emulated guitar legends of the time like the Ventures and Duane Eddy.

Moving to Dallas after high school he joined a soul cover band called New Breed. The New Breed drummer was Uncle John Turner, the brilliant drummer with whom Tommy would team up for his next three bands. It was here Tommy first meet rock and blues legend Johnny Winter. Johnny sat in with the band, and Tommy was blown away, Uncle John had known Winter since his childhood, and he left New Breed to join Winter in Houston. As soon as they needed a new bass, Tommy moved to Houston. It was with Johnny Winter that Tommy developed his love and understanding fro the blues.

Uncle John being the thinker in the band, naming them The Progressive Blues Experiment in 1968. After just a brief time with Winter, and after playing at Woodstock in 1969, Tommy and Uncle John Turner left the band. In the early '70s, Tommy met and briefly played in a band called Blackbird with a 14-year-old kid named Stevie Ray Vaughan. This was short lived and because of some unfortunate incidents in Tommy’s life it would be a number of years before Tommy and Steve Ray would play together again.

Tommy hadn't seen Steve Ray for years until one night in 1980, when the guitarist was playing Rockefellers in Houston with Double Trouble. Tommy sat in with Stevie a few times in Houston. Shortly there after he got a phone call to join Double Trouble. For the next decade, until the unfortunate helicopter crash in 1990 that took Stevie Ray’s life, they share successful career together. As you can imagine, Tommy was devastated. As Tommy put it, “I lost the best friend I ever had in my life, lost him and the career”.

Tommy Shannon and his wife, Kumi, live on their Austin ranch were the raise horses. Tommy still performs, does sessions work and give private bass lessons. Check out Tommy’s website for more information. http://www.tommyshannon.com/ You can listern to some of Tommy's latest music on his myspace page.

Tommy’s 2010 Performance Schedule

Heres Tommy's Schedule. He hasn't updated it since the gig on the third. I will keep watch add to it as he update his schedule. You can also follow his schedule at http://www.tommyshannon.com/