Shannon is a folk/punk musician and storyteller from the northwoods of Minnesota. Tackling guitar playing, and songcraft like it’s a contact sport, her music is intensely political, and at the same time deeply personal.  A tool of resistance, a method of resiliency, a means of survival, a message to about the importance of being true to who you are, and telling your story, it is a testament to the importance and power of music both in movements for social justice and in our personal lives.

Shannon is heavily influenced both stylistically and conceptually by her upbringing in a working class, non-musical family in rural Minnesota.  Despite a late introduction to guitar and songwriting at the age of 20, and a myriad of assertions from music teachers growing up that she lacked aptitude, Shannon has developed a sound, style, and perspective that is uniquely her own, and if you ask her what artists have influenced her the most, you will likely get a list of musicians from the small town of Bemidji that she calls home.  

Shannon also fronts the Bemidji based post-punk band Cheerless, and has just finished her seventh independent, solo album “Collecting Anchors.”  She has also recently delved deeper into her work preserving working class history and music in her “People’s Music” series, which focuses on the music and history of the IWW labor union.  Her newest addition to this series came through a 2015-2016 Hinge Artist Residency with Springboard for the Arts, where she explored the connections between poverty, trauma and mental health in the personal histories of patients admitted for mental health treatment to the Fergus Falls State Hospital from 1890-1920.  Through informative and interactive workshops featuring photos, historical documents, stories, and song, Shannon is able to help preserve these vital parts of working class history in memorable and meaningful ways.