Shawn Foster

I grew up in Panama City, Florida, the son of a preacher man, where music was ingrained in me early on as my father was a musician. I started out on piano when I was in elementary school but hated it because I didn't want to play piano, I wanted to play drums, however, my father insisted that I had to take lessons on a musical instrument. If I wanted to play drums, I could. I just had to play drums and piano.

Soon my friends and I started a Beach Boys cover band together, playing in local churches when we were 10. It was a great time and most of all, it planted a seed. A few years later I was at a concert in town and was studying the crowds response to the music when I noticed that while the drummer was getting tons of attention, the girls absolutely melted when the guitarist stepped up for a solo. When I saw this, whether it was a good reason or not, I immediately decided that I had to learn how to play the guitar. It was at this point that the years of piano lessons paid off.

After I started playing the guitar, my parents became missionaries so we moved to South America. After getting accostumed to the culture there, the first thing I did was seek out other like-minded musicians and form a band. Well, I did. During my time in South America I started a handful of bands playing talent shows, dances and even got the chance to play in the US Ambassadors house.

Being in a foreign country and outside of my element (which soon became my element) I started practicing more than ever and was awarded a college scholarship for guitar performance. However, a semester in to my scholarship, I realized that the course of study that I was in was only going to serve me if I were to become a music teacher and the last thing I wanted to be was a teacher. I wanted to be a rock star and I chose a music major because I wanted to learn the internal workings of music theory. I wanted to know what made music tick.

After meeting new musicians there in Springfield, Missouri, I soon landed an audition with an up and coming artist that was being signed to Gotee records, though she swears she doesn't remember me. Ha!!! It was during this time, I learned my first and most important lesson about the music industry. Until it's in ink, it's just talk.

Over the next couple of years, I played with several bands while finishing my college degree and my plan was to move to Nashville upon graduation and try to make a place for myself among the millions of musicians there. I had put a down payment on an apartment and had lined up a studio musician job through a connection of mine. I was ready to go! Until I was called by the lead singer of the Chicago based band "Nifty Fifty" called and said that they needed a new guitarist. They weren't signed at the time but they had built a solid local following and were playing with bands such as P.O.D, Five Iron Frenzy, The Insiderz, Buck, etc. I figured it was only a matter of time before they would be signed so I chose to move to Chicago instead and try my luck. This could have been the worst mistake I have ever made or best decision, I'm not sure. On one hand I had the studio gig lined up but on the other hand, I felt that my chance to perfom live would be dwindling sooner than my ability to track guitar parts.

Within a year or so I received a phone call for an audition from the members of Buck who were signed to Tattoo records at the time and were touring the U.S. full time. I passed the audition process and before I knew it, I was on tour opening for some of the biggest names in the industry. During this time I made some great connections and after a year I decided that I was tired of playing music that another guitarist had written. I wanted to write for myself. I wanted to be a songwriter.

I returned to Chicago, I started my own band Orfyn, which was suppoosed to be my chance to write but soon it became a collaboritive process which only makes the music that much better when the musicians you surround yourself with are at the top of their game. We were nominated in the top 10 of the areas "Next Big Things" and were getting air time on the radio. We played an accoustic set on ESPN Radio 1000's Carmen & Silvi show and it wasn't until after the performance that the hosts advised me that i was the first person to ever sing on ESPN Radio 1000. Since then, there have been numerous. Though it was a good run, things fell apart and the band eventually broke up.

A couple of years later, the same members of Orfyn had gotten together and formed a new band called Without A Breath. While focusing on my own art again, I received the tap. Without A Breath needed a bass player and so I jumped back in to play music with my friends while still focusing on composing my own brand of music! Now I can finally I can share those songs with you. If you leave with one thing, it would be that as a songwriter, my only goal in life is to not only write songs that speak to me on a per