Get ‘Hooked’ on Shawn Hook as BC Singer’s Career Takes Off

BC Musician Shawn Hook is seeing his star on the rise, with his major record label debut dropping this April. 

 

Get familiar with Shawn Hook, You’ll Be Seeing A Lot of Him Soon

 
I’ve been touting the star potential of Shawn Hook for several years now.
 
When I first heard the extremely-talented Nelson, BC born singer/songwriter, it was his haunting paean to the Armed Forces; an eminently moving musical portrait entitled ‘Soldier’.
 
The occasion was Remembrance Day, 2007 and the song clearly struck a chord, resonating soundly with both those who risk their lives for their country and the loved ones they leave behind.
 
The multi-faceted performer tells me his personal homage to the brave men and women serving around the world has since literally taken on a life of its own.
 
“Apparently quite a few schools across Canada have adopted it as their Remembrance Day song,” Hook tells me.
 
“It really means a lot to me when I hear how people relate to it. 
I still receive messages from families and friends and loved one of soldiers who have heard the song and are compelled to write me about how it relates to them. It’s an affirmation for me to continue to write and tells stories that I’m inspired by.”
 
Though Hook’s development as an emerging artist has been steady and continual of late, it wasn’t until he completed high school in 2002 that he even started pursuing music as a career choice.
 
“Like any boy in his driveway pretending to be Wayne Gretzky scoring a Game 7 game-winning goal or Michael Jordan hitting a shot the buzzer, I used to do the same with musicians,” he recalls.
 
“I always put myself onstage at Madison Square Garden singing to thousands of people; I was Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddie Mercury and Chris Martin. In reality, I was only singing to myself and my cat, but it always felt bigger. 
 
“Of course my parents weren’t as eager as I was and they insisted that I do some post secondary school before I dove into the music industry head first. Little did they know that my time as a college student studying geological engineering not only confirmed my passion for a career in music, it was the launching pad.”
 

Shawn Hook Makes Major Record Label Debut

 
To say that Hook is destined for stardom is an understatement.
He started singing early on and soon became proficient on guitar, piano, bass and trombone.
 
Once he got the attention of the music industry, the accolades and opportunities have come fast and frequent.
 
Producers such as multi Grammy Award-winner Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jenkins (Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears) and Don Was (Elton John, The Rolling Stones) have been clamoring to work with the 27-year-old singer and his major label record debut with EMI Music is slated for release on April 10, while his single ‘Every Red Light’
 
Hook is currently rocketing up the iTunes chart and garnering radio airplay all across the country.
 
“Part of my career growth was planned through writing and recording sessions with accomplished writers and producers; the rest was completely organic,” says Hook.
 
“Growth in any capacity comes from experience and the experiences I’ve had living in LA for the past four years has played a huge part in my development,” says Hook.
 
“When I started recording this record with producer Jon Levine, we were very clear on the direction we wanted to go. The sound we achieved has more identity and character than anything I’ve come up with in the past. I’ve always had a vision for a larger sound behind the songs I created but I wasn’t always able to achieve that on my own. This time, Jon helped me with that vision and I’m really excited about the sonic consistency of the record from start to finish.”
 
Hook’s talents are not to be trifled with and his potential star power seems limitless. 
 
As I first mentioned in this very ‘Joe Biz’ column in January 2008, “keep your ears on this guy”.