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John Shadowinds

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It all began in 1980. I was 13 years old. I was going to be a rock star whether my parents liked it or not... Being the Grandson of Robert Bruce Horton, Guitarist of "The Sun Shine Boys" and 5th cousin to folk singer Johnny Horton, I was ready. I had worked all summer long mowing yards to raise money to purchase an electric guitar at a pawn shop in town. At the pawn shop was an unusually shaped guitar, with which I was not familiar. B. C. Rich was the name on the headstock. I had purchased my first B. C. Rich Mockingbird. I took the guitar home and, trembling with excitement, plugged it in to the small amp I had purchased a couple of weeks before ------ I couldn’t play anything! I sounded awful! But this did not stop me. I knew music would be my life and my livelihood.  

I worked every day after school for two years learning to play and was invited to join Metal Candy, a band some guys at school had formed. We played top forty metal tunes from groups like Judas Priest, Kiss, and Iron Maiden. Proudly, we were the entertainment at both my junior and senior proms. When school was out, we broke up. I played with a few more bands as the months rolled on, until I decided that playing music was truly going to be my career.

In 1986, I formed my first band, Angelstorm. We went into the studio and recorded our first album and hit the road. We played any venue that would have us. Soon after, we were discovered by a manager/producer, Scott Moore. He got us a small record deal. Things were looking pretty good at this point. I was living on cloud nine. Well, needless to say, there was more to the music business than I thought. After falling face first a couple of times, I decided to learn the music business inside and out before I went any further. I hounded anyone in the industry I came into contact with for information about how the industry worked. I was a real pain in the butt to some.

After several years of working in the studios and with various producers, I was ready to take my career into my own hands. After long hours and hard work, I have mastered many styles of playing, from heavy metal to pop, and from blues to classical. With five albums, four record labels, a number one radio hit and a nomination for best Hard Rock Instrumental under my belt, I have learned the industry. Now, I have my own record label, an endorsement with B. C. Rich guitars, and have auditioned and played, or worked with bands whose posters I had hanging on my bedroom wall as a kid. Today, as a producer, songwriter, and guitarist my career has become more than I could have imagined. Now I want to write and recording music for the TV & Film Industry. I also teach Sound Design, and Audio Engineering at Grambling State University. I’ve come a long way since the summer of ‘80 and will carry on as far into the future as God allows.