John Sheehan

Guitarist John Sheehan carved out a reputation across the Northeastern folk circuit as a self-reliant maverick devoted to finger-style approaches drawn from an eclectic range that encompassed Julian Bream, Doc Watson, John Fahey, and Joe Pass.

In 2001 he launched work on fresh material for his third album, Notes From Suburbia, which featured the narrative piece “Self-made Man,” recounting the life of a modern-day Robinson Crusoe existing on society’s fringes. That same recording highlighted his range through the jazz-inflected instrumental “Cabin Fever,” shaped by the playing of Tal Farlow, Pass, and Charlie Byrd. His opening two releases, Instrumental Solo Guitar and Modern Man, traversed classical, jazz, folk, bluegrass, and rock idioms, all informed by a deep grasp of each tradition’s methods and lineage.

Born November 1, 1953, in Patterson, NJ, Sheehan spent his formative years in Wayne, NJ. At sixteen he took up the guitar, immersing himself in classical repertoire and developing a particular regard for Bach. He continued classical studies at William Patterson University yet left before completing his degree, choosing instead to perform independently in New Jersey and New York City bars, restaurants, and cafés. During those years Doc Watson, Norman Blake, and Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler entered his sphere of influence. Later phases of his work combined Renaissance and classical sensibilities with the vernacular language of roots-oriented Americana.

Acoustic guitar formed his initial focus, later joined in the 1970s by clawhammer banjo and lute. In 1991 he captured first place at the Candi-Creek Banjo Works Guitar Competition, receiving an autographed D-16 Martin guitar from C.F. Martin. Six years afterward he again took top honors in the banjo category at the Old Mill Village Music Competition held in New Milford, PA.

After extended stints with blues, folk, and rock ensembles, Sheehan shifted emphasis in the mid-1990s toward solo work. On his own Sheehan CDs imprint he issued Instrumental Solo Guitar in 1995, foregrounding his classical leanings, then followed in 1999 with Modern Man, which explored his folk, blues, bluegrass, and rock facets. Although instrumentals dominated his earlier output, he eventually integrated vocal pieces whose straightforward wit often carried deeper observations on human experience.