Shannon Curfman

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Shannon Curfman arrived on the blues and roots-rock landscape in 1999 via her first major-label release on Arista Records, the album Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions. Critics across the United States and Canada responded with enthusiastic notices to the carefully crafted and thoughtfully ordered record, which also received considerable airplay, extending even to commercial outlets. Multiple club circuits throughout the U.S. followed in support of the project, generating extensive media coverage tied to the fact that Curfman was fourteen years old. Now approaching the end of her teenage years, the Minneapolis-based musician, originally from Fargo, North Dakota, weighs the possibility of pausing her performing career to pursue higher education, given her strong academic record alongside her skills on guitar and as a writer. Her listening preferences span Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Prince, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Rory Block, Robert Johnson, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and Chaka Khan. Upon the album’s arrival she expressed the ambition to mirror Sheryl Crow’s model by writing, singing, handling multiple instruments, and producing her own recordings. Seven of the eleven tracks on Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions were co-written by the home-schooled artist, among them the opening cuts “True Friends” and “No Riders,” both deemed suitable for radio. Fellow Fargo native Jonny Lang, four years older, appeared on the sessions. Her father works as an engineer for the Burlington Northern Railroad while her mother manages both Curfman’s schooling and her development as an emerging performer. During the 1999 release cycle, amid touring and television spots, the fifteen-year-old stated, “This is what I want to do with my life. It's cool being young and knowing what you want in life. I still have time to go to college if I want. I love every part of this -- traveling, meeting people, and playing music of course. Just as long as I'm playing music, I'm happy.” Alongside Curfman, Lang, and other young artists of the period, the prevailing teen-pop template is being set aside in favor of blues, classic R&B, and blues-rock drawn from their parents’ era—an approach viewed as vital for the continued evolution of the blues. On Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions, Curfman guides the music into several fresh and varied directions.