Guitar maestro Shannon Bourne has been deeply connected to Geelong and the Bellarine for a long time.
Having grown up in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, he has travelled the length and breadth of Australia and toured internationally, playing with music legends such as Chris Wilson, Russell Morris, John Butler, Duke Robillard, Tex Perkins and The Waifs.
In the past few years he has found a new home here, along with a chance to redefine himself musically.
“The first time I ever went to the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society jam the host band was Turning Blue, and that was (Geelong musicians) Brian Fraser, Ron Hilla and Dave the Bastard,” Bourne said.
“And they were fantastic. At the end of the night they said, ‘you should come down to Geelong and play at the De La Ville’.
“So I did. I didn’t even have my license, my folks drove me down, so I would have been 16 or 17.
“And then I’d come down and play at the Limelight Lounge with Chris Wilson, Pistol Pete’s, lots of festivals and things around here. So the Bellarine has been calling for years and years, and now I’m here.”
The new scene has given Bourne a sense of creative freedom. He has recently finished up a series of sessions at Isaac Barter’s studio with drummer Danny McKenna for a duo album he hopes to release next year.
“I feel like I’m going through some kind of rebirth; I don’t really know where I’m headed but it’s kind of exciting,” he said.
“I probably feel the best I’ve ever felt in my life, so I feel ready to take on whatever I need to do.”
Next weekend Bourne brings his own band to the Barwon Club, a rare event given how busy he is performing with the likes of Checkerboard Lounge, Don Walker and Sarah Carroll.
Joined by long-time collaborators Karl Willebrant (bass), Dean Matters (drums) and Tim Neal (Hammond organ), Bourne said punters could expect an “honest experience”.
“We all dig deep when we play the music, and we’ve been playing the music for a long time,” he said.
“It’s a pretty intense band, very dynamic. It’s a thing that happens when people have played together for that long, you just can’t fake it.”
The Shannon Bourne Band is at Barwon Club on Saturday 8 November.
