She's Back...

SHANNON CURFMAN HITS THE STAGE….
By Mark Fredell

Wednesday afternoon I got home from work and as I usually do I turned on the old computer and checked my email(s) and surfed around a bit. While I was checking in on my My-space page (yes I am one of the masses), I came across a rather intriguing bulletin posting that read like this:

SURPRISE SHOW!
If you happen to be near Shaw's Bar and Grill in Minneapolis tomorrow (Thursday) evening located at 1528 University Ave. N.E. around 9:00 you should stop on in. I hear someone and her band will be doing a surprise pre-tour show :o)

It was from my old friend Shannon Curfman.
Many of you may remember Shannon from some 8 years ago when she hit the local scene at the tender age of 13 as one of the next “big things” to come out of the Fargo meets Minneapolis music world. A friend of Jonny Lang, Shannon even then was an emotive soulful singer, she did hit it big, signing to Arista Records, touring the world with the likes of Aerosmith, BB King, Buddy Guy and others, even scoring a TV concert special ( I think on the family channel). Then things took a turn and she fell off the radar. There were issues with the label(s), artist integrity, boyfriends, you know the usual stuff that every 14, 15, 16.… your old girl goes thru. Well now it’s 2006, Shannon turned 21 in July, has a new band, is working with an independent label and is about to hit the road for the first time in close to 6 years. It has been a whirlwind ride for this very talented young lady but she seems to have kept things together pretty well and yes the Shannon Curfman Band played a surprise show at Shaw’s in Nord-East Thursday August 17.
Now of course she did come through town a few months back on a short tour sharing a double bill with another young female singer song writer named Lennon, but that show was simply a sit down two guitar affair for Miss. Curfman. This one on the other hand was the first time in front of an audience for her new band before hitting the road (actually as I write this) for shows that will take them from coast to coast now thru mid November. They’ll be playing festivals and clubs in towns from California to New Jersey, North Dakota to Florida even coming back to the cities for a show at Bunkers in October. They used the opportunity at Shaw’s to kind of work off the first show jitters and try some of the new material in front of a mostly familiar and friendly crowd. All in all it was a fun night, they did just one set about 90 minutes long and I must say Shannon’s voice seems a strong and expressive as ever, her guitar playing is even better than before and the new band is really pretty good. They seem to get along well and it shows that Shannon is in charge. There was nothing flashy or fancy just some catchy bluesy rock tunes old and new and maybe 70 people there to listen. It was good to see her on stage again I hope things keep going in the right direction for this nice young lady and once again I will be able to say I knew her when. Good Luck Shannon!