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Shannon Bryant was born and raised in London, Ontario, Canada. Music runs in Shannon’s family, most notably with her great uncle, Francis Henry, who was one of the original members of the Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians band.
Shannon began her own musical journey in Dublin Ireland during a “find yourself” backpacking trip she took after finishing her degree in philosophy. She cashed in her return ticket home to Canada and started working and singing in a restaurant-piano bar in Dublin. The experience cemented her decision to pursue a career in music and when she returned home six months later she joined her first band, the eleven piece R&B group, “Midnight Soul Revue”.
Shannon later explored the world of jazz and fell in love with the beautiful melodies and rhythms of Brazilian and Latin music. She ended up forming the “Shannon Bryant Quartet” where she focused on singing bossa novas and sambas. She performed at festivals such as the Sunfest World Music Festival in London Ontario, the Sarnia Jazz and Blues Festival and the Harrison Park Balloon Festival. Bryant also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra in the popular Jeans and Classics show.
Just before Shannon’s move to San Francisco in 2000 she received a Canadian FACTOR grant to record her pop single, Two Souls. This was her signal to focus more on her original material and blend her contemporary influences with her new love of jazz. Bryant took a leap of faith and moved to San Francisco convinced that it was the right creative environment to continue expanding her music career - it was.
Since Shannon Bryant has resided in San Francisco she has recorded and performed with many accomplished bay area musicians including, Marcos Silva, Marco Diaz, Carlos Oliveira, Phil Thompson, Peter van Gelder, Larry Batiste, Jeanie Tracy, Patricio Angulo, Mark Armenta, and Celso Alberti.
In March of 2004 Shannon headed to the San Francisco chapter of the Recording Academy with her demo in her hand and became a member. As fate would have it, that very day she was selected to perform on stage with Carlos Santana in a tribute to Mickey Hart for the 2004 Recording Academy Governor's Awards. Bryant has also worked as a vocal coach with Global Alliance on the LWAK Kenyan and American gospel artists CD/DVD and was the representative for Canada at the Yerba Buena Gardens 2003 International Music Festival.
Shannon's recent work is her self-produced CD, Oceano. Oceano is an all - original album that blends Brazilian, Eastern, pop and jazz rhythms with Bryant’s intimate vocals. Oceano has aired on CBC Radio across Canada and was one of Mark Rheaume’s top picks for 2007 on CBC’s, “Fresh Air”. Shannon is the creator and director of the new music, dance and poetry production, It’s About Love. The premiere show took place at Club Jazz Nouveau in 2004 in San Francisco and has since been presented at Crocker Galleria, Art People in San Francisco, SF State University- Jack Adams Hall, and Larkspur Café Theatre, Larkspur CA.
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