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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Shane Howard| image =| caption =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Shane Michael Howard| birth_date = birth date and age|1955|1|26|df=y| origin = Dennington, Victoria , Australia| death_date =| instrument = Singing|Vocals , Guitar | alias =| genre = Folk rock , Folk music|Folk-pop , Traditional music|Roots music , Indie music | occupation = Singer , Songwriter , Composer | Spouse =| years_active =| associated_acts = Goanna (band)|Goanna Black Arm Band| label = Warner Music Group|WEA BMG RCA Goanna Arts| notable_instruments =| website = URL| http://www.shanehoward.com.au Shane Michael Howard (born 26 January 1955) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna (band)|Goanna which had hits with "Solid Rock" and "Let the Franklin Flow". After their disbandment in 1985 he pursued a solo career.
Biography
Early days
Shane Michael Howard was born on 26 January 1955 and raised in the Victoria, Australia|Victorian coastal town of Dennington, Victoria|Dennington . Howard was one of seven children of a Irish-Catholic raised in a cramped factory cottage. The Howard family was a large music-loving family, central to it all was his mother, Teresa Howard, who played the piano and sang. Quote|I don't know a world without music. I don't know what life's like without music. It just was always there. I was a middle child, so there were older brothers and sisters and you just slotted into that. I guess, you know, singing at mass and singing at church were the first sorts of contact with that, and Mum would play the organ.|Shane Howard According to Shane' sister, Maricia, the family were colloquially known as 'The Von Trapp Family of the Western District', because they played and sang at everyone's weddings, parties, kitchen teas, celebrations. Howard attended the local Christian Brothers School in nearby Warrnambool, Victoria|Warrnambool , South-Western Victoria.
"Elder brothers and sisters brought The Beatles, Dylan and Van Morrison and countless other influences into my already crowded imagination". His eldest brother brought a guitar into the house and homework suffered ever since.
Once he completed high school he moved to Melbourne, where he studied at Monash University for a year, before hitch hiking around Australia, busking and playing any folk club that would let him play his own songs. During this time Howard picked grapes, picked ginger, worked as a screen printer, worked on the railways, washed dishes and taught in Geelong. He studied Education at Deakin University , Geelong where he was that University's First Student Council President.
Goanna
Main|Goanna (band)By 1976, Shane had enrolled in Geelong Teachers College, and was recruiting people for a new folk-rock band. Originally known as the 'Ectoplasmic Manifestation', the group later shortened the name to 'The Goanna Band', their songlists filled with Bob Dylan and Little Feat covers. The band performed up and down the Great Ocean Road , playing pubs and hotels and any place with a stage and an audience. In May 1980, on a doctor's advice, Shane took a month's hiatus from The Goanna Band and traveled to Ayers Rock (Uluru). Quote|I had come from this beautiful inspiring aboriginal tradition, and the contrast between that and this harsh reality of conflict with western world 300 kilometres away, it marked me for all time. I saw an incredible injustice that needed to be dealt with. And also, I realised that this country that I grew up in, that I thought was my country, it wasn't. I had to reassess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had disempowered a whole race of people when we arrived.|Shane Howard On the way back to Melbourne and a reunion with the group (who shortened their name to simply 'Goanna'), Howard began working on a song called "Stand Yr Ground." But a new set of lyrics were pouring out of his pen - lyrics that didn't match the folk-rock music that had been Goanna's stock in trade. He put "Stand Yr Ground" aside, and began developing a different, rougher melody for the new lyrics. By the time Howard arrived back in Melbourne, he had a new song for the group to record, based upon his experiences at Uluru, "Solid Rock." The Goanna Band later became the opening act on James Taylor 's Australian tour, which eventually led to a record deal with Warner Music Group|WEA (Warner Bros.' Australian affiliate) in February, 1982.
In 1982 Shane's massive anthem, "Solid Rock" from the album Spirit of Place , recorded with his band, Goanna, was one of the first mainstream pop songs to broach the subject of Aboriginal rights in Australia.
Solo career
In 1987, Shane returned to the pop world, this time as a solo artist. His first solo album, Back to the Track , a self-produced record with his own Big Heart Band, was a classic collection of Australian music, both white and aboriginal. BMG Records signed Shane as a solo recording artist and released his next album, River , in 1990.
In 1993, Shane made his first tour to Ireland, and Irish star Mary Black's recording of Shane's song, "Flesh & Blood" was a Top 5 hit there.
Shane Howard has spent many years working, writing, performing, touring with, and producing Aboriginal musicians throughout Australia and in 2000 he was awarded a Fellowship by the Music Fund of the Australia Council in acknowledgement of his contribution to Australian musical life.
cite book |last= Howard |first= Shane |title= Solid Rock |publisher= One Day Hill |year= 2009 |month= |isbn= 9780980564327
cite book |last= Howard |first= Shane |coauthors= Teresa, O'Brien |title= Shane Howard Lyrics |publisher= One Day Hill |year= 2010 |month= |isbn= 9780980564358
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External links
Persondata | NAME = Bygrave, Rose | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 26 January 1955 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Bygrave, Rose Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Australian singer-songwriters Category:Australian songwriters
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