Within a month of picking up the guitar at age sixteen, Daryl Shawn was writing songs. His interest in composition, as well as improvisation and advanced harmony, led him to the jazz program at Berklee College of Music. Soon, he branched out into flamenco, African and classical music studies, incorporating these various influences into his writing for a succession of bands as well as solo work and improvisational situations.

Relocating from San Francisco, California to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2004, Shawn took advantage of a quieter lifestyle to focus his time on music. He created and performed complete musical programs for two weddings, later recording and releasing the pieces on a CD collection entitled "As Promised". After completing an album of original vocal songs, he began to explore more experimental forms, and released an improvised recording entitled "Rentintwain" which made extensive use of a unique cassette tape looping system.

In 2007, he began a series of regular tours of the United States, doing up to 80 dates each year. In 2009 he relinquished a permanent address, choosing to remain effectively on the road. Currently, he is preparing to release two new instrumental guitar recordings while continuing to book and play live shows all across North America.

Festival appearances:
twice-featured artist at International Looping Festival, Santa Cruz, CA
Finloop festival, Oslo, Norway
Boise Experimental Music Festival, Boise, ID
Norcal Noisefest, Sacramento, CA
Saturationfest, Riverside, CA
Ingenuity Festival, Cleveland, OH Musikfest, Bethlehem, PA

Venues/curated series:
Mardi Spaghetti series, Montreal, Quebec
Vortex series at Zeitgeist, Boston, MA
ABC No Rio's COMA improvised music series, New York, NY
Luggage Store Gallery's New Music series, San Francisco, CA
Gallery 1412, Seattle, WA
Genghis Cohen, Los Angeles, CA
Center for Improvised Music, Brooklyn, NY
Trummerflora, San Diego, CA
Fake Jazz, Vancouver, BC
Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles, CA

Billings with:
Adam Levy, Basshaters, John Garrison, Buzz or Howl, G.E. Stinson, Steuart Liebig, Jonathan Segel, Bird Names, Tim Reynolds, Goh Nakamura, John Hanes, Crooked Cowboy, Rob Byrd, Paul Baribeau

Playing situations with:
Greg Campbell, Jonathan Lamaster (Cul de Sac), Ross Hammond, Laurie Amat, Philip Greenlief, Lucio Menegon, Emily Hay, Brian Heaney, Pi Jacobs, John McLellan, Gino Robair, Tom Baker, Krispen Hartung, Moe Staiano, Todd Brunel, Alan Anzalone

Radio appearances:
CIUT, Toronto, ON
WVKR, Vassar College, NY
KUAF, Fayetteville, AR

Keep up with his numerous other musical activities at SWANWELDER.COM.