His eclecticism and highly varied technique informs a singular vision: solo guitar performances; nylon strings; no altered tunings or effects pedals. His picking proficiency can produce the attack of a full band, or, as Guitar International magazine put it, Shawn “possesses the ability to take a nylon-string guitar and make it roar with dynamic precision and raging power.” Touchstones include Kaki King, Tommy Emmanuel, and Rodrigo y Gabriela, though Shawn’s work stands apart, straddling such genres as world, Americana, folk, and rock, while making something new out of the combination.

His latest album, On Time, is informed by Shawn’s globe-hopping and wide-open ears, and includes several tributes, including an ode to the single-stringed Brazilian instrument called the berimbau, and another dedicated to Hua Shan, one of the seven sacred mountains of China. And while it maintains Shawn’s “no effects” ethos, the album does feature some custom preparations, including handmade wooden koto bridges and a dollar bill wedged between strings to emulate an African instrument.

Taking cues from such guitar titans as Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, and Michael Hedges, Shawn combines these influences with his own idiosyncratic vision to create a sonic signature equally at home at folk venues and listening rooms, rock clubs and festival stages.

Meet the man who can make his guitar sound like anything.
Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the fourth album by Daryl Shawn, a maestro of the nylon-string guitar who comes from Amish farm country in rural Pennsylvania, is an unexpected delight.

Guitar International

Daryl Shawn is one of modern day music’s most unique and creative acoustic guitarists to step out into the scene. He possesses the ability to be able to take a nylon string guitar and make it roar with dynamic precision and raging power, a talent that many upcoming guitarists would just kill to have.

Deli Magazine New York

Daryl Shawn is one of those acoustic guitar gems that can seize you and drag you along with him in an erratic dance in the pick of a string.

Wildy’s World

Daryl Shawn could be described as a musical chameleon. He is able to shift gears between Rock, Jazz and Classical without a thought. Shawn never picked up a guitar until he was 16 years old, but appears to have been born to play it. After two years at Berklee studying Jazz, Classical and Flamenco guitar styles, Shawn uprooted himself from the San Francisco Bay area to Oaxaca, Mexico…Dancing lightly back and forth across the chasm between pop and classical stylings, Shawn manages to create some magical moments along the way. 

AUDIO (streaming)

AUDIO (mp3 download)
Download mp3s (10 tracks, zipped)

PRESS QUOTES
Download .pdf

GENRES
acoustic/instrumental/progressive folk

SOUNDS LIKE
Tommy Emmanuel
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Kaki King
Pat Metheny

WEBSITE – http://www.darylshawn.com
FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/darylshawnmusic
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/darylshawn
YOUTUBE – https://www.youtube.com/darylshawn
INSTAGRAM – https://www.instagram.com/darylshawnshoots/
SOUNDCLOUD – https://soundcloud.com/darylshawn

STAGE PLOT
Download stage plot (.pdf)

ONE-SHEET
Download one-sheet (.pdf)