Latin/ JAZZ GUITARIST SHAWN "PREACHER" BROCK Shawn Brock (born July 26, 1981), has been called one of the smoothest guitarists instrumental music has to offer. From his Appalachian Roots in Harlan Kentucky, to his current home in Las Vegas Nevada, Shawn Brock brings his worldly experiences to contemporary jazz lovers across the globe. Brock began playing guitar at the age of 9. He has appeared on hundreds of recordings for record labels such as Sony, Dream Works, Lonesome Day and Capital. He has graced the American Billboard Smooth Jazz Charts, The Smoothjazz.com and The Smooth Indie Star charts with his 2011 album Sight UnSeen. The album has held a chart position for more than 36 weeks of 2011. As a top call session musician from the age of 18, his performing and writing became the musical backdrop for various TV shows such as Law & Order, Becker, Melrose Place, As the World Turns, The Weather Channel's Local On The 8's and more. Shawn is influenced by sounds of all musical genres and has a long history before his smooth jazz debut. "I have always been an instrumentalist and as a child I thrived on old Bluegrass fiddle tunes. Backing talented vocalists has always been enjoyable, but I love to focus on music without the interruption of words." His 2009 release, Sketches of Love & Fury, showcases music from his roots, as well as his love of jazz and flamenco. "I got sick of a lot of things. Everyone I knew was making records and struggling to be creative. All the while you had the record labels talking about how the modern format of the business just wasn't working. Revenue decreased, and it seemed that everyone wanted a change. I had been itching to record a new solo album for a while. I decided to just do it! Stop the talking and just cut what ever I wanted and make it sound and look a way that was suitable for me. Without a record company or a set release date I was able to do what I wanted when ever I wanted. In the end it paid off, the record sold to those who love good instrumental music. That independent record is what opened the door to smooth jazz for me." As a musician who is blind Shawn feels that he has a different approach in the way his music comes across to listeners. "My objective is to communicate with people through sound. When someone puts on one of my tunes I want them to be able to shut out the world around them. A good song should be able to take you away from your surroundings for a while, or it should enhance your feelings and bring them to the surface. When I'm writing I see images in my mind of people or places and it becomes my job to display those images to the listener without using words. Perhaps instrumentals are to music what abstract is to painters. A person should be somewhat open to his or her own interpretation of what the song is about, but it’s my job to get you on that path so you can form an interpretation in the first place." On November 15th of 2011 Brock released A 6 String Christmas. He was responsible for playing all the instruments, engineering the recording sessions as well as mixing and mastering for the album. "At some point I started to feel that I had lost my way. Its funny, when I went out as strictly a solo artist in 2009, I was on this independent path. At some point during the flurry of activity surrounding Sight UnSeen I started relying on and working with a lot of people. This wasn't all for the good. I had been promising my fans a holiday record for a while and I decided this would be the year. It was a great way to regain my lost independents, and that's why I chose to go it alone. I didn't want to deal with a record label anymore, write charts for folks, and over spend on making an album. I still do sound design for others, produce albums and play on a lot of sessions doing everything from guitar to drums to bass to keys. I thought, why don't I just do the Christmas record this way? It only seems natural to do something completely on my own. So that's what I did." Shawn is hard at work on several new projects which will be released in 2012. "Obviously I will be doing another smooth jazz record, but I'm also doing a solo guitar album called Guitar By Candlelight, a live album and an E-P of some of my favorite cover songs. Needless to say, I'm going through a lot of studio time and guitar strings."