After more than eighteen years of performing throughout the DC/Baltimore area in an assortment of shapes and sizes of musical groups, Colleen Shanley has come to an accomplished point in her career where she truly shines. The years have seen her hone her skills through the exploration of the various genres of music in her early years of bluegrass and country to later moving into a wider range that now includes blues, swing, rock and even a little bit of jazz fused into the mix. Taking much of what she's learned, she's incorporated it into her expressive songwriting. During the mid-eighties, she was on a small Nashville based and now defunct indie label, Elite III. She's played on many stages of the various venues throughout the area which also included having shared the stage of the infamous club of the past, the Twist & Shout, with such artists as Wayne Toups & His Zydeco Band and The Sun Rhythm Section. The last year of Lilith Fair's concert tour, she had the honor of being one of the twenty finalists to compete at the 9:30 Club for a spot to perform when that concert was held in the D.C. area.
Most of her musical career has been spent sharing the music along with raising a family with one of the area's supreme pedal steel, lap steel and Dobro player, Casey O'Neal. Casey has been playing music in the D.C. area for more than 25 years. During the course of his career he's played in a wide range of genres from bluegrass to country and country rock, to blues and jazz. You can hear his wizardry not only with Colleen, but also on many other local artists' recording projects. Most recently, he's also become an intricate part of Le Jazz, which is an ensemble formed by the local guitar legend, Michael Fath. They've performed their original compositions at Blues Alley and the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, and are currently in the process of putting together their first original jazz CD.
Colleen's 1998 debut album, Let's Go For That Ride, was produced by Colleen, Casey and Michael Fath. It clearly demonstrates the diversity of influences she has collected along her travels. All, but one of the fourteen songs on the album, are Colleen's original compositions. She's gained some well deserved recognition from this album with honorary mentions for two songs in the12th Annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, airplay both in the USA and overseas, and had placements on several CD compilations including the 1998 WAMA/DC101 disc, the 1998 Philadelphia Music Conference compilation and the 1999 OASISBLUES sampler. With her most recent release, This Time, both Colleen and Casey decided to change gears somewhat. They not only changed hands for production by working with Jim Robeson at Bias Recording Co, Inc., but this time they also wanted to incorporate other writers' songs along with Colleen's own. They've put together an exciting arrangement of blues, swing, country rock and jazz, and also included a little of the influence from their bluegrass days.
You can currently find both performing with their five-piece band, The Colleen Shanley Band, at many of the various events and venues throughout the DC/Baltimore area. Some of these include the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, The Annual Delaplane Strawberry Festival, The Vintagel Virginia Wine Festival, The Kennedy Center's Open House Festival, the Annapolis Waterfront Arts Festival, Maryland's Annual Seafood Festival and Baltimore's premier annual festival, Artscape. Both have also had the honor of being a part of Cleve Francis & Friends performing at the Birchmere and other special events. They've both been nominated for several Wammie awards over the last several years: New Artist as Duo, Debut Recording, Recording for Roots/Rock, and Colleen for Female Vocalist for Roots/Rock, and Casey for Instrumentalist in Blues & Roots/Rock categories.
10/14/00: Colleen Shanley and Casey O'Neal
5/31/99: Colleen Shanley and Casey O'Neal
