Shannon Larkin

Infobox musical artist
Name = Shannon Larkin

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Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = James Shannon Larkin
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1967|4|24|mf=y Hagerstown, Maryland
Origin =
Instrument = Drums, vocals
Genre = Heavy metal
Hard rock
Alternative rock
Alternative metal
Post-grunge
Funk metal
Hardcore punk
Thrash metal
Occupation =
Years_active = 1987 - present
Label = Universal/Republic
Associated_acts = Godsmack
Another Animal
Ugly Kid Joe
Snot
Amen
Wrathchild America
Souls at Zero
URL = [http://www.godsmack.com Official Godsmack website]

Shannon Larkin (born April 24 1967) is the current drummer for Godsmack. He is also a session musician.

Biography

James Shannon Larkin was born April 24, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Martinsburg, WV.

Shannon Larkin's first major label band was Wrathchild America. Originally the band was named simply "Wrathchild", but unfortunately, there was already a British band with the same name. So they were forced to change the name of the band. To avoid further legal headache, they added "America" to the name, thus, "Wrathchild America" was born.

After recording 2 albums for Atlantic Records, the band was dropped by the label, citing lackluster sales. Shannon, along with his bandmates (Brad Divens, Terry Carter, and Jay Abbene) disbanded Wrathchild America only to resurface as Souls at Zero.

Souls at Zero was signed to the now defunct label Energy Records. Their self titled debut album was well received by critics and fans alike. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate into CD sales.He married Faye in the winter of 2000 and they have been a happy couple ever since.

In the meantime, Shannon formed a side project band called MF Pitbulls in which the other members later formed the band Snot. MF Pitbulls' member Jamie Miller later became Souls at Zero's drummer right after Shannon was tapped by Ugly Kid Joe. According to Wrathchild America/Souls at Zero's former manager "Chip Seligman", Shannon was the one who recommended Jamie Miller as his replacement. He later replaced Jamie Miller on the Snot album "Strait Up".

Shannon recorded 2 albums with Ugly Kid Joe, and the band was no more. Still a struggling musician, Shannon found himself without a band. As luck would have it, Shannon once again was tapped into another band. This time it was Casey Chaos's Amen. Shannon was referred to Amen by producer Ross Robinson of Slipknot fame. Shannon recorded two albums for Amen, (Amen and We Have Come For Your Parents), before he left the band as a touring musician, but still performs on the albums (including Death Before Musick and the 2009 as-yet-untitled release). Shannon also recorded the album "Hard to Swallow" by Vanilla Ice, and "Worship and Tribute" by Glassjaw.

Shortly after, Shannon got a call from his old friend Sully Erna who wanted him to play drums for his band, Godsmack. Shannon replaced Tommy Stewart and subsequently recorded his first album with Godsmack; "Faceless".

On July 1, 1997, Shannon played drums for one live show with Black Sabbath; the final one on the Ozzfest '97 tour. This date was actually a makeup gig for a postponed date earlier in the tour. The regular drummer for that tour (Mike Bordin) could not make the gig due to scheduling conflicts, so Shannon stepped in for this lone gig; he was never intended on being a permanent member of Black Sabbath. For Stone Sour, he played the drums on the tracks "30/30-150" and The Day I Let Go on the album "Come What(ever) May".Reason for that at the time Roy Mayorga who recorded the album didn't have time to finish up the recording due to going out on tour with Soulfly. Roy Mayorga and Nick Raskulinecz suggested Shannon to record.He also did a project in 1997 with Judas Priest's Glenn Tipton and other artists including John Entwistle, Cozy Powell, Billy Sheehan, and Robert Trujillo called Baptizm of Fire.

Equipment

*Yamaha
**Birch Custom Absolute Drums
**Hardware
**Flying Dragon pedals
*Toca Percussion
*Sabian Cymbals
*Vic Firth "American Rock Classic" Sticks

Discography

Kiddie Porn (band) (as singer/drummer)

*"A GIFT OF HATE" (1986)
*"Conflict Of Mind" (c.1989)

Wrathchild America

*"Climbing the Walls" (1989)
*"3D" (1991)

Souls At Zero

*"Souls at Zero" (1993)
*"Six-T-Six EP" (1994)
*"A Taste For the Perverse" (1995)

Ugly Kid Joe

*"Menace to Sobriety" (1995)
*"Motel California" (1996)
*"" (1998)

=Amen=

*"Amen" (1999)
*"We Have Come for Your Parents" (2001)
*"Death Before Musick" (2004)
*"TBA" (2009)

=Snot=

*"Strait Up" (1999)

Godsmack

*"Faceless" (2003)
*"The Other Side" (2004)
*"IV" (2006)
*"Good Times, Bad Times.... 10 Years of Godsmack" (2007)

Another Animal

*"Another Animal" (2007)

As Session Musician

*"30/30-150" by Stone Sour
*"Hard to Swallow" by Vanilla Ice
*"Worship and Tribute" by Glassjaw
*"Massive Grooves..." by Poundhound (aka Doug Pinnick of King's X) 1998

References

* [http://www.yamaha.com/Artists/ArtistDetail/0,6841,CNTID%253D29384%2526CTID%253D551076%2526CNTYP%253DARTIST,00.html# Yamaha Corporation: Shannon Larkin]
* [http://www.godsmack.com/bio/bio.asp?id=5290 Godsmack: Bio - Shannon Larkin]

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/uglykidjoetheband Official Ugly Kid Joe MySpace page]
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