Shawn Amos facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shawn Ellis Amos
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Amos at the Ramblin' Roots festival in Utrecht
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Reverend Shawn Amos |
| Born | September 13, 1967 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues, roots, Americana, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, singer, writer, entrepreneur, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, harmonica, guitar |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Labels | Rhino, Shout! Factory, Put Together Music |
| Associated acts | Ruthie Foster, Mindi Abair, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Solomon Burke, Julie Miller, Matthew Sweet |
Shawn Ellis Amos (born September 13, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He is well-known as a blues singer and harmonica player, often called "The Reverend Shawn Amos." He has released many albums and EPs under this name.
About Shawn Amos
Early Life and Family
Shawn Amos was born in New York. His father is Wally Amos, who founded the famous Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies. His mother, Shirley Ellis Amos, was a singer in the early 1960s, known as Shirl-ee May. Shawn later discovered more about his mother's singing career. This discovery inspired some of his music.
Like his father, Shawn Amos worked in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency, a big talent agency. He studied at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. He left college early to work on screenplays for A&M Films. In 2011, The Huffington Post shared a series of articles about his childhood in Los Angeles during the 1970s. Shawn Amos has three children.
Shawn Amos's Musical Journey
Starting in Americana Music (1996–2001)
In 1997, Shawn Amos started working at Rhino Entertainment, a record company. There, he helped create many music collections. One of these was Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words from the Harlem Renaissance, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. While at Rhino, he began working on his first album, Harlem. This album was released in 2000 and was inspired by a museum exhibit about the Harlem Renaissance.
In 2001, Amos produced a collection of music by Quincy Jones, called Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones then asked Amos to be the executive director of his Listen Up Foundation. In the same year, Amos released his second album, In Between.
Producing and Collaborating (2002–2006)
In 2003, Shawn Amos joined Shout! Factory, a new entertainment company. He became the head of their A&R department, which finds and develops new artists.
From 2005 to 2006, Amos worked on several interesting projects. He helped create a new version of Marvin Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On, performed by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. He also oversaw a remix album of Whipped Cream and Other Delights by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. He even performed "Love Potion No. 9" with Herb Alpert and Ozomatli on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in March 2006.
Amos also worked closely with blues legend Solomon Burke, overseeing his last three studio albums. He also oversaw the first two Under the Covers albums by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoff.
Thank You Shirl-ee May (2005–2007)
In 2005, Shawn Amos released his third album, Thank You Shirl-ee May. This album is a special tribute to his mother, Shirlee Ellis Amos. Shawn discovered more about her life as a club singer in the 1960s after she passed away. Songs like "New York City 1964" and "The Bottle Always Brings Me Down" explore her life as the singer known as Shirl-ee May.
In 2007, Amos performed in and produced the Solomon Burke & Friends: Live in Nashville concert, which was shown on TV. Solomon Burke also sang Amos's song "Vicious Circle" from the Harlem album.
The Reverend Shawn Amos (2014–Present)
After taking some time to work in digital marketing, Shawn Amos returned to his roots music in 2014. He released The Reverend Shawn Amos Tells It. In 2015, he released his fifth album, The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, which was produced by jazz saxophonist Mindi Abair. In 2018, he released The Reverend Shawn Amos Breaks It Down, which had political themes.
Amos also created and starred in a YouTube series called Kitchen Table Blues. This series had 90 episodes between 2015 and 2016. Some of the songs from the series were released as two EPs in 2019. In 2016, Amos played harmonica for the main theme song of the AMC TV series Preacher. From 2017 to 2018, Amos was the Artistic Director for Herb Alpert's jazz club, Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill & Jazz, in Los Angeles. He left this role to focus on touring.
Amos has also organized the jazz and blues series called blackbox for The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California, for the 2018–19 and 2019-20 seasons.
On September 4, 2019, Amos announced on his YouTube channel that he was forming a new band called The Brotherhood. The band includes drummer Brady Blade, bassist Christopher Thomas, and longtime guitarist Chris “Doctor” Roberts.
The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood (2020–Present)
Shawn Amos and The Brotherhood released their first album, Blue Sky, on April 17, 2020.
The album features guest singers Ruthie Foster and Kenya Hathaway. Blue Sky reached number 6 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart. American Songwriter magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying it was very exciting. Blue Sky also reached number 36 on the Americana Music Association Radio Chart.
Shawn Amos's Other Work
Digital Marketing Career
On November 4, 2009, Shawn Amos started his own company, Amos Content Group. This company created content for digital and traditional media. In August 2012, The New York Times announced that his company was bought by FleishmanHillard and GMR Marketing and renamed Freshwire.
In October 2012, Forbes magazine named Amos one of their "Up and Comers." He has spoken at many important industry events, including the Milken Institute, the Thread Summit, the CES Convention, and TEDxEast.
In 2015, Freshwire became FleishmanHillard ContentWorks, and Amos was named Chief Content Innovation Officer for the Americas. He left FleishmanHillard in 2016 and started a new company called Put Together Media. In 2017, Put Together Media joined with Hudson Cutler, a communications firm in New York.
Author
Publishers Weekly announced on June 20, 2020, that the book publisher Little Brown and Company bought Amos's first novel, Cookies & Milk. The book was published in Spring 2022.
Deadline Hollywood announced on May 5, 2022, that Disney Branded Television is developing an animated series based on Shawn Amos's novel Cookies & Milk. The project is being produced by Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland, along with Jesse Murphy, James Sears Bryant, and Shawn Amos himself.
On January 12, 2023, Cookies & Milk was nominated for the Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens category at the 54th NAACP Image Awards.
Images for kids
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Amos at the Ramblin' Roots festival in Utrecht
