Influences
Guitar Influences:
Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Morello, John Fruciante, Mark tremonti, The Edge, Steve Blaze, Waylon Jennings, George Lynch, & Ace Frehley.
Band Influences:
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lillian Axe, U2, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Everclear, Creed, Stone Temple Pilots, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and even Public Enemy.
Equipment:
For guitar:
Shannon plays a 2001 Les Paul Classic, a Fender Aerodyne, & a Paul Reed Smith Singlecut . He uses several pedals including a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Pedal, a Morley Wah Pedal, and a Digitech Whammy. Shannon uses various stomp boxes such as digital delay, tremelo, Flanger, and a Voodoo Labs Micro Vibe. From his pedal board, his sound is processed by a Behringer Equalizer / RTA, and a Behringer compressor. The guitar signal is then fed into a Crate 60 watt tube amp. The amp is reinforced using a Sennheiser E609 Silver Dynamic Guitar Mic. Shannon also plays a Fender Fat Stratocaster, and a 1962 Gibson Les Paul. For acoustic and unplugged he uses a 1976 Alvarez Yairi DY90.
For vocals:
Shannon uses a Sennheiser E835 Performance Vocal mic. This signal is processed by a series of rack mounted effects including a tube preamp, a Behringer DEQ2496 Equalizer/ Real Time Analyzer, and a TC Helicon Quintet Vocal Processor. Shannon also uses a Behringer wireless microphone.
For Acoustic Sets:
Shannon uses his favorite acoustic, the Alavarez Yairi DY90, both Fender and Behringer Acoustic amps.
Biography
Full Biography:
James Shannon Bussey was born and raised in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Rolling Fork is the home of the delta and blues legend Muddy Waters. Shannon attended Sharkey Issaquena Academy where he graduated in 1989. Shortly after high school he joined the U.S. Army where he served four years as a Patriot Missile Crew Member. After being honorably discharged in 1994, Shannon moved back to Mississippi and enrolled in Delta State University. In 1996 Shannon received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. Upon completion of his degree, he served as a rescue technician / firefighter for the Greenville, Mississippi Fire Department. In 1997 Shannon joined the Jackson, Mississippi Police Department where he served for several years and was awarded the silver star for bravery as well as two life saving medals. In 2000 he met and married Lauren White from Meridian. Their daughter, Reagan Lea Bussey, was born on December 7, 2000. After serving a short stint as a Special Agent for the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Shannon left the law enforcement profession and returned to college to get his Masters degree. In 2002, Shannon joined his brother Rob, and long time friend and fellow guitarist Rodney Joiner to help form the band Rock Bottom.