“I lost everything – the only thing I held onto was my Fender Jazz Bass”: How Tommy Shannon broke a 7-year cycle of jail and halfway houses to record his most famous bassline with Stevie Ray Vaughan

American musician and lead singer Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-1990) of the group Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, plays on stage with American bass guitarist Tommy Shannon during the Soul to Soul Tour on September 27, 1985 at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. .

Following career-defining stints with guitar legends Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan, bassist Tommy Shannon is practically synonymous with the blues.

“Tommy is the quintessential modern blues bassist,” said Roscoe Beck in a 1997 Special Issue of Bass Player. “Stylistically, he ranks among innovators like Jack Bruce – but he's also rooted in the tradition of of the great Chicago and Texas blues bands, right back to the early bass pioneers like Willie Dixon.”