Shawn Allen's obsession with music began at an early age. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Shawn was surrounded by music as he grew up around the Houston area, listening to his father and grandfather playing guitar and singing. "I just loved it when my father, Dennis, would play and sing for me", Shawn says. "He and my grandfather were my first influences."

But it wasn't long before sitting around listening to his dad and grandfather gave Shawn the bug to make his own music. He begged for a chance to learn guitar, and it didn't take much to convince Dennis.

"My father struck a deal with me when I was nine", Shawn says. "He offered me a guitar of my very own in exchange for a promise. I had to promise to practice everyday, and really learn how to play. Needless to say, I was eager to agree to those terms, and I'm glad I did."

It wasn't long before Shawn began to feel the influence of other musicians. Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Beatles, CCR, Dwight Yoakam, The Allman Brothers Band, Johnny Cash, U2, REM and Tom Petty are just a few of the musicians who influenced Shawn's eclectic tastes.

When he was 12, Shawn's dad moved the family to Peterborough, New Hampshire when he got a job writing for a computer magazine. It was the 4th of July, and Shawn's most formative years were beginning. Contocook Valley High School in Peterborough was a breeding ground for Shawn to blossom as a musician.

"As far as playing in front of an audience, it's pretty much where I feel most comfortable anytime, anywhere", Shawn says. If you have a vice, thats not a bad one to have. Shawn's vice has taken him all over the United States. He moved to Atlanta in 1994 where he found the music scene conducive to his songwriting.

Now splitting most of his time between Atlanta, Steamboat Springs, Colorado and Block Island, Rhode Island, Shawn has a following pretty much everywhere he goes.

Influenced by The Beatles, U2, REM, Dwight Yoakam, AC/DC, The Eagles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Rush, Mark Knopfler, Shawn Mullins, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Ryan Adams, Wilder Embry.

Inspired by the musical styles of Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins, The Eagles and Counting Crows, and mixed with his uniquely understated brand of southern rock, Balancing Act is the first full length CD by Shawn Allen.

Recorded in Atlanta, GA, Balancing Act is orchestrated with acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, drums, percussion, organ and background vocals by Atlanta's finest players and longtime friends of Allen. Balancing Act delivers sounds and imagery with which anyone who has ever struggled, loved, and overcome their inner fears can identify.

These constant themes throughout the album are presented with an intense seriousness and an upbeat outlook. From the slamming musical and lyrical fury of "I'm tired of losing my voice we should take a break..." in the angry and confused rock song, Discussion, to the declaration "loneliness nevermore" in the Eagles-like and vocally rich All These Nights, the musical landscape of Balancing Act offers a thoughtful--yet hopeful--journey worth taking.

Other standout tracks include Here again, a pop/rock song about self discovery, and the nervously rhythmic rock-ballad, Bitter Eyes, which includes a two-minute dueling slide- and pick-guitar passage that mimics a conversation between two hearts and is both moving and mesmerizing. The title-derived song Sweet Little Pain sums up the album with its lines: "Balance is desire, victory and defeat / I burn from every outcome / I yearn to be complete."

Keep up with Shawn and his new music on his website, http://shawndavidallen.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.