Shawn David McMillen

Guitarist and composer Shawn David McMillen is a native of the East Texas town of Lake Jackson.

Shawn’s stepfather, a member of the Christian rock band Waves Of Joy, introduced him to garage bands and deep-sea fishing.

Shawn lived in many different households until he left home at 16 for Houston and a glamorous lifestyle of playing in punk rock bands while sleeping in parks, vans, and the homes of friends.

In the early Nineties, Shawn met Tom and Christina Carter Charalambides —now considered early pioneers of the present avant-folk movement—as well as Heather Leigh Murray. Heather and Shawn moved to Galveston, where she attended Texas A&M/Galveston while “working at an animal clinic, recording music constantly, and having cataclysmic experiences on acid together at the beach.”

Shawn and Heather recorded together as Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast, releasing one CD on Charalambides’ Wholly Other imprint and playing one show with Palace Brothers. Circa 1999, the pair moved to Austin where they played with Rick Reed in Abrasion Ensemble and later formed Iron Kite.

Catfish was released in 2005 as limited vinyl issue on the Emperor Jones label. Recorded mostly at night, Catfish is acoustic-based only because Shawn had no electric guitar at the time. Other instruments include autoharp, Roland keyboard, Indian goat bell, Indonesian gongs, bowed electric bass, African kalimba (thumb piano), and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). Cited influences at the time include American Indian lore, music from the Middle East and India, Phil Yost, Robbie Basho, and Malachi.