Though Shannone expresses herself in various art forms, the first art form she was introduced to, music, remains her first and foremost love. 

 

Her desire to be as close to music as humanly possible, inspires her to keep exploring music, whether it be by listening to music she's never heard, or by playing on instruments she's never studied, Shannone has an unquenchable thirst for all things MUSIC!

 

At age 2, she sang her first public solo, "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired" in her father's church in Nashville, TN. When she was 6 years old, her mother began teaching her classical piano, where she was introduced to the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven, J.S. Bach and Mozart. At 7, she began singing solos for audiences as large as 20,000. She began taking violin lessons at the Flint Institute of Music in Flint, MI, under Norwegian instuctor, Kari Povich and shortly after, at age 8, began playing her new instrument in the Flint Symphony Orchestra.

 

When she enrolled in Pine Forge Academy, a musically competitive academy, she soon realized that she would have to take music much more seriously if she wanted to gain the respect of her fellow music prodigies she so admired. After a year of self-imposed, rigorous vocal training and study, she proudly emerged as a force to be reckoned with. She continued taking piano and violin lessons throughout high school, and earned a music scholorship to college for voice, piano and violin.

 

At age 19, Shannone, along with three other girls in her then gospel group, IV Given, began working with production team, Alonzo and Taura Jackson of Heeba Jeeba Entertainment, early producers of Destiny's Child. The young group was flown from their school in Alabama to Blackground Entertainment Record Company in New York, NY to meet with Barry Hankerman, president of the label. After singing for Mr. Hankerman, the girls were offered a record deal. When complications caused the contract to fall through, Shannone became determined to launch her solo career. She moved to New York and began pursuing music vigorously.

 

In 2005, Shannone released The Shannone Holt EP, as a promotional album. She embarked on a college tour in 2006 promoting the EP and was met with rave reviews. 

 

Shannone is now working on her first full-length album, tentatively called Songs I Sing, set for release in early 2008.