Joe brought an extraordinary dynamic energy to the stage. His blues-rock melodic sense to his guitar playing was simply second-to-none
Joe was a native of Spokane, Washington. His early influences were the Beatles, the Stones, The Young Rascals, Vanilla Fudge, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Free and Jeff Beck He moved to Seattle and soon became a fixture in the Seattle music scene. As the lead guitarist/vocalist of many well-known Northwest bands, Joe’s resume read like a Who’s Who of the Northwest rock scene.
Joe started with The Bards followed by a long stretch with Seattle band, Shyanne. Joe joined Seattle’s top band, Bighorn. As a member of Bighorn, Joe was signed to Columbia Records which released the bands’ self titled album. Bighorn toured the country with several bands including Boston, Journey, and Van Halen. Bighorn eventually re-formed with a new name The Allies.
Joe left The Allies in and joined with Roger Fisher, best known as the lead guitarist of Heart. Joe recorded and toured the country with The Roger Fisher Band for two years, playing many dates with The Motels. During this time Joe auditioned to take Ace Frehley’s place in KISS…it didn’t happen, but he can honestly tell people he played and sang lead vocals with KISS…for 20 minutes!
Next, Joe became a member of Seattle band, Shots, for several years, playing all of the top nightclubs in the Northwest and writing and recording many original songs. Shots played at the original Bite of Seattle while it was held at Seattle’s Greenlake. While in Shots, Joe played guitar on a few tracks of Kenny G’s album “Gravity.” He also produced an album for his former band Shyanne, and was the lead vocalist on an album by Seattle-based Kidskin.
Following Shots, Joe played with the Seattle band China, and then briefly moved to New York to play with Nosmo King, a group composed of former members of Foghat. He then spent a year with Seattle rockers, Rail.
Joe spent most of the 90’s with one of his most current bands, Magic Bus, playing music from the psychedelic 60s and 70s. He also was playing and recording with The Coast of Mercy, which received a fair amount of airplay on college radio stations. As a member of Magic Bus, Joe had the opportunity to entertain many professional baseball players due to the band’s relationship with former Seattle Mariners/Anaheim Angels pitcher Mark Langston. Playing in Cleveland twice…once for the All-Star game, at Disney World in Orlando, twice at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, and at The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Magic Bus became a favorite at Major League Baseball functions.
In 2000, Joe joined Paul Rodgers’ (voice of Bad Company, Free, The Firm) solo band and toured the UK with Paul in 2001 substituting for Howard Leese (another former Heart guitarist.) Howard later rejoined the band and on Paul’s 2003-04 tour. Joe and Howard shared guitar duties marking the first time Paul toured with two guitarists.
At the time of his death, Joe was a member of Seattle bands Magic Bus, PowerCell, and KZOK’s Spike And The Impalers. He was also the bass player of The Davanos and N’Sane.
Joe Shikany was a key and valuable asset to Sex And Violins. He co-wrote and played guitar on four of the songs on their current record.
Joe played his own custom guitars, as well as Gibsons, Epiphones and Fenders. He played through Marshall amps, and used Digitech, Cry Baby and Danelectro effect pedals.
A collection of videos and comments:
(for some reason, MySpace thinks it's Spam, so you will have to type it in by hand, without the spaces...)
www. dvbs. eu. org/shikany
Hello everyone. Eventually I will need to take down the band sites Joe managed - Magic Bus, N'Sane, and Powercell. As those bands re-form, they may wish to create new sites. I had always wanted to create a "Joe Shikany" site, but Joe himself always seemed too embarrassed by the thought.
Now seems to be the perfect time. I have been moved beyond belief by all your comments, emails, and personal messages posted, both within and outside of Myspace. I hope to re-post most of those messages in some way or another. If the original message seems too personal, I will try and refrain from making it public. So, if I post something you wish to remain private, please let me know and I will remove it immediately.
Please feel free to add more comments. If you have any pictures, sound bytes, movies, etc, you wish to contribute, please send them to me at shikanytribute@live.com.
This site will be a work in progress, as we gather our memories.
The mission of the Joe Shikany Foundation is to help support musicians’ sobriety, provide fundraising activities through live music events, offer young music students educational opportunities by way of experienced musicians and help support music education in Public Schools by helping sustain the WA State Public Schools personalized music license plate project.
WA State Public Schools
Personalized Music License Plate Project:
www.musicplates.com
"AC ICE"
PR Director
Joe Shikany Foundation
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In memory of Joe Shikany:
For those who might want to give a Charity Donation in remembrance of Joe,
the family would appreciate gifts to any Animal Rescue Group, Gonzaga or Schick Shadel Hospital foundation.
Below are links to Blogs and News Stories, many with comments. They will open in separate windows. There is also a link to the Funeral Home Guestbook.
Hey Joe...I just wanted to come by in person and say I'm still thinkin' about you, and missing you. I got the site updated a little bit, and posted from Seattle Women Rock too. But you know that....I'm glad Linda got to visit.
Well Joe, here it is a year gone by...still can't believe it. We love and miss you so much! Some of us will gather at Laura's new Wild Vine Bistro to share memories while Lynn and Lloyd play for us. You'd love the place, very nice.
Hi Joe: I drove by the merry-go-round today. That brass ring you showed me was your ticket to heaven, and I'm so glad you made me stay so I would understand. Love, Linda
Hi Joe: It's been 6 months now and I'm thinking about you a lot today. It seems like just yesterday I got that call from Gloria, but it also feels like a lifetime worth of emotions. I'll be watching our favorite show tonight, and will have an extra bowl of popcorn for you:-) I love you, Linda
Hey Joe, Lots of folks were remembering your Bday with Magic Bus at the Tulalip, but you know it's too far for me to drag my tired old fat butt up there...so I came here and updated your page links, made sure everything's working. Just wanted to do a little something. Peace Be With You.
I used to not understand when people would associate the loss of a person with holidays but now I understand. With New Year's almost here, I am saddened that Joe is not with us in body but I do believe he is with us in spirit. On New Year's Eve, I will be raising my glass high into the air and saying "Right On!" and it is Joe that I will be thinking of!
