Teen Troubadour Makes Debut at Fall On the Green

Although we miss the Band Formerly Known As the Bolts at last year’s Fall On the Green, get ready for a new youth shaker in Oak Lawn's annual fall frolic.

Shannon Baker, a 14-year-old singer/songwriter from Oak Lawn, will be playing her first big gig at Fall On the Green this Saturday in the Gazebo.

Patch caught up with Shannon fresh off her second week at Mother McAuley High School in Mt. Greenwood, and the first week she wasn’t late trying to find her classrooms.

“I’m really excited,” the McAuley freshman said. “I know when I’m about to go out I’ll have butterflies.”

Shannon and her cousin, Pete Yore, a junior at Andrew High School in Tinley Park, will perform a mix of country, Amy Winehouse, the Cranberries, the Zombies as well as some of Shannon’s untitled originals.

“We don’t have a specific genre,” Shannon said. “We play pop, country, reggae, everything is mixed in together.”

Pete gigs with his own reggae rock band, the Daze of Yore, with kid brother, Liam, 14, a frosh at Andrew. The three cousins started their musical careers playing in the living room at family parties; now the boys thrust their cousin on to the stage when playing such venues as Ed and Joe’s in Tinley Park, Oak Forest’s Blarney Stone, and Sullivan’s in Midlothian.

“I started playing with [Pete] a little over a year ago, we’re really comfortable with each other,” Shannon said. “We don’t fight all. We mesh well together.”

Shannon draws inspiration from real life when composing her original songs.

“I normally write songs about situations in my life or stories my friends tell me,” she said. “Some girls were bullying me so I decided to write a song about it rather than cry over it.”

Cheering Shannon on will be her proud parents, Jack and Erin Baker.

“We’re so excited,” Erin Baker said. “They’ve played a few songs here and there, but Saturday is their first time playing a long set. Pete is very polished and they work well together. They got a lot of songs and they got them all practiced.”

A family friend encouraged Shannon to take singing lessons at House of Music in Orland Park. “She is always singing songs,” her mother said. “Her gift is writing. She writes her feelings out in songs. She takes life’s lemons and turns them into lemonade. She has a great voice.”

While Shannon is nervous about performing before a large crowd, cousin Pete is confident she can pull it off.

“I’m confident in her singing and talent,” Pete said. “We practiced and the playlist down. I’m looking forward to it.”

Watch Shannon on YouTube:

• "The Words They Said" - original by Shannon Baker
• "Burn One Down" cover of Ben Harper song performed by Shannon Baker and Pete Yore.
• "Free" original by Daze of Yore - Pete and Liam Yore
  

Shannon Baker and Pete Yore will perform in the Gazebo at Fall On the Green from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the fest is free. For more information about Oak Lawn’s fall frolic, visit the 2013 survival guide.