TIME LINE
Blooming Early and Late …
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Piano lessons – age 6-14.
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Men’s glee club – age 16 -18.
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Formed Pep Band carrying piano in pick-up truck – age 17.
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Flunked out of freshman year of college – age 19.
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Singing waiter – Farmhouse Inn & Hotel – Blowing Rock, NC for two summers. With guitar, began to learn the music of the late great Josh White.
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Went to another college and flunked out.
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Joined rock band on Farfisa organ (Double Shot of My Baby’s Love).
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Learned how to fly airplanes – age 21.
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1966 – age 22. Hired by Eastern Air Lines and flew Constellations, DC8’s, DC9’s, 727’s until 1989.
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Borrowed by Uncle Sam for two years as MP in Army and a year in Pleiku, Viet Nam – age 23-25.
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Sang with the Greater Miami Civic Chorale and Bach Society 1986-1989.
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1989 – Airline went broke – moved back to Chapel Hill from Miami.
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1992 – MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
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Flew for UNC Medical Air Operations – part-time for seven years.
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Recorded CD – Vintage Café Society Blues – 1998.
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Flew air tankers fighting forest fires – 2001.
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Sivananda Yoga teacher certification – 2002
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Flew air attack firefighting missions (a la movie Always) in the Western US from 2002-2012.
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Certified teacher for Paul Ferrini’s Healing Your Life program of personal awakening and transformation.
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Set up new outreach WonderOfItAll.org as teacher, entertainer, and celebrant, using original and traditional musical performances as the binding ingredient on the recipe of life – 2016 - ?
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Festivals, concerts, wakes, memorials and workshops around the USA.
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27th year appearing as the Ghost of Christmas Present in Ira David Wood III’s musical comedy adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium and Durham’s DPAC. We’ll see 25,000 folks each season. Get your tickets early since we always sell out!
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27th year clean and sober.
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September 2017 - Released new CD entitled UNSWEET TEA, – Big John Shearer’s new collection from over 50 years of making Café Society Blues & Americana music – .
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July 2020 - Released new collection of BJS's work on USB Flashdrive including UNSWEET TEA in WAV and MP3 formats, 1 video featuring an interview about Ole Blue and UNSWEET TEA, the album.
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Also, included is an hour long episode of Big John's Borealis Blues Radio Show focused on Black Gospel on WELY, AM/FM, Ely , Minnesota - Summer of 2002.
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Finally, galleries of BJS photos and writings of humor and an essay.
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2023 - Launch the Love & Seduction Tour, featuring BJS solo.
Farmhouse Inn - Blowing Rock, NC
(Standing far left)
First album - 1997
Waiting to go on - 2010
1962 Alumni back to school - 50 yrs on
'Look at yourself Ebenezer' - 1996 to now
Crachit Present Scrooge
Forest fire fighting - a la movie 'Always'
Big John Shearer Band - 2012-2017
Another passion - S/Y WONDER
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