Shawn Hlookoff (born September 5, 1984), known as Shawn Hook, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and producer.

Career

Hook studied piano through the Royal Conservatory from as early as age 4. In high school, he played piano and trombone in a jazz combo and jazz big band under the guidance of Rick Lingard. Shawn enrolled in a music composition course at Mount Sentinel Secondary School and started writing and recording his own music. His first release using his real name Shawn Hlookoff was in 2004 after Colin Davison (a.k.a. Jude Davison, his vocal teacher at

Selkirk College Campuses Selkirk College has eight campuses and learning centres across the West Kootenay and Kootenay Boundary regions: * Castlegar Campus * Grand Forks Campus * Kaslo Learning Centre * Nakusp Learning Centre * Silver King Campus * Tenth Str ...

Music School) offered to produce it. He also gigged with the disco cover band Shag as a trombone player and back-up vocalist. Enrolling at

The Art Institute of Vancouver ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, he studied audio engineering. He released a second independent 11-track album in 2006 titled ''Both Sides,'' also credited as Shawn Hlookoff. He was the first artist/songwriter to sign to

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

in Los Angeles in 2008. During that time, he made a live appearance on '' Good Morning America''. His compositions were featured on several ABC TV shows including "Life in Faith" on ''

Eli Stone ''Eli Stone'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series, named for its title character. The series was created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who also served as executive producers alongside Ken Olin who directed the pilot, wit ...

'', "She Could Be You" on ''

Kyle XY ''Kyle XY'' is an American science fiction television series produced by ABC Family. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattle, Washington, with no more knowledge or abilities than a newbo ...

'' and "Be Myself" in ''

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''. His song "Without You" premiered on MTV's series '' The Hills''. His music was also featured in other series like ''Samurai Girl'', '' General Hospital'' etc. During his time in Los Angeles, he landed his first acting role as a guest star on the Fox TV show ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

''. Adopting the artistic name Shawn Hook, he released his official debut album ''Cosmonaut and the Girl'' produced by

Jon Levine The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian band. The band was most commercially successful in the late 1990s and have been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning one in 1996 for "Best New Group". Most of the band members, current and former, have also ...

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with "So Close", "Every Red Light" and "Two Hearts Set on Fire" as singles from the album. He released a holiday song called "Follow the Lights" in 2012. In 2013, he collaborated with DJ Poet Name Life and Chebacca on a song called "Laser Ray", released on Listen Deep Records. It was his 2014 hit single "Million Ways", released on 2 September 2014, that helped him gain popularity and a following. It became his then most successful charting single on '' Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100, giving him three simultaneous hits on the Canadian Hot 100. His highest charting single is " Sound of Your Heart", which has peaked at #23 as of 6 June 2015. "Sound of Your Heart" was featured in promotional commercials for Season 20 of '' The Bachelor''. On 21 December 2015, it was announced that Hook had signed a deal with major US label Hollywood Records. Hollywood and ABC share the same Parent company, bringing Hook's US Songwriting and Recording contracts together under one deal. In the fall of 2016, Hook joined

Lindsey Stirling Lindsey Stirling (born September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, songwriter, and dancer. She presents choreographed violin performances, in live and music videos found on her official YouTube channel, which she created in 2007. Stirling pe ...

on her North American tour. In February 2016, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on

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's ''

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'' show hosted by

Kathy Lee Gifford Kathryn Lee Gifford ( née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Gifford is ...

and

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; arz, هدى قطب, ''Hudā Quṭb''; ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show ''Today'' and co-host of its entertainment ...

and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single " Sound of Your Heart". Later in 2016, he opened for

Marianas Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

on their North American tour. In April 2017, Hook released the single " Reminding Me" featuring

Vanessa Hudgens Vanessa Anne Hudgens (; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006 ...

. The two star in the music video, which was also released that month. They performed the duet on the season 14 finale of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

''. Hook is signed to Kreative Soul Entertainment, Inc. under exclusive license to EMI Music Canada. He has a worldwide deal with Hollywood Records for releases outside of Canada.

Personal life

He grew up in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada with his parents. He established the charity "Feed The Need" with longtime friend Kara Martin, and collected donations for various charities as well as performing at various regional high schools to raise food for the local food bank. Today, he continues with the charity registered and it's been rebranded as "Live To Give".CBC.ca: Shawn Hook - Artist - biographical info
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Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Notes

Featured singles

Soundtrack contributions

;as Shawn Hlookoff * 2008: ''

'' - "She Could Be You" * 2008: ''

'' - "Life in Faith" * 2009: '' The Hills'' - "Without You" * 2009: ''

'' - "Be Myself" * 2009: '' Bitter/Sweet'' - "Straight to You" * 2009: ''

The Suite Life on Deck ''The Suite Life on Deck'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on Disney Channel from September 26, 2008 to May 6, 2011. It is a sequel/spin-off of the Disney Channel Original Series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody''. The series follows twin b ...

'' - "Wonderful Surprise"

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hook, Shawn 1984 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male singers Canadian male singers Canadian songwriters Musicians from British Columbia People from Castlegar, British Columbia People from Nelson, British Columbia