My sincere thanks to John Hettinger, who always manages to keep our bluegrass community current on happenings in the greater Sacramento area. Unfortunately, the piece I’m posting today, written by John, comes as a blow to all who knew our friend Shayne.
SHAYNE SUTTON, RIP Shayne Sutton lost his battle with cancer and passed over Jordan on July 4. He was an accomplished bluegrass guitarist and well loved by the bluegrass community. Over the years Shayne played in several local bands including Acoustic Blend, Mountain Hawk, Horizon, Grass Roots, and Perennial Ryegrass. His bandmates loved his arrangements, intros, and leads, which were great audience pleasers.
Shayne loved fishing as much as he did music and always shared smoked fish with us at our annual August Jam / Potluck (which is cancelled for this year). Another thing that Shayne did to bless us in the bluegrass community was to serve as band coordinator for the American River Half Marathon every April. He arranged for a dozen or more bluegrass bands to play at various points along the course. The runners and walkers loved it.
There will be a memorial gathering to honor Shayne at a place in Shingle Springs as soon as his family deems it safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone will be encouraged to share stories of Shayne, and members of his past bands will play music that was meaningful to him.John Hettinger