Michael Shanks

Michael Shanks is an international touring guitarist, music producer and singer-songwriter from Houston, Texas. Michael’s performance career has taken him from the concert halls of Beijing to the cafes of Buenos Aires. He is equally at home playing pop, jazz, rock or Latin music and has shared the stage with many world-renowned artists such as Duncan Sheik, Suzanne Vega, Mando Saenz and Jovino Santos Neto.

As a producer, Michael has worked with a myriad of diverse artists in the studio like Apoorva, Chavis Chance, Shakata, Deepika Seth, and Mark Winters. He produced the award-winning EP, changing cities, by the 2021 Spotify Fresh Finds India Artist of the Year, vishruti. He currently works with a steady stream of artists at his own Studio Shanks near downtown Houston.

Since 2023 Michael has been a professor at Sam Houston State University teaching guitar and music history. Michael graduated with a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Music from University of Texas and earned a Master of Music specializing in contemporary performance and production from Berklee College of Music.