Shannon Lyon's Lost Creek Cabin Studio. Vavenby, BC
I spent the night drinking a bottle of wine from the top of a cliff in Wells Gray Provincial Park lot while watching the river below and ensuring I didn't get attacked by a wild animal. The following morning I began driving north stopping an hour later in Vavenby, a small logging town sandwiched between the highway and the Thompson River. The Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe I'd been planning to visit was once again closed and so I pushed on, crossing the river and heading down a dirt road which meandered through the forest amongst ramshackle barns and Mennonite farm houses.
Half an hour of meandering later, I came around a corner to discover an old refurbished log cabin with what appeared to be two hillbillies sitting out front sipping coffee and eating apricots. Pulling over for a chat, I sensed that these two were no ordinary Vavenby locals; their cabin far too funky, their clothes much too vintage-y, and their conversation being something about hard drives and mixing board technology. As I soon found out, the cabin was the new home, recording studio and secret hideaway of renowned Canadian musician / producer Shannon Lyon. He told me the how he'd found the cabin on Craigslist for $600 a month (outhouse and vegetable garden included), and moved in immediately, transforming it into a creative refuge where he could write music and make YouTube videos. His new album The Lights Behind is out September 2nd and is so beautiful you might cry. Literally.