By: Jennifer Jones
Guitarist Simon Seungmin Cheon, continues to expand his professional and artistic horizons at his young age (27), by working with other Asian artists.
As a session guitarist with over five years of professional experience in playing and teaching, his diverse repertoire spans jazz, pop, rock, funk, and fusion. Simon is keen to contribute his skills as a session guitarist, bringing his creativity and technical expertise to enrich and elevate new musical projects.
“Some of my biggest influences growing up were guitarists like Larry Carlton, Pat Martino, Mark Lettieri, and Pat Matheny,” Simon shared.
He is currently working with different artists globally. One of them is Onsu, a singer-songwriter based in South Korea. She and Simon have been working together on her single release, with Simon arranging and recording the guitars for the song, “Yesterday’s Diary”, which Onsu plans to release on November 22, 2024.
Meanwhile, Simon has also been working with Taiwanese artist Mingren Cai since early March. Mingren has over 2 million annual listeners and is a well-known artist in the Chinese and Taiwanese music scene. They released an acoustic version of a song by Mingren (給你意外的甜), with Simon arranged and recorded. The pair have also been discussing writing more songs for Mingren’s EP release in the summer of 2025.
The South Korean guitarist has led a vibrant artistic career over the years. Now, he’s ready to embark on another venture through his first Guitar Trio album, which will also feature his college friends, Andee Liu and Wenrui, on drums and bass, respectively.
“For this album, I wanted to feature some of my experiences and blend the music I grew up with. I wanted to blend my influences and my experiences,” Simon explained.
As a session player, he experienced the diversity of music. He also had the privilege of being part of a multicultural music scene by playing for composers and producers from across the globe throughout his professional career.
Simon Seungmin Cheon plans to record the album by the end of this year and release it by 2025.
Photo Courtesy: Ethan Yu
Collaborating with international and local artists is only one of the goals Simon hopes to achieve currently after returning from a Midwest summer tour last July with Huntington Beach artist David Rosales, who is known for his “feel good West Coast Americana music.”
The tour was called “2024 Trails U.S. Tour” with David Rosales and His Band of Scoundrels. While on tour with them, Simon performed in 13 cities.
“One of the highlights of our tour was the Galva Levitt AMP show on June 30th, where over 1,000 people attended, and the performance was broadcast live on the local TV channel MC22,” Simon said.
Another highlight from the tour was when the band headlined the Summerfest in Milwaukee this July 5, sharing the stage with globally renowned artists like Maroon 5, The Wallflowers, and The Baseball Project (featuring members of R.E.M.).
Simon is taking a break after the tour and slowly returning to work. His next performance will be in a musical titled “Escape to Margaritaville” by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley at GWC Theater in Huntington Beach. The South Korean guitarist is no stranger to working in musicals like The Wedding Singer by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy and “Heartbreak Hospital” by Johnny Cassidy.
As he continues to grow and diversify as an artist, Simon keeps his doors open for various opportunities to experience something new and even bring his fellow artists onto a broader, global stage.
Published by: Martin De Juan
