Unearthed Shannon Hoon Music Set to Debut in Blind Melon Doc

October 21, 2010 will mark the 15th anniversary of the passing of Blind Melons Shannon Hoon, and his former bandmates are honoring their original singer with an upcoming documentary later this year. The still-untitled piece is being directed by Colleen Hennessy and developed through Danny Clinchs production company, Three on the Tree. While it will feature footage from several sources, the main focus of the film is the hours of footage Hoon shot himself over the years.

Shannon took this footage for a reason he wanted people to see this footage, the groups guitarist Christopher Thorn tells Rolling Stone. He filmed everything. Some of the most powerful footage is when Shannon sits on the corner of his bed in a hotel room, looks right into the camera, and sings the most beautiful, heart-wrenching song. Some youve heard before, some youve never heard this version before. It might be Mouthful of Cavities or St. Andrews Fall with completely different lyrics, or it could be a song weve never heard before. Its the most intimate, incredible footage as if he knew, Im not going to be around, man, so heres my gift to you when Im gone.

The film will include footage from Blind Melons tour alongside Neil Young and the Rolling Stones, Thorn giving Hoon an off-the-cuff haircut, and the recording sessions for both Hoon-era Melon albums, 1992s Blind Melon and 1995s Soup. But there is one haunting scene that the group is still debating including. We literally have the beginning of the band to Shannons last words on the phone with Lisa [Hoons girlfriend], Thorn says. Its so sad, because he sounded fine that morning. That was at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning he makes a phone call to Lisa, and theyre talking about Nico [Hoons then-infant daughter], and Shannons talking about, Are you going to get something to eat? Thats the last we heard from him.

The end result promises to be a doc that will double as a video diary of sorts, which Thorn compares to a filmed version of Kurt Cobains Journals. Its one thing to read somebodys writing, but when somebody looks into the camera, and you see the fear, the sadness, or the happiness. I would say its even more intimate. How amazing would it be to have Kurt sitting on the edge of his bed in a hotel room, singing these songs to you? This is like Shannons journal times a thousand. People are going to be absolutely blown away.

In addition to working on the documentary, Blind Melon are still searching for a singer to take over for Shannons replacement, Travis Warren, who lasted for one album, 2008s For My Friends. If we found somebody that made me feel like we could still honor Shannon, still honor the songs, and go out there and make people happy, Id do it in a heartbeat, Thorn says. But those are giant shoes to fill, and you cant even fill them it has to be something different. It also has to be close enough so that it doesnt sound like a different band. Potential singers are asked to submit an MP3 or YouTube link singing a Blind Melon song of your choice to blindmelonsinger@gmail.com.