Shawn Michael Patterson (born September 14, 1965) is an American composer and songwriter. He has been working in the field of music for over 20 years. His most notable work to date is as the songwriter/composer for the song "Everything Is Awesome", written for the Warner Brothers feature film The Lego Movie. 　　Patterson was born in the small rural town of Athol, Massachusetts, to blue collar working parents, Ronald and Joan Patterson. His father was a gifted musician playing several instruments including: saxophone, guitar, trumpet, and pedal steel. However, Patterson’s very first draw to music came from watching comedian Steve Martin play the banjo on television during his Let’s Get Small Tour. 　　Martin’s banjo playing was so influential, Patterson begged his parents to purchase a 5-string banjo and began taking lessons studying Bluegrass and Dixieland styles of music. Although he was jamming along with his father, Patterson grew bored with the instrument after a year and began tampering with the banjo, attempting to attach a pickup to the head and run it through a guitar amplifier owned by a friend from school. Eventually, he switched to electric guitar. 　　In June 1977, Patterson and his father attended a screening of Star Wars and this was the first time film music caught his attention and a career was born. 　　Patterson was already a huge Superman fan and at the age of four years was watching black and white reruns of The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves. With great anticipation, he awaited the release of Superman in 1978 and was forever changed as a result of John Williams’ infamous score. Patterson then attended multiple screenings of the film just to try and absorb the music.