Wm. Newell Sheridan was bass trombonist with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham, Alabama over 27 years until the bass trombone position was replaced with a tuba position. To this day, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra does not have a bass trombonist.

Newell Sheridan was brass instructor at Samford University for 15 years and at UAB for 10 years. He is a clinician, soloist, teacher, and does presentations for a wide variety of groups since he does a lot of woodworking and metalworking. In May of 2010, his home and shop were completely destroyed by a fire but most of the instruments were in his motorhome and were unharmed.

The new home is being built with a large room designed just for people to come and try out instruments.

Sheridan Brass Instruments sells S E Shires trombones and mouthpieces. Occasionally, other used instruments are traded in and go for up sale, so there are often used instruments of different kinds available. In traveling mostly throught the Southeastern US, Sheridan Brass visits many colleges, Universities and attends many music education conferences.

He studied with at Northwestern Univ. in Chicago, Indiana Univ. and the Univ. of South Carolina and holds a bachelors and Masters degrees form the University of South Carolina. He has a doctorate from the University of Hard Knocks.

Teachers include Edward Kleinhammer, Arnold Jacobs, Charlie Vernon, Frank Crisafulli, Jay Friedman, Michael Mulcahy, Jan Kagarice, Tony Chipburn, Richard Oldberg, Lewis van Haney, Thomas Beversdorf, and more.

Being an “equipment junkie” since the seventh grade has taught Sheridan to assemble custom trombones in a way that fits each player the very best way possible. It's important for the instrument to be easy to play and have the right kind of sound in order to accelerate development of the individuals, not just as players, but as musicians. After all, playing music is a lot better than playing a lot of notes.

The S E Shires line of instruments, made in Massachusetts, makes it possible to custom fit just about any trombone player so they can perform to the peak of their ability.