Guitarist John Shiurba is a composer and guitarist whose musical pursuits include improvisation, art-rock, modern composition and noise. Shiurba has recorded and toured the U.S. and Europe as a member of the bands Eskimo, The Molecules and Spezza Rotto, as a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and the SFSound Ensemble, and in various improv settings. Shiurba has composed works for his own Triplicate and 5x5 ensembles, for the SFSound Ensemble, and for various soloists. As a guitarist Shiurba has developed a unique and personalized approach to the guitar. Through the use of extended techniques and unusual preparations, he expands the traditional sound range of the instrument, producing stunning, often unrecognizable results.

Cadence Magazine calls Shiurba a "wildly creative guitarist... anti-jazz, anti everything else, yet utterly compelling." Shiurba was invited to play at the Seattle Improvised Music Festival in 1998 and at the High Zero Festival in Baltimore in 1999, and the Olympia Experimental Music Festival in 2002, as well as being featured at New Langton Arts in 2002, premiering his work "Triplicate" He has played with internationally acclaimed musicians such as Anthony Braxton, Fred Frith, Eugene Chadbourne and Jack Wright, as well as many of the finest West Coast improvisers—Gino Robair, Dan Plonsey, Scott Rosenberg, Myles Boisen, Matt Ingalls, Tim Perkis, and Matthew Sperry to name a few.

Shiurba also appears on the previous Spool cds, Skronktet West's EL and on Brett Larner's Itadakimasu.