NORTHERN NECK singer-songwriter Shane Cooley came out with his fifth CD a few weeks back.

But if admirers of the folk-rock sound try to use the "Dance As If No One Were Watching" disc to track him down, they'll have trouble finding where it was produced, Sonshane Studio in Mollusk, Va.

That's because the studio consists of a digital, multitrack recorder in Cooley's bedroom, not far from the personal computer where the 15-year-old Rappahannock High School student produced the CD cover and burned copies of the music he wrote, sang, mixed and labored over for months.

"I taught Shane a few chords when he was 10," said his father, Jack Cooley, an assistant principal at Rappahannock High School, where Shane is a ninth-grader. "He took over from there, teaching himself how to play guitar and write songs. It's something he has a passion for."

That's putting it mildly. In the short time the Lancaster County resident has been putting pen to paper and slipping a capo on his guitar, the student with the 4.0 average has written 96 songs and recorded them on five CDs.

The one that got him noticed outside of his friends and family was "Live on USA," Cooley's emotional response to the 9/11 attacks.

"I saw it all on television and felt so horrible that I needed to do something, to respond somehow," said the young musician, who describes himself as a "young dinosaur" because he believes in manners, respect for women and his elders and service to community. "I sat down and in two days, I had this song."

He did more than just write and produce it. Wanting to help those devastated by the attacks, Cooley recorded his "Live on USA" song and CD and, with the help of his school's Beta Club, sold copies of it to raise money.

The $600 raised was donated to the Red Cross relief fund.

What may turn out to be a more critical moment came when he appeared at a civic meeting in Warsaw to play live before a crowd of more than 150 parents and students, many of them his friends.