Here’s Hoping Shane Guerrette Can Cure Your COVID Blues
Photo by Max Durante
[UNPUBLISHED:] I first discovered you/your song “Lost Without” through Instagram Reels. Social media is doing something good for you! How do you feel social media has aided you in establishing your career?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] Before I even had this album out, I knew that it’s always been the leading force in getting a fanbase. I always did live gigs, playing at restaurants and bars. At the end of the night, I would always feel discouraged because a lot of the time, you were just background music or playing to only a couple of people. It was very discouraging. Especially during the time of pre-COVID and the outskirt of COVID, I was doing a lot of open mics and gigs which weren’t very fulfilling for me. I thought, “You know what? I need to shift my efforts.” I remembered the time when I was younger when I used to upload Pop covers to YouTube through which I gained a bit of a fan base. I knew that there was something there with the internet. But at the pre-COVID time, I decided to take a break from social media and focus on writing and releasing music. I knew about TikTok and its powers but I had this notion that it was mainly dancers and funny videos on there. After some thinking, I realized that I had nothing to lose and I had songs that I wanted to push out and market my music so I decided to start posting “engaging TikToks.”
[UNPUBLISHED:] At what point did you decide that music was the career for you? Was there a pivotal point at which you decided that you were going to focus on music full-time?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] Great question! Music has always been a staple in my life. I was always around music. I come from a musical family. My mom had the radio on at all times and she sang a lot. My older two siblings played piano and played drums. I would say the pivotal moment was when I picked up an acoustic guitar and started taking lessons when I was 14 years old. I immediately became obsessed with it. I would go to school and immediately rush home afterward to play my guitar. It was like a puzzle that I still to this day cannot figure out. That’s what makes it so engaging to me. The more I think I know the instrument, the further I am from understanding it. I’m always a student in that sense.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You said that you’ve taken lessons, are you classically trained, or do you play by ear? Do you know how to read sheet music?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] I am the worst when it comes to music theory. I used to be able to read all the notes on the sheet. Honestly, now I play more by ear. I operate by emotions and whatever I’m feeling in the moment rather than getting in my head and thinking about which chords align with which scale or which key. I did away with all of that and started playing music in the style that I grew up with. It was never technical, it was more feeling-based.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What were some of your previous jobs before you decided to take on music? Anything funny, fun, memorable?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] The first job that I had as a teenager was as an exam writer for Kumon. I don’t know why they let me do this but I was very underqualified for that job. It was very stressful. You could not talk, you had to be silent. Needless to say, I only lasted about a week. More recently, I’ve been working in construction. But I’m working with my dad which makes it totally worth it. Those have been my main two gigs but I always knew that music was what I always wanted to do.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Wow! All very different careers. Focusing a bit more on the music, as you’ve matured and progressed how would you say your discography has grown with you?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] It’s funny because I look back on it now and think, “Oh boy…it’s changed quite a bit.” I’ve always wanted to understand music and guitar and always be inspired. I’ve always found inspiration during the different phases of my life as a musician. I started, back in the day, doing the Pop covers. I was learning the top 40 radio hits. I was 14/15, listening to Justin Bieber and One Direction because that was what was popular.
Not long after that, I came across John Mayer and what was it for me. My main influence was just John Mayer, he was my biggest idol. But then, it got to a point where I started thinking about how John might have learned so much about the guitar that he became such a fantastic musician. That was really the whole discography, pushing me to go down the rabbit hole to identify which artists inspired who. From John Mayer, I learned that his main influence was Blues-oriented, being inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. And then I would dive deeper and go on a never-ending journey to the Delta blues era.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Speaking of tracing back, you’ve mentioned that you also drew inspiration from Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley, and Coldplay. It seems like although there’s somewhat of a similarity between the groups, they are all very different in their styles. How do you feel having a wide range in your music taste has allowed you to establish your identity as a musician?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] What a throwback. That’s all I used to listen to. I grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, it was always on in my house. They always have a special place in my heart. I think they are one of the best bands if not the best band that has ever formed. All of the band members are absolute geniuses. It’s funny because looking back, I have been inspired by so many things. It comes up in the way that I approach and play the guitar.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I feel the Rock and Blues-y and occasionally modern Indie influence on your music. The gritty nature of your music reminds me of The Black Keys. You’ve noted that you mimic a lot of what you hear, how did you find your sound?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] It goes back to that feeling that I was talking about earlier. A lot of it starts as a mistake. I’ll often start “noodling” on the guitar and catching myself playing something. I catch myself thinking, “Oh what was that?” Most times when I sit down to write a song or write a rift, I can’t do it. But when I passively play, that’s when most of the good songs come out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is that how the process of Here’s Hoping came about?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] Here’s Hoping came about during COVID when everything was in lockdown. I decided to shift my efforts from playing live to learning production. I was learning production in 2020 on YouTube by searching up “How to Produce.” I came across Kenny Beats and became big into Pop and Rap production. I was producing that style of music for about a year. Although it was a great learning experience for me, I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to do in the long term. I wanted to get back to my roots, to the rock-soil upbringing that I had. I was writing songs and I applied what I learned about Pop production to what I had. It was very “DIY” with how that whole album came about.
I spent about a month in New York City with my brother. I did some open mics in the area but as I noted before, it didn’t feel very fulfilling. I decided to make a demo/an album to send to producers. I knew that the demo was going to be very “homemade.” I didn’t care about the quality of it because, in my eyes, it was just a rough version of an idea for a producer to come in and fix up. I was just having fun with it. By the time I was done, I was sending it to friends and family. The feedback was pretty much unanimous, everyone thought it was great. That’s when I thought about utilizing TikTok and dropping everything single by single and making videos around them.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Listening to all of the tracks on Here’s Hoping transported me to different dimensions and scenes in my head. “Spout It Out” made me feel like I was floating in a huge lava lamp, and “Here’s Hoping” gave me Summer Salt vibes, putting me on a beach cruiser. Ironically, “Goodbye” threw me into the beginning/opening credits of a movie where the main character is healing from grief or loss but deciding to change their life around. I’m very thankful that you put your music out there because it creates so much imagery.
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] That’s really cool to hear. I love hearing how my music impacts people differently and what their main takeaway is. For me, it brings me back to the place I was when I was making the music. I mean, look at the title: Here’s Hoping. It came from a time of uncertainty, trying to figure out if music was the right thing for me to be doing. One of the best things I learned to do was to hold on to hope.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have a favorite song that you’ve ever created?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] It changes all the time. Every time that I write a song I think, “This is the best song I’ve ever written!” And then I write the next one and think the same thing.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What can fans expect in the future?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] They can expect a lot more music. I’ve been trying to write and develop some new stuff. They can definitely expect some new tours.
[UNPUBLISHED:] As a couple of farewells, we’d like to ask you some “fun” questions. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three items would you bring (they don’t have to be practical) and what restaurant would you want to have on that island?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] Hm…that’s a tough one. I’m not prepared for this question. I would bring an acoustic guitar. And I think I would also bring a tuner and extra strings. Restaurant-wise, I would want to have The Cheesecake Factory, just because the menu is so huge.
[UNPUBLISHED:] If you could travel to any point in time (past, different place in the present, or future), where would you go and why?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:] I’d love to be transported back to a Blues club. Maybe somewhere where Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf was playing.
(PS: If you find yourself in NYC and want to hit up a Blues club, Shane recommends checking out Terra Blues.)
[UNPUBLISHED:] As a final farewell, would you mind giving our readers three songs that you are listening to right now/in love with currently?
[SHANE GUERRETTE:]
Valerie by Amy Winehouse
Mean Old Frisco Blues by Muddy Waters
Texas Sun by Khruangbin and Leon Bridges
Make sure to follow Shane on Instagram and Twitter. And don’t forget to stream Here’s Hoping on Spotify now!