| SHANE
THERIOT
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"I really wanted to
be a rock player," says Shane Theriot. "I
just missed my calling! What happened to
the '80s?"
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Shane
Theriot was born and raised in New Orleans, and
grew up surrounded by all kinds of music —
from Cajun and zydeco to rock and jazz. He took
up guitar before his 10th birthday, and was gigging
by the time he was 11. After high school, he attended
the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, and graduated
in 1990 with top honors in all styles — an
award granted to only three students out of his
class of 300. In the early 1990s, Theriot moved
to Nashville, where he has performed and recorded
with many of Music City's finest. He continues
to live in Nashville half-time, spending the rest
of his time in New Orleans. He is the author the
the excellent book New Orleans Funk Guitar,
published by Warner Bros.
The
guitarist's latest release is Highway 90.
The record shows off his nasty rhythm work, brilliant
modern-rock lead chops, his ear for great tones,
and keen compositional skills. In addition to
his work as a leader and as a top-gun session
player in Nashville and New Orleans, Theriot has
been a member of the Neville Brothers since 1996,
and is featured on their 1999 album Valence
Street.
In
this interview, conducted via e-mail in December,
2001, Theriot shares this thoughts on getting
— and keeping — a gig, the difference
between live and studio work, and his favorite
Beatle.
*
* * * *
TAKE
IT FROM THE TOP
Adam Levy: What inspired you to pick up the guitar
in the first place?
Shane
Theriot: I started after seeing a TV show about
the Beatles. Also, I had an uncle who played guitar,
and I think I wanted to be like him.
AL:
Were you a George Harrison fan?
ST:
George Harrison's guitar work was great, but I
can't say it was an influence for me early on.
I was always into the Beatles as a whole, and
then got into Paul McCartney when my uncle turned
me on to the Ram record. McCartney is such
a great songwriter and performer. Just listen
to "Maybe I'm Amazed," from McCartney.
That song has it all for me. You can analyze it
from a theory perspective and find everything
there — beautiful harmonization of the melody,
motifs that are developed, contrary motion, and
so on — or enjoy it just for the great song
that it is. And McCartney's voice is almost hypnotic
to me.
NO
BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
AL: Is having a career in music anything like
you imagined it would be?
ST: No! Well, like a lot of players, I guess I
imagined I would have "made it" by the time I
was 21 or so. But at a certain point you start
to think, "Okay, what exactly is 'making it'?"
That can mean so many different things. The music
business is just as strange to me now as it was
when I was 15 and just couldn't wait to get home
from school and pick up a guitar. I guess I knew
it would be a creative field to get into. But,
on the other hand, I never realized how closed-minded
people might be in some ways.
AL:
How do you mean?
ST:
Well, in some circles you have to be careful about
being "too good." Some producers actually look
down on that. Can you believe that!
AL:
Have you met players who totally "get it" —
who have a solid understanding of how to survive
and make a career last over the long haul?
ST:
That is a hard one to answer because the guys
I admire always seem to go against the grain,
whereas longevity tends to involve going with
the flow. To me, the most impressive guys are
players that have stayed in their hometown and
built their whole sound around that. I think of
Sonny Landreth, who is based in Louisiana and
has that Bayou thing that people now seek out
for sessions. Guys like him, it may take a while
for them to get known, but when they do they tend
to last longer and make a more personal statement.
I
think [drummer] Kenny Aronoff is the ultimate
cat for keeping a career not just going along,
but thriving. He went from the John Cougar thing
in the '80s to playing with the Smashing Pumpkins
in the late 90's! He is a great example on how
to survive. And he lives in Indiana.
AL:
Do you have a mentor?
ST:
I guess I have a few people that I look up to
for certain things. I still keep in touch with
one of my old guitar teachers from GIT, Dan Gilbert.
We have lunch and jam every time I am in L.A.
I also keep in touch with Scott Henderson, who
has been a great help to me in a lot of ways,
and he is helping me out with my tone for my next
CD. Johnny Neel [keyboardist for Gov't Mule and
the Allman Bros.] is one of my brothers, too —
both musically and personally. We have been on
so many projects together and Johnny just has
a world of knowledge about how to make a song
work without relying on clichés He's amazing
that way. And, well — I know it sounds corny
to say this, but my wife usually makes more sense,
when all's said and done, than just about everyone
else!
AL:
Have you ever considered doing anything else for
a living?
ST:
Oh, sure all the time. I go through this one constantly.
My wife calls it my monthly "period"! Sometimes
it's so easy to forget what made me pick up the
guitar in the first place. Working as a sideman
and in the studio, you are there to deliver the
part, the tone, and make the song work. That doesn't
always translate to satisfaction or the feeling
that you have chosen a fulfilling career. You
have to be willing to deal with an uncertain level
of financial security because so much of this
business about is "who you know" — it really
is. If it was about talent, then Van Gogh would
have lived to be a wealthy old man. I realize
I am luckier than some, and I have experienced
things simply by playing a guitar that others
may never experience. And I get paid for it too.
But sure,I do think of doing other things for
a living and playing music just for the sheer
joy of it, not because I have to do it to get
by. I don't know quite what I would want to do
though, although I am semi-fluent in Japanese
and could see myself working in some aspect of
the music business in Japan someday.
AL:
You've been playing with the Neville Brothers
since 1996 — that's a pretty long run. Got
any advice for holding onto a gig?
ST:
Make sure you keep doing your homework from time
to time, working on new material or brushing up
on older songs. And don't be a negative person.
You do have to take care of business, but even
the best gigs and situations can be ruined by
people constantly whining about what is wrong
with the band, not making enough money, and so
on.
AL:
Do you have any advice for players auditioning
for a gig?
ST:
It's best to have a contact beforehand —
perhaps a buddy of yours is already on the gig.
Also, make sure to look and dress the part, know
the material well, and so on. But most importantly,
be yourself!
AL:
And any advice for when it comes time to leave
a gig?
ST:
Don't burn any bridges, if possible, and try to
leave the door open. Stay in touch with the band.
AL:
You're doing a lot of studio work, as well as
touring with the Nevilles and other live gigs.
How would you explain different skill sets needed
for studio work and live work?
ST:
For studio work you have to have your playing
together, and equally important is to have a great
tone and command of different sounds and effects.
And, to be honest, one of the keys to being a
successful studio musician — besides creativity
— is the capacity to put up with various
types and amounts of B.S. The live musician also
needs to remember the visual aspect of the gig
and dress the part, as well as nailing the music.
AL: Ever had any disasters onstage?
ST:
When I was about 14, my band's equipment trailer
went into a river and I watched a few of my amps
float by. After some help from a soccer team that
happened to be nearby, we spent the rest of the
day with hairdryers trying to dry our speakers.
PLUG-AND-PLAY
AL: What guitars and amps did you use on your
Highway 90 album?
ST:
I played my Hamer
Daytona — a Strat-style guitar with two Seymour
Duncan Alnico II pickups and a George Lynch Signature
Screamin' Demon in the bridge. I also played my
Paul Reed Smith with Gibson pickups, my old battered
Yamaha Pacifica with all stock hardware and pickups,
a few different acoustic guitars, my Fender Lonestar
Strat, with Lindy Fralin pickups — though
I hardly ever use that Strat because it never
stays in tune.
Most
of the CD was recorded with a few Fender amplifiers
that I keep in Nashville for studio gigs —
a Bassman, a Vibro Champ, and a Deluxe Reverb.
I played a few things with my100-watt Marshall.
AL:
What's your main guitar these days?
ST:
A custom Melancon
with a Tele-style body, plus several Hamer models.
AL:
What does your main guitar do best?
ST:
Makes me work a little for the notes, and gives
me the tone to get inspired.
IF
IT AIN'T BROKE
AL: On Highway 90, the music has that great
quality of being tightly knit and yet loose and
funky at the same time. Did you and the band do
a lot of punching and fixing, or did things basically
go down like you hear them on the record?
ST: I tried, whenever possible, to leave the parts
as live as possible. Anything that I could not
absolutely live with I did fix, although there
are maybe a maximum of three or four fixes on
each tune. Most of the stuff with Victor Wooten
and Willie Green is totally live, except that
I overdubbed rhythm parts behind my lead lines.
AL:
So you aren't necessarily looking to make "perfect"
music.
ST:
Sometimes if something is really out of tune or
just plain wrong, it can still work. It just has
to have character, and that's a really subjective
thing. That's one of the things I love about Jeff
Beck — the mistakes are part of the journey.
*
* * * *
To
hear an excerpt from Shane Theriot's "It Ain't
My Fault" (from his CD Highway 90) click
here.
To
jump to the official Web site of Shane Theriot,
click
here.
To
read another interview with Theriot (from the
Tipitina's Web site), click
here.
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