Guest Post!

I would like to welcome everyone back to my page.  I am going to change the pace today and feature a guest post from a friend of mine who's band I featured in an earlier blog post.  I would like to introduce my good friend and bassist for the local band Pluto for Planet Levin Shackelford.  Levin is going to talk about what inspired him to be a part of the local music scene and talk about some of his favorite local bands as well.

I had never been nervous before. Not with music. But there I sat, in my truck listening to a group of musicians warming up inside of a rehearsal space. The level of skill on the instruments was higher than anything I’d experienced. It was like a cocktail made of top shelf liquor. A drink that seemed so complete already, I wondered what my bass playing could add. “Deep breath,” I thought, remembering the advice my Dad, Robbie Shackelford, a lifelong performing musician gave me once. “Just relax,” Dad said, “Music is a gift. It will take you places you never thought you’d go, show you more about yourself than you’ve ever learned doing anything else, and Dude, you’ll meet the coolest people!”

From an early age, Music and I already had quite the relationship. I grew up listening to literally anything I could find on the radio or a cassette tape. I became quite the patron of the ‘90s alternative’ sound, and I absolutely loved to dissect the recordings and listen to what each instrument was doing. While a lot of groups in that era that almost ran together, one band called Athenaeum positively floored me. They were the total package of strong, meaningful lyrics intertwined with unforgettable melodies and guitar playing. I couldn’t get enough. I remember thinking I would do anything to make those kinds of sounds, I wanted to find my part and play it.

I’d always loved the bass guitar, particularly the Motown sound with James Jamerson’s bass lines, and decided that was going to be my instrument. After convincing my (awesome) Uncle to buy one for me, the 15 year old me was well on his way. It was nearly 3 years before I began to play in a band. I remember being excited to be a part of a ‘sound’. The years of merely listening to songs were over, now I was the song! After the first rehearsal I was hooked, and knew that this whole band thing was 100% for me, and my first actual shows only confirmed this.

I continued to gig and to pursue opportunities with different bands in the Charlotte music scene for the next several years, and really came to love watching fellow local musicians play. You learn so much about being a musician from watching someone else at a show. The pacing of the set, the stage presence of the band, the crowd interactions; these are such important details that I am so grateful I was able watch and absorb from other local artists. I remember the first time I saw Kenny Floyd perform….that man is a born entertainer. His energy was through the roof, with a voice bigger than the room the roof sat on. All eyes and ears were on Kenny. No one cared about anything else in the entire world other than what he’d say or play next. The Jon Linker Band is another local act that I greatly enjoy. Jon’s up front, honest vocal delivery is backed by an outstanding group of musicians that have a rare and obvious chemistry that is a treat to watch. I have also had the pleasure of watch Mark Kano and Mike Garrigan of Athenaeum perform. What those two musicians are able to do still floors me at 29 the same as it did at 15. Their work with the band Athenaeum, as well as their respective solo offerings still represent a ‘true North’ for me musically, and the effortlessness in which they are able to reproduce these songs I hold dear in a live environment is remarkable. They are the catalysts for my journey as a musician, and I respect them to the utmost degree.

So all this led me to a truck outside a rehearsal space, listening to the group of musicians that would become Pluto for Planet. With my Dad’s advice firmly on my mind, I walked in, set my gear up, and had the single most exhilarating musical experience of my life. 3 years, many many gigs and a debut album later, my band Pluto for Planet is my second family. My gift from music.

People often ask me “What’s the best part about being a musician?” and while my typical responses are mostly (poor) attempts at humor, I can in all honesty say this: The best part of being a musician is the people I have met along the way. The friends I have made by playing in bands, going to shows, and being a part of the local music scene are both numerous and irreplaceable. My life has been enriched by the folks I have come to know and I am eternally grateful for them all.

Music is indeed a gift, and like my Dad said…I’ve met the coolest people J.

I want to thank Levin for taking time out to write this and share his experience in the local music scene with everyone.  Check out Pluto for Planet on reverbnation and check out one of their shows for an excellent night out!