Meet Adam Shavin | Guitarist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adam Shavin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adam, what inspires you?
It depends on the day and I have a habit of sometimes getting tunnel vision about things like this, but in general I’d say water and the ocean. One of my favorite poems is the Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud and I thought about it a lot at points in my life when I was trying to figure out the things I wanted to express through music. But in general, like I said, the ocean has always fascinated me – how it’s a gateway to completely different parts of the world. I’ve always loved geography too, so I guess that’s related. And a lot of my musical inspiration does come from other parts of the world, like Africa and the Middle East. When it comes to guitar specifically, lately it’s a lot of Buddy Guy, MonoNeon and Jim Thomas, the guitar player from the Mermen.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As far as what I’m most proud of, it’s probably the fact that I can do what I do solo. Being a solo artist made me feel kind of limited for a while, but now I completely relish it. It’s much easier logistically with things like gigs, and I enjoy the. creative freedom. I mean who knows what I’ll be doing a year or two from now, but it’s nice to have something that’s working. When it comes to getting to where I am today, I guess it’s just about starting small and building from there. Busking leads to open mics, open mics prepare you for gigs, etc. It can be daunting in the beginning, but if it’s the right thing for you, it’ll be more exciting than anything. But I think the key is trying to be satisfied with wherever you are in your career, at every stage. To allow yourself to enjoy the successes you’ve already had. Easier said than done of course.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I don’t know about an itinerary, that’s not really my wheelhouse, but I’m at Limerick Junction a lot cause I live near there. I’d say go to 8arm before it closes. I’ve been really into Biltong Bar lately too. It’s like this South African beef jerky. I also like some of the Ethiopian places here – Desta, Ghion.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d say all of my ear training professors in college, because I completely misestimated at the time how important and useful that would be.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamisaacshavin/?hl=en&__coig_restricted=1

Image Credits
Katie King, Sarah Engelhardt, Matthew Gannon