Nashville, Tennessee-based musician Shane Scarazzini is a professional. He has made a name for himself in many facets of the music business as an original artist, songwriter, bandleader, and guitarist. Shane, who was born in Newburgh, New York, developed a love for music at a young age.
The music of Free To Roam is the soundtrack to the spirit of a young man who has just managed to escape the oppressive demands of an antiquated society and gone to the mountains to create and share his art with the rest of the world. The “suffocating grip” in this instance was his sense of being entrapped in the world of touring exclusively for other artists and breaking out on his own to share his story. Free To Roam is like a dream-catcher that gives this feeling a real life and sound. There is a pure, youthful innocence that seems to wash over one’s heart during a change like this. He hopes that, even for a brief time, the listeners experience the same warmth and tranquility in their hearts. Check out the exclusive interview below:
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1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: Hi! I was born and raised in the Hudson Valley region of New York. If you love mountains, trees and lakes, I recommend visiting! The music scene around the HV was, and still is, rich with passion and culture. As a teenager, I was invited on stage for the very first time by Les Paul Jr, and found mentorship within his band. I then found a home in the blues clubs up and down the river, and hit the road with my first country band directly after high school. I declined going to college and relocated to Nashville in 2014, where my schedule exploded with heavy touring all around the USA as a guitarist with a smorgasbord of country acts. Though it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows (long story), music has been my day job from day one, and I’m so thankful for that.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: If by “formal training,” you mean staying out until 4am on school nights to sit in with any band that would let me learn the ropes, then sure! 😉 But in all seriousness, I never really had any formal training. I performed very poorly in theory-based music classes in high school, but excelled at learning out in the field – sitting in with bands, open mics, etc., until I built the confidence to start accepting gigs, which is when the education REALLY began. You either sink or swim out there in the wild, and I had no intention of sinking.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘SHANE SCARAZZINI & EIGHTFINGERS’?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: BB King was my first live concert experience back in 2009, and he forever became my guide for weaving real emotion into the music. On the country side of things, my first hero was Waylon Jennings. He paved his way by holding strong against the Nashville executives that wanted to polish and package him, which certainly inspired me to find the courage to get out and be who I want to be – even if it cuts against the grain of the big music business machine. As for the name ‘Shane Scarazzini & EightFingers’ – I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Shane Scarazzini is my birth name, of course. EightFingers, however, is derived from our drummer, Don Holocher. Don lost two of his fingers on his left hand in an accident. As you might imagine, this required him to develop a very interesting left-hand technique on the drums, in which he holds the stick with only his pinky finger, and controls the direction of the stick with input from his thumb. It is very fascinating to watch, and he never drops a stick!\
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: Lately, I’ve felt pretty cozy describing our sound as “Cosmic Americana.” In other words, it’s country with groovy glasses on. Americana to listen to while you park your van in a field and watch the stars with your lover, you know? Let the swells of the pedal steel take you on a carpet ride across the universe, let the guitar riffs show you the colors of the galaxy, and let the lyrics bring you to that one place in your mind you didn’t know was resting there.
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5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which you refer to as Cosmic Americana?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: I agree! I can’t tell you how many hours I spent as a 15 year old doing my best to emulate Stevie Ray Vaughan and BB King, and as a 22 year old, trying to emulate Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams. Emulating your heroes is a fabulous way to get to know yourself, even if that sounds like an oxymoron! I am 29 years old now, and have had several more cycles of this over the years, each of which have chipped away at the marble to reveal my identity inside. Lately, I’ve been smitten by artists such as Orville Peck, Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell; all of whom have helped me identify new avenues of expression. I feel that I’m growing strongly into my identity now, but I’m sure I’ll feel differently still when I’m 36, 43 and 78! As long as you keep listening and absorbing, you will continue to blossom.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: In the big picture, I think it’s incredibly important for music to be a vessel for voices to be heard regarding real-world issues, movements, injustice, and beyond. Music is the one language we all speak, and that is no cliché. Never underestimate the power of a song to transcend all human barriers and change the world. I have explored this in my songwriting, although I haven’t yet released such a message. So far, the themes in my work have told stories of romance, life as a nomadic traveler, and breaking free from the chains of an outdated world, as heard in our new song, “Free To Roam.”
7. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: With very few exceptions, I don’t necessarily think it’s important for folks to fully understand the entire scope of a song’s story or message. As soon as I release a song to the world, it is no longer up to me how that song should touch somebody’s heart, and I think that is one of the most pure and beautiful aspects of the process.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: This process never seems to look the same twice, and ideas are often stumbled upon rather than brainstormed. For example, I took a gig filling in on the guitar for a Nashville band, which required me to use open-G tuning for their material. It was my first time utilizing that tuning, and I felt inspired to explore it further after the show, which resulted in me coming up with the riff that I promptly recorded on my phone and tucked away. A couple of months later, I took a month-long hiatus from Nashville to shack up in the Adirondack mountains, where I felt a blissful wave wash over me. This experience called upon that riff I had tucked away months prior, and a song started to take shape, and ultimately became Free To Roam. Generally, I’m very private during the writing stage, but I absolutely love to collaborate with others on the production side. It is unbelievably exciting to me to witness a sonic landscape come together with interpretations from other musicians.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: I’ll spare the readers the sorrows of my personal life for now, but when it comes to my music career, the most difficult thing I’ve endured thus far has got to be my earlier touring days. I’m still touring heavily and it’s certainly no picnic with sleepless nights and hard miles, but most of it is a joyride compared to my first couple of years based in Nashville, when I would be on stage seven nights a week, five sets a night, seven weeks at a time, with a ruthless travel schedule and terrible money. Sometimes we would drive 33 hours straight and then get directly on stage somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I spent my entire 21st year like that. I’m happy to report that I graduated from that type of existence a long time ago, but boy did it take a toll on my well-being. The silver lining is that I gained a tremendous education in band operations, touring logistics, business, and survival. And I certainly don’t complain about much anymore.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
SHANE SCARAZZINI: In life, it’s coming home to my sweet partner, Chloe, and our two loving dogs, Juniper and Willow. In music, it’s the simple fact that I’m still here, still plugging away, still moving forward. I could have given up ten times over, but I didn’t, and I won’t. I share a band with my best friends, Lucas Carillo and Don Holocher, and it’s the best job in the world. I get to grow with them, through art and life and everything in between. That’s what it means to be a successful band. It’s not the records you sell, it’s the love you share.
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Photo Credit: Photo by Tammie Valer