Q & A With Shane of Shane & Shane

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Think of contemporary Christian music and you probably envision pseudo-pop artists performing in churches and festivals, preaching morals louder than they live them, singing songs laced with Bible verses and out of touch with the realities of today’s culture. Meet Shane Barnard of Shane & Shane and think again.

Better yet, listen to the songs he writes and see if you can’t identify with the vulnerability, struggles and spiritual longing every soul experiences. While Shane B. (as he’s called to distinguish him from Shane Everett the other half of the duo) would humbly protest that I’m pointing to him for standing out in a market where artists sound pretty much all alike, he would agree on one thing: audiences identify with music that speaks authentically. And every song Shane B. writes comes from his heart, his spirit and his passion to “get people in the church to believe the gospel. So many Christians don’t actually believe they’re forgiven, and until you believe you’re forgiven, you can’t forgive,” he explains. In a culture where the pain of drawn-out wars, racism, political division, spiritual apathy and heartache affect us all, it’s a sentiment that reaches across houses of worship and into every doorstep.

Make no mistake, Shane & Shane focus on writing and presenting music that reminds the soul to seek Jesus in the Christian faith. But there’s something more. It speaks not just to believers, but to the human spirit, lifting, inspiring, soothing, calming, calling one back to remember that we are not alone. That we are loved. That being a human being, is, well, okay after all. And yes, I can already hear Shane B. telling me it’s all about knowing, believing and trusting the Word of God. But I would argue with him that, unlike their self-proclaimed mission to minister just to the church, their music has the power to reach a secular, spiritually-hungry audience. In other words, me. And anyone else out there who is open to the inspiration that their music affords.

One thing that struck me, perhaps what drew me in the first place, was not their lyrics, but the music itself. Their sound can rival any top pop hit out there, and every single track on their latest album, The One You Need, stands out as a testament to creative work done with passion, excellence and freedom. But enough of my ramblings, let’s hear from Shane B. himself.

Tell me your story. How did you guys become musicians and Shane & Shane?

Well, it’s pretty crazy. Shane E.’s not even a musician. He doesn’t play any instruments or write any songs, he just sings really good [smiles]. He’s the business mind and sings harmony. I wasn’t brought up with music or Jesus. My family moved to Texas when I was in junior high and that’s when I became a Christian and started playing guitar. Then in college at Texas A&M, I played in a weekly worship group at church. In my junior year, I was asked to play in an outdoor concert. I was terrified! I was a business major, after all. I’d never sang at a microphone. But, I borrowed a “real” guitar from a guy down the hall named Shane Everett (who was a cover singer at bar gigs and not a Christian at the time) and did the concert. Shane E. and I became buddies and within six months, music became a full time job, I quit college and it took off. Shane soon became a Christian and we’ve been Shane & Shane now for thirteen years. We didn’t try or ask for a platform, it came to us.

How has your journey changed over the years?

Performance-wise, we pretty much do the same thing we’ve always done. Concerts at churches and conferences. We’re both married with daughters, and so that has changed things, too. We used to do 300 performances a year. This year we cut it down to 150 and next year, we will do 75, Lord willing. Family has brought a whole new perspective. My wife, Bethany Dillon, is also a Christian artist, she still writes and records – she’s much better than we are – and right now is pursuing her passion at home while our girls are young. Shane and I love what we do, but we’re also excited about being in place more. We’ve had a studio in Dallas for the last ten years and we’re starting a label, Wellhouse Records and a publishing company. We also teach songwriting classes to about 50 students. We’ve got a new album coming out in April and we’ll be touring with the new artists we’ve signed at Wellhouse.

You write your own songs. What inspires you?

Writing is really just journaling for me and turning it into songs. The Bible inspires me, as does good teaching of the Word of God. I spend a lot of time listening to good pastors and theologians. I write a lot of stuff that comes from some difficult times in my life and the spiritual journey I’m now on.

Your music sounds different than so much of what is out there in the Christian market. Why is that?

One, I hardly ever listen to music [smiles]. Which means what’s popular isn’t influencing me. But Christian music has really been pigeon-holed by Christian radio. Traditionally, the only way to really make it in this market is to get time on Christian radio. That means you need to sound like the stuff that they play. That’s why so much of it sounds the same. We’ve never really had a whole lot of Christian radio success and I don’t write for that purpose.

What is most challenging in your creative process?

The same challenge that any pastor faces on a Sunday: how do I take a text and present it in a way that will move others? I never lack for things to write because there’s so much in the Bible you can write about. I get a bed of chords for a song, then the challenge is taking the concept and putting it into that musical bed. I have a vision and see the starting and end point, but like most writing, the middle is challenging. I’m constantly looking and waiting for that element. I’ve had songs that have taken 10 years, where I’ve just waited for it to present itself. When the song is ready, it just happens. What I love is the digging process. It’s like mining for something, lots of times it’s stale and uninspiring until you find that nugget. There’s a part of that exploration and discovery that I enjoy a lot.

What is the key to a successful collaboration?

I’m not sure I can answer that. We have an awesome drummer, Joey Parish, but otherwise, we don’t have a band. I write a song, present it to Shane E., he’ll respond, we’ll go in and record the song. Most of the time, I start with acoustic guitar and map it out and set the groove and transitions. Most of the people who play on our records come in as they can. We have an amazing studio and at any point we can start recording. And with technology today, we can upload and with a push of a button send it to a buddy in Nashville or Florida; they’ll add to it and send it back. So it’s a different type of collaboration in that a song is literally built layer by layer by many different people.

What’s the most important thing for an aspiring songwriter to learn?

For Christian songwriters, it’s the Bible. A lot of our students should be studying theology, because the songwriting will come naturally. What we need in Christian music are people on stage who are not trying to get people to like them, but to like Jesus. It’s hard to train people to do that when you’re putting them on a stage, shining lights on them and audiences are clapping [smiles].

What advice would you give an artist wanting to break into the Christian market?

The person who is gifted, who loves where they are in life and is truly content in the Lord, is the one we are usually envisioning as someone who can handle the stress and pitfalls of a platform life. This person has ambition, but at the end of the day, they are satisfied with where they are. We can help that person by doing EPs for them or signing them to our label. What I would advise aspiring artists to do is raise $20,000 and record half of a record, get the best players, best producer you can and do five of your favorite songs. But only when you can do the very best that you can. You’ll need to spend $30,000 on a full album. Until you can do that, spend $1,000 on a little recording rig and spend your time recording yourself and listening back. That’s the best thing you can do for yourself. You need to spend those 10,000 hours practicing – but you love it, it’s your passion, it’s fun. Make little demos and get people who will be honest with you to give you feedback. Then when you’re sure you can do your absolute best, raise the money and record that half album. It’s true that aspiring artists do get discovered and signed from YouTube videos, but you still need to have something in your hand that is done well.

Do Christian artists face different expectations from their fans than secular artists? Is there more pressure to “be perfect”?

For the most part, there’s not a huge difference between Christian and secular artists – you paint yourself up to be as good as possible in every way and then encourage people to be like you [laughs]. The healthier ones and the ones I love and support are the ones who minister out of their need for God, a clear vision for Him. You’re either trying to exalt God or yourself. We’d be doing our fans a disservice if we were trying to feed them “Shanes” and not Jesus. I’ve been to many Christian concerts where man is getting as highly exalted as in the secular market. I’ve also been to many where man gets out of the way. There’s a group of artists and bands out there that really exalt the Lord. As for us? We’re just a couple of normal guys. Not much flash, in fact, we probably should dress up a bit more. There’s no huge intro, no encores. In fact, people would feel really dumb to stalk the Shanes, we’ve confessed everything on stage [laughs].

Visit shaneandshane.com.

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