Wilshire described himself as a father, son, writer, singer, player, friend, and “annoyingly complicated at times.” “The rest is still unwritten,” he said.
On his musical background, he said, “I was raised in a musical family and trained by my dad to love all music since I was three. I moved from my hometown in Roanoke, Virginia to Nashville at the age of 19 to pursue being a studio musician and singer. I waited tables for close to a year then things opened up with my first session. I was called in to sing background vocals on a project and after the session I told the artist that I thought that he should let me play guitar on the song I just sang on. I said, ‘if you don’t like it, don’t pay me.’ Luckily for me, he liked it and things took off from there.”
Aside from jazz, Wilshire is involved in multiple genres of music. “Starting with my living being made as a studio musician, I obsessed over each genre I was called into work on. I’ve played and sung a lot of styles over the years and love each one. My first foray into the scene at 20 was several multi-platinum gospel albums, then pop with artists like Steve Winwood, Sofie B Hawkins, Michael Bolton and now country. I mixed the No. 1 single ‘Drunk on Your Love’ by Brett Eldredge, and have done the background vocals on chart-topping singles for Dierks Bently, Brett Eldredge, Darius Rucker, and David Nail.”
He continued, “I inherently approach this as a singer songwriter, who also loves jazz. I grew up on a wide variety of music. My dad always played ‘Little Stevie’ when Stevie was a kid, Donnie Hathaway, Andre Crouch. At the same time he played all The Beatles’ albums, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, then Miles Davis ‘Kinda Blue,’ Wes Montgomery and Bill Evans. My first concert was going to see the Mose Allison trio when I was eight. So I think my sound is a culmination of all the different styles of music I grew up listening to.”
Wilshire is now based in Nashville, which is a songwriter’s town. “The whole process of conveying a ‘story’ here is paramount, but I did the opposite with this album. It’s more about conveying a feeling in each song, and letting the music guide the narrative. I also had my pick-of-the-litter of great players to include on the record. I stepped outside of Nashville to get the world-renowned jazz bassist John Patitucci to play on most of the songs,” he said.
Regarding his upcoming album, he said, “I’ve been in music most of my life supporting other artists and singing, playing, mixing and producing their projects, which I absolutely love.This record is my first step into the solo artist arena where I can define myself and my influences. This record is about the ‘song.’ I’m a writer by trade nowadays and I care deeply about how the song travels in the story. How it makes the listener feel. So its a chance for me to sing with my own voice for my own project.”
On his single “Woman,” he said, “It was originally written a year ago about the woman I love and how her loved has changed me and is like nothing I’ve ever known. A good woman’s love makes a man want to be a better man and is an integral thread that binds society. Mother, wife, daughter, girlfriend, grandmother. It’s amazing how the song and meaning has taken on a life of its own too. The upcoming video has a powerful and timely message. We asked women to pick a word that defines them as a ‘woman.’ I feel its very important that women be able to define themselves. And in a small way, I hope the video shows that.”
Wilshire shared that he will be touring soon. “I am in the process of doing some shows around Nashville and am currently booking shows around New York City and Los Angeles,” he said.
For his fans, Wilshire concluded, “My music comes from the heart. And hopefully it comes across that I love what I do.”
“Woman” is available on Soundcloud.
