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Josh Shilling sings at Celebration 2006 with the group Domino |
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
By MATTHEW MCCORMICK - Bulletin Staff Writer
Forget the corporate ladder. Josh Shilling has his sights on climbing the pop charts.
Since graduating from Bassett High School in 2001, the 23-year-old Stanleytown native has pursued that goal up and down the nation’s coasts, honing his piano and vocal chops with a variety of national and regional touring acts.
Among them are funk and R & B musician Mic Gillette — the Tower of Power trumpet player with whom Shilling performed at Celebration 2006 — and Billy “Crash” Craddock, a country stalwart whose songs topped the charts throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Shilling’s latest gig is adding his fiery piano licks and soulful singing to The Embers, a Raleigh, N.C.-based band whose beach music blend has entertained audiences nationwide for four decades.
“To most people my age, it seems like music your folks or even grandparents listened to,” Shilling said of The Embers’ style. “But it’s what I cut my teeth on so it’s like second nature to me.”
Indeed, much of the music that inspired a 7-year-old Shilling to begin tickling the ivories came from decades long since passed.
Born into a musical family — “They would do sing-along type things at Christmas time, that sort of thing,” he said — Shilling’s first real foray into the piano was picking out melodies from the Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Preston and Rolling Stones recordings in father Billy Shilling’s music collection.
“I could easily pick out parts as a kid,” he recalled. “I could hear a song on the radio or a CD and pick out the chords.”
It was that ear-based education, combined with an early enthusiasm for the piano, that Shilling said largely has driven his advancement on the instrument.
Playing the piano “wasn’t something I did every day when I was 7 or 8,” he said. “But it was something I was always interested in. I would learn a little ditty like ‘Stand by Me’ and put it away (for a little while). I came back to it (the piano) weekly, if not daily.”
He went back to it so much that when Shilling’s uncle, Ken Woodward, tapped his 12-year-old nephew to play a set with his band, Shilling was able to hold his own with far more seasoned performers.
The experience was a turning point for the budding musician, turning a precocious passion into an adolescent addiction.
“It was just a dream to be out there on the stage” performing, said Shilling. “There’s not a rush like it, even at that age.”
And he wanted more of it. For the next five years, Shilling played furiously, performing with local cover bands, at talent shows, weddings and school functions.
The hard work paid off. By the time he graduated from high school at 17 — a year early — he had no problem finding work as a professional musician.
“I kind of knew what I wanted to do, and I had the offers to do it,” he said of deciding to forego college in lieu of launching his musical career.
“It’s definitely a huge decision (not to go to college). It weighs on me today,” he added. “At some point, am I going to say ‘is this really what I need to be doing?’... But the past few years, I’ve had a lifetime of great performance experiences that never would have happened in the classroom.”
Those include jamming with Michael McDonald, whose vocals and piano playing have been featured with both the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, as well as Bill Champlin, best known for his work as the front man of Chicago.
“(Champlin) is just an incredible musician all the way around,” Shilling said. “He’s a great singer, a soulful guy — he’s the real deal.”
Although Shilling has a deep-felt appreciation for the pioneers of soul and R & B — readily apparent during his rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” at Celebration 2006 — he hopes to pave his own musical course.
Shilling has been writing his own music since high school — examples can be heard on his Web site, www.joshshilling.com — and plans to use the material to launch a solo career. He already has had some success, licensing a tune to MTV for use two of its programs, “Punk’d” and “Making the Video.”
But until he finds a major label to record his work, Shilling said he is more than happy to tour the East Coast with The Embers.
“They are very well established and well known on the East Coast, not only to fans but to musicians and producers,” Shilling said of the band. “It’s a great way to network and build relationships.” |
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