Shenandoah SOundcheck

A glimpse at Shady Trace

“Shady Trace has killer instrumental breaks that makes me wish I could play guitar like that”

By AnnMarie Hall, October 24th, 2023

Shady Trace is a band local to Harrisonburg, VA, with members who were previous students at James Madison University. Jonathan Lee is on lead vocals and guitar, Noah Pease is on lead guitar and vocals, Brandon Carroll is on drums, and Oliver Hite is on bass. Right now, they have four songs released on Spotify: “We’re Changing With Time,” “Zoning Out (Demo),” and “Burnout (Demo),” and most recently “Looking Out For You.” 

One remarkable thing about listening to new artists is how you can almost pinpoint exactly what their inspirations were in their early music. Some so-called music lovers think this is a terrible thing, and don’t want anyone else to sound like their favorite bands, but it helps artists discover their own sound. Everyone is inspired by someone else, and that is not unheard of in the music industry.

I had the privilege of watching Shady Trace perform some covers, as well as their own songs, about a year ago, so I have some insight into what artists could have inspired them.

Here is my take on the “vibes” and inspiration in each of their songs:

“We’re Changing With Time”

Wearing headphones when listening to this song is a wonderful experience. The electric guitar plays into your left ear while you experience the rest of the production and lyrics in your right ear. I am always blown away that music production can control which ear you hear your music through. It’s like when I have my music on shuffle, then suddenly “Strawberry Fields Forever,” by The Beatles, is flossing my brain. The lyrics and music bounce back and forth from ear to ear and you start to feel like you might be floating in the song. 

That being said, if your left air pod died or you only have the right headphone in to pretend like you are listening to a lecture, then you might miss how the beginning riff in “We’re Changing With Time” sounds a lot like “Brazil” by Declan Mckenna. It has a woody guitar riff that repeats in the background to support the drums and the rest of the music. As with all the songs, their sound is most like The Backseat Lovers, who have amazing backing tracks to their relatable lyrics. Like The Backseat Lovers, Shady Trace also has killer instrumental breaks that makes me wish I could play guitar like that. I have also had the privilege to hear Shady Trace play an amazing cover of “Kilby Girl,” by the Backseat Lovers, so I may be biased.

“Zoning Out (Demo)”

“Zoning Out (Demo)” starts out as a slower, “echoey” song. Once again, they remind me a lot of The Backseat Lovers, music-wise. But I also caught some potential inspiration from Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys. This mostly stems from the melody and reverb that accompanies the vocals, and the slower more melancholy lyrics partnered with an amazing backing track. Turner’s influence shines through the most at the start of the chorus, where lead singer, Noah Pease, sings “Is anybody else zoning out?” 

Once again, they isolate the instruments to be more apparent in each ear. After the first melancholy verse, the chorus picks up by isolating the electric guitar riff in the left ear, then bringing in the drums that start to pick up the tempo to the right ear.

“Burnout (Demo)”

 As I have stated many times already, this song also gives strong The Backseat Lovers vibes. But music-wise I am also getting some inspiration from Cage The Elephant. Specifically, from their later stuff, like “Come a Little Closer,” from their album Melophobia. Once again, this song features an amazing instrumental break. When I was taking notes while listening to the songs, I wrote “Those f***ing drums!” in the most complimentary way possible. The song also ends with amazing rich, whiny guitar riff.  

“Looking Out For You”

Listening to this song was the first time I could not immediately hear a distinct, direct inspiration from my range of indie rock knowledge. I felt like I was being transported back to the early 2000s and 2010s with the carefree lyrics and melody, but I could not pinpoint an influence. This is also the first time that the singing style reminded me more of an artist rather than the music. In this case, the echoing “again” at the end of the chorus reminded me of Emblem3. I’m unsure if I fully agree with that statement, but I think of this song as encompassing the lyrical writing of indie rock, with the tone of surfy beach bops. I am mostly catching those vibes from the emphasis on ‘you,’ in the lyric “You were fucking with my head,” and the screaming backing vocals echoing on the lyric “That sound from your mouth.” 

This song feels a lot different from the previous three, but nonetheless, I still really enjoyed listening to it. It has the classic killer music break with electrifying guitar riffs that has become standard for any Shady Trace song. 

I will be looking out for when Shady Trace releases a full album.