Meet Eric Shen: Musician & guitarist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Shen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I take risks as challenges. People sometimes think about risk in a negative way because of the uncertainty they are facing, on the other hand I believe there is still some degree of certainty in which we can control.

I remember there was a time when I was really having a hard time in life. I was reading one of my favorite musicians, Pat Martino’s, book “Here and Now”, he told a story about his memory loss from brain surgery that made him realized how important it is to live in the moment, because that is what you can control, no one knows what is going to happen in the future, I think everyone should look at it this way.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It wasn’t easy of course, I had a day time job worked in the office for 5 years before I started to do music full time. During that time I worked in the office from 9 am to 5pm, after work If I wasn’t gigging I practiced till 2am everyday. It was a really rough time for me to make money but also keep pursuing music. I thought that was the biggest challenge of my music career until this pandemic hit.

I have always been a sideman in my music career, I either play in different bands or record with different artists.
When pandemic hit last year I thought It was a good opportunity to develop my own style, I spent a lot of time visualizing what kind of sound/performance that I want to achieve with only my guitar and equipment. I have developed a way of using my guitar and my pedalboard to do a one man guitar show so I don’t have to rely on anyone, This has been a top personal project this year, I will be playing in public more with my one man guitar project.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If it was a week long trip I may take them to museum of contemporary art in DTLA. The central market is a good place to eat in DTLA, LACMA is another great museum to check out as well. We can take a hike the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles National Forrest, or shop on melrose avenue. We also have to go to the beach, Venice and Santa Monica are great, all along the coast of California there are many other nice beaches. Laguna and Corona del Mar beach are my favorites.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It has been a long journey to get to where I am at right now, my friends and my family matter the most to me, they are one of the reason that I am still doing what I love as a career now. Shoutout to my teachers, my friends Wayne, Landon, Xavier, Andy, my sister, and my dad. There are so many more that I can thank. I love them all.

Website: https://www.ericshenmusic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.shenblues/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/e.shenblues

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD_DAkHLIVzoOVg2dlKM0vg

Image Credits
Wayne Hung, Kristen Bromiley