We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shela Solomon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shela, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I would have started my music career sooner. Music has always been a very integral part of my life and who I am. I grew up with a very musical parent who shared their love for music with me from the moment I was born, so it feels that the path was almost inevitable for me. However, I didn’t actually figure out how to make this my career until a little over a year ago, when I was 21. I grew up taking vocal lessons and learning how to be in a band from School of Rock, and my passion for music only grew deeper as I got older. However, once I graduated, I felt a little lost and had no idea how I was going to continue my music career outside of the school. I took a hiatus from music for about two years and decided to pursue drawing and painting. As I continued down this path, I had a growing feeling that I was not headed in the right direction. I became a vocal teacher in 2022, and that marked the beginning of my journey to making a career out of what I love. Fast forward to July of 2023, and everything started to kickstart for me. I knew it was time to get out of my comfort zone and make a name for myself as a singer. I met my bandmates, Tommy O’Halloran and Thomas Pribyl, at the Wednesday Night Jams at John’s Big Deck here in Kansas City, and we formed our band Shela & The Hot Toms and started getting to work. We have had amazing opportunities for our band and as individual musicians all over Kansas City. We have even been able to travel to the historic town of Deadwood, South Dakota for an unforgettable two-week residency at the Saloon #10.

Without a doubt, I am extremely happy with where I am in my career and excited for my future in this career. However, I feel that the reason for me not starting sooner was because of fear. Being a musician is a very hard job, and it requires balanced levels of vulnerability and discipline. There is no set work schedule or anyone making sure that you are staying on track and pushing forward. There is no HR department to look to as a musician. We are fully in control with our career, and that can be scary at first. I think that if I had started sooner, I would be further in my journey, but over that, I feel that I would be more centered in who I currently am.

I am proud of where I am today, and I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. However, my message to young artists is to NEVER be scared of pursuing your calling no matter how unconventional of a job it is. Learn to embrace the ups and downs of the journey and understand how important pushing forward is. Being an artist of any kind is the most rewarding job to have, but enjoying the ride and paving your way is most of the reward.

Shela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a musician, singer, and vocal instructor from Belton, Missouri, a small town just outside of Kansas City. I have always had a passion for music, and from a very young age, I knew that I was going to be a rockstar. I began taking vocal lessons at 12 years old and have had a collective of 8 years of vocal training. I am currently involved in my band, Shela & The Hot Toms, and we love bringing the fun energy everywhere we go. Aside from the band, I am in an acoustic duo with my good friend Dakota Kemp. It has been fun exploring another side of performing outside of a full band. I have enjoyed coming together as two solo artists and bringing our creative visions to life to create a fun and laid-back atmosphere.

As I have started my solo journey, I believe that my stage presence is what sets me apart. As a kid, I was a very shy and introverted person. It felt like I was white-knuckling through any social interaction. Singing, however, oftentimes felt even more natural than talking. Even though I grew up in School of Rock, I was so shy when it came to stage banter, so I would just not talk at all in between songs. As I began to make music my professional career, I realized that something had to change. Working through that barrier helped me understand the importance of building a presence on stage that is authentic to who you are. It was really hard to get comfortable with being the one in the driver’s seat in a conversation with an entire room. However, as I pushed myself towards my discomfort of talking to an audience, it got easier and easier to allow my true personality to shine through. I love the saying “Fake it until you make it” because it is what I feel a lot of artists have to embody. As I mentioned in a previous question, being a musician is a very vulnerable field to be in, and it can be very hard to do that for a lot of people for various reasons. I feel that the “faking it” is simply us pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones until it becomes comfortable. This mindset has helped me develop a presence that is true to my personality and who I am. I love using humor to connect with my audience and embracing the one-on-one interactions that come with it. I think getting to know my audience is really fun and invites an open and comfortable space for everyone, including me.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Previously, I did talk a little about my pivot from music when I graduated high school and School of Rock. Honestly, when I look back on this time, it seems so unreal because that was the only time that I wasn’t doing music. I had always been dead set on this musical path since I can remember. However, in the fall of 2020, I started to lose my sense of direction because I had no idea how I was going to pursue my music career outside of my schooling. I had grown up loving to sing, but I also knew that I was not the best at singing opera. Even though I knew it wasn’t the strongest part of my voice, I still decided to audition for the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory. Unfortunately, I did not make it into the conservatory, but I remember not feeling surprised by that at all because I knew that my heart was not fully into that type of singing and performing. I had to decide what I was going to do from there, and I turned to another passion of mine: drawing and painting. I had concluded that I was going to be a tattoo artist, and I chose to study Studio Art at UMKC. I stayed at UMKC for a semester and a half until I decided that I was going to drop out during what you would call a “crash out moment.” This decision was very rushed and on a limb, but I felt desperate for change. For the next year and a half, I continued at my retail job and took private art classes to move toward my goal of being a tattoo artist. Throughout this time, I felt like I had this small voice that was yelling at me to get back on track, and as time passed, it only seemed to get louder and louder. In 2022, I received a message from the General Manager of School of Rock and was asked to come back as a vocal teacher. This knocked me directly back on my musical journey, and I haven’t looked back since.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I believe the most rewarding part of being an artist is the journey. As artists, we usually don’t have someone else to monitor us or tell us what to do. I mentioned how this can be hard when starting, but ultimately, it allows us to pave our own way. This level of independence in a job is so rewarding because we get to be whoever we want and have an opportunity to directly take our visions and bring them to life. We are the ultimate DIYers and have an amazing ability to create anything we want out of nothing. I love being able to step back from a video shoot, photoshoot, or writing session and see something that I have created right in front of me, knowing that I will be able to share a part of who I am with my community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shela.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shela.solomon.9/

Image Credits

Katharine Kitty LeClair
Casey O’Halloran