Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shorn Marshall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Shorn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I first wanted to pursue music is when I was 14 years old. I was coming from a dark, dealing with depression, after the death of my grandmother in 2000 and being bullied. I almost committed suicide at the time until my grandmother spoke to me in my dreams and said, “You need to sing again”. My father wanted me to have a plan B in case it didn’t go through. After years of trying to find myself as an adult, doing these dead-end jobs just trying to make ends meet, around 2016, I decided to pursue music professionally full-time because that’s my true passion and it gives me joy and happiness.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Music actually runs in the family. When I was 3 years old, I love listening to music. One night I was in the car. The radio was on “The Quiet Storm” show. They were playing Teena Marie song, “If I was a Bell”. I l started humming the songs at first and then I try to sing the song. As I got a little older, at the age of 6, my dad was in the group with his friends. They were rehearsing in our garage. So when I came home from school, after doing my homework, I watch my dad and his friends rehearse and mimicking their dance moves. I really didn’t really touch any instruments until I was 7, playing the piano. At the age of 9, I started playing the drums at church. During my senior year in high school, I was playing the bass drum in the drum line. At the age of 14, I started writing poetry that lead to writing songs. I started playing guitar late in the game around 18, when I was a freshman in college. I took lessons at the fall semester. Afterwards, I started to teach myself ever since. It’s been now 20 years I have been playing guitar and it helped me execute my music better as a songwriter.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first upgraded my phone, when Instagram started to do videos, I did my first guitar video from a song that I just learned, and I want to share it. Ever since that video was posted, I started to get new followers. It shocked me at first because I wasn’t getting as much followers at the beginning. So, I realize that should be my niche is to share my journey, whether I was playing guitar, creative music, performing, or sharing new gear.

If I can give an advice to another about building their social media presence, find that niche and focus on content about that niche. Followers love short videos.(They are nosey like that, lol). They want to know everything. Also, have that hashtag that will gain you more views on your video. That way, it will help you gain more new followers.

Have you ever had to pivot?

While I was starting my career as a full-time musician, I had to pivot into different areas to have multiple streams of income. I had to research different areas such as doing studio session work (features, guitar trackings, ghost writing), performing as a band member. I didn’t start teaching lessons and mentoring until last year. The more I research different areas in the same lane, the more better chances to grow mentally and financially.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @shornmusicofficial
• Facebook: @ShornMusic or personal Shorn Marshall
• Twitter: @ShornMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwF4Ydb45Xb1O5haPF-jGTw

Image Credits

outside photos credit Keone Reed @therealkquick