We recently had the chance to connect with Jon Shields and have shared our conversation below.
Jon, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Definitely, the most recent thing I’ve felt proud about is the YouTube channel I built. Just a few days ago we hit 1700 subscribers. I know it’s not a lot compared to some of the big channels with millions of folks ‘subscribed.’ But it’s huge for someone like me. I started that YouTube channel to play jazz music and get a bit more music education out into the world. The fact that 1700 good people decided to click that little button and be apart of this community made me feel very proud of the work I’ve put in.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Better yet, I’ve got this well-crafted bio that I had written for my books and I don’t use it enough. So here’s that!
Jon Shields is a Nashville-based guitarist, composer, and educator whose performance and pedagogical work bridge the traditions of classical guitar with the improvisational and expressive languages of jazz, R&B, country, and folk. He holds dual degrees in Music Performance and Music Business, along with a minor in Recording Arts from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, where he studied classical guitar and advanced music theory. Shields has established a reputation for versatility, engaging in solo and ensemble performance, musical theater, and studio work, as well as higher education teaching and curriculum development.
As a performer, Shields has appeared in orchestras for over a dozen musical theater productions, including Aida, Little Shop of Horrors, Godspell, Legally Blonde, and Mama Mia, among others. He has shared the stage with Mary Wilson of The Supremes and performed at prominent venues including the Bluebird Cafe and Broadway (Nashville). He is also co-founder of a rare guitar-organ duo with his brother, Graeme Shields, with whom he toured the Midwest in 2022.
His discography includes a collection of classical recordings and the genre-blending Rainbow Releases, a lo-fi jazz and neo-soul project. He is also the author of three educational books on music theory and guitar pedagogy. As a committed educator, he maintains an active private studio and offers public masterclasses, integrating his multi-genre expertise to prepare students for today’s evolving musical landscape.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My father. This isn’t music related but it informs how I work with my music. I was never a handy guy with tools. However, in 2021 when my wife and I bought our first house there was a lot wrong with it. To be honest we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into. First the plumbing went out, then we had animals living under the house, then it was the fuse box, then it was ripping out the master bathroom and remodeling it. It went on and on (and still does)! Every time something came up my dad was there to show us how to deal with a problem, was patient enough to teach us how to do it ourselves, and then of course would be there to help us actually solve it. Looking back I don’t think there was ever a moment growing up that my dad wasn’t working hard. He’s just a hard worker, plain and simple. I really appreciated and admire him for that and I try to put that into my practicing, gigs, and building the YouTube channel.
When did you last change your mind about something important?
I changed gears with my profession a few years ago that shifted how I work with music. I moved to Nashville in 2019 and as soon as I got here I was in the scene. I had a few gigs around town but the best way to make money is to actually get out of town on a tour or one-off dates. I was driving and flying to these gigs, playing sets, driving or flying back home, and then rinse and repeat. This shift occurred around 2023. I had a gig lined up near Chattanooga for a festival. It was only about a 2 hour drive so I was able to go down and back in one day, but when I got up that morning I had this strange feeling. I really didn’t want to make that drive. I, of course, did make the drive and the gig went fantastic, but on the way home I thought long and hard about what I was feeling and what it meant. I came to the conclusion that I just didn’t want to travel as much for work. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated every moment of going on tours, and one-off fly dates, seeing different cities, playing for so many different types of people. But, at the end of the day my values had shifted. I wanted to be home more with my wife, to look after the house, to build something here. So a few years ago I made the decision to amp up my teaching business and start a YouTube channel. It’s been great!
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes! This is very important to me. What you see on my YouTube channel is who I am in real life. I’m just a nerd for this music stuff! The way I see it is, why create a new personality and have to always deal with that whenever you’re doing anything public-facing? Not only would that be a lot of work to keep track of, but I also think people would be able to sniff that out sooner or later. As humans have evolved with technology I think people are getting better and better at things that we wouldn’t have even thought of 10 years ago. I believe one of those things is being able to sense if someone is being genuine or not.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I actually battle with this a lot. I come from a musical family. My mother is a piano teacher, my older brother is currently the music director of a large church in Minnesota, and my younger brother played trumpet and drums growing up but is now a PA. I often wonder if I subconsciously went into music to try and impress my family or if it was actually something I was destined to do. I love music, it’s taken to me places I never thought I’d go and brings me a lot of peace. The other side of this, though, is that guitar did come pretty naturally to me. I feel blessed that I was able to understand and learn the instrument largely unhindered and quicker compared to others. So that also tells me maybe it was meant to be. Unsure…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jonshields.org/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shieldsjon
