Tom Shaner’s Long And Winding Road

Talking to Tom Shaner is a little like a verbal version of channel surfing. The cultural references fly by in a wild, intoxicating rush. Name checked are Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, Stephen Foster and Randy Newman, Jeff Buckley and Eminem, Pro Tools and puppeteers, the art of video editing and, well, that’s when my pencil broke. Still, this all makes a crazy kind of sense. Especially when you hear the tracks on Shaner’s new album, I Hate To See Your Spirit Fade. The eclecticism displayed, the videos that accompany the disc, after all that, you might start to feel that quick-talking Tom has undersold himself.

“I did a lot of things on the way to my solo career,” says this bright, caffeinated kid. “I was an NYU theatre student, where I studied acting. I learned how to direct and edit video (Shaner makes great ones, on a shoestring budget), I was the lead singer and songwriter for a Manhattan band called Industrial Teepee. Ultimately, I needed to go solo because I had a lot of songs, an eclectic mix, and didn’t want to do things by committee anymore.”

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Shaner is a sort of rock and roll Sybil. He’s the Newman-esque composer of the wonderfully-zany “Vanessa The Vegan Murderess,” he’s the balls-out rocker who wrote “When The Devil Comes Callin’,” he’s the balladeer who penned “The Tide of Love.” Still, Shaner’s musical Multiple Personality Disorder suits him well. The songs, vibrant and witty, as different as they are from each other, hold together well on this splendid disc.

Then there are the visual aspects of Shaner’s work. He doesn’t just appear in his videos, he directs them. Like the funny, soulful little film for his new tune, “True Love Is Hard Work,” which you can watch below. It features the tunesmith and his wife comically acting out the trials, the tears and the glories of relationships. Dude is, in the best sense, a control freak. So, he wanted to control the visual aspect too.

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“I was working with a puppeteer in Vermont, making his own videos,” says Shaner. “And I thought, ‘I should be making my own, too.’ Somehow, I figured out, that I should be directing and editing these things. Just like my mastering Pro Tools for recording. It all seemed natural and practical. It’s gotten me good notices. I’m gigging a lot. And this new album has my best songs so far. So, you know, for the foreseeable future? I think I’m going to continue to trust my instincts.”