Shane Theriot


Shane Theriot is an American guitarist, composer and Grammy award-winning producer based in New Orleans, LA. He is currently the musical director, guitarist and band leader for Hall & Oates, as well as musical director/guitarist for the television show Live From Daryl's House, featuring Daryl Hall. Theriot's versatility in both the studio and stage has led to work with many artists in virtually all styles of music. As a composer for TV his original music has been used by ESPN, HBO, Showtime Networks, and others. He is the author of several books on guitar styles including "New Orleans Funk Guitar Styles" and other instructional DVDs.

Early Life and education

Theriot was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, a small town about 60 miles from New Orleans. He was exposed to music at a very early age and began playing drums and guitar at 11. He also studied trumpet and piano and played drums in junior high school, as well as in his high school marching band. At the age of 12, he played at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. He is mostly self-taught except for some private study in classical and jazz guitar during high school.
Following high school, Theriot attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. Guitarist Scott Henderson, an instructor there and, recommended Theriot for a teaching position when Theriot was 20 years old.

Professional career

As a performer

Theriot was first featured on Mark Varney's 1992 Guitar on the Edge CD series with an original composition, "In Between." In 1996 he began playing with The Neville Brothers, with whom he performed until 2003, touring nationally and internationally. In addition to his work with the band, he worked extensively with both Art Neville and Aaron Neville on solo projects.
In the 1990s he also began working as a session guitarist, and later began recording his own music. Theriot has released four albums as a leader since 2000: Still Motion, Dirty Power, The Grease Factor, and Highway 90.
Theriot has either recorded or performed with a wide variety of artists in virtually all styles of music including The Neville Brothers, Hall and Oates, Boz Scaggs, LeAnn Rimes, Beyoncé, Harry Connick Jr., Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Madeleine Peyroux, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Aaron Neville, Maria Muldaur, Larry Carlton, John Waite, Leni Stern, Zachary Richard, Steve Earle, Idris Muhammad, Blue Floyd, Marc Broussard, Slim Whitman, The Syn, and Little Feat among others. He spent three years on and off in Boz Scaggs' touring band, and as of 2020 he is musical director for Hall and Oates' touring band.
He was featured on Rickie Lee Jones’ ‘Kicks’ and ‘The Other Side of Desire,’ playing a variety of instruments including guitar, bass, and lap steel. He also played on multiple Jon Cleary albums, including ‘Dyna-mite’ and ‘Go Go Juice,’ which won a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Album in 2016.
Theriot worked as the personal guitar instructor for Forest Whitaker and Nick Nolte for the 2010 movie My Own Love Song.
Some notable venues where Theriot has performed include Madison Square Garden, Budokan in Tokyo Japan, The Grand Ole Opry, Montreal, Vancouver and Tokyo Jazz festivals, Radio City Music Hall, Hollywood Bowl and The White House for President Obama. Some notable TV show appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, The Today Show, The View, Soul Train, Conan, Howard Stern Show, and Good Morning America.

As a Producer

Theriot has produced records for other artists including Ramsey Lewis, Jo-El Sonnier and is currently co-producing Daryl Hall's upcoming solo record. He also co-produced “Philly Forget Me Not” with Hall, which was the first new collaborative track between Hall and John Oates in 15 years. The song also features Train’s Pat Monahan.
He was a guest on Sammy Hagar’s “Rock and Roll Roadhouse,” where Theriot was appointed to help musically direct the New Orleans episode.
In a 2019 article from Rolling Stone, it was announced that Theriot collaborated with and produced what will be legendary singer/pianist Dr. John's final album. A release date has not yet been determined for the album.

As an educator

Theriot taught guitar at the Atlanta Institute of Music from 1991 to 1993 alongside Jimmy Herring. During this time he traveled and worked as a clinician for the Kaman Corporation, which included Takamine, Ovation and Hamer guitars.
He has written instructional columns for Guitar Player Magazine and has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician, Downbeat and Vintage Guitar magazine, among others. He has also done seminars for the National Guitar Summer Workshop and is a frequent guest at Musicians Institute campuses in Los Angeles and Japan.
Theriot has written instructional books for guitar players, including The Next Step: Creative Concepts For Improvising Guitarists and New Orleans Funk Guitar. He has 3 courses available from TrueFire. Rhythm Mojo, Solo Mojo and 30 Mojo Rhythms You Must Know.
As a clinician, Theriot has appeared as a guest instructor along with Dweezil Zappa and Lee Ritenour at the Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival.

As a film and television composer

Theriot has written music and jingles for MTV, Discovery Channel, A&E, CMT, VH1 and ESPN, including for the shows Sons of Guns and Anthony Bourdain's The Layover.

Shane's Podcast

In 2016 Theriot started a podcast entitled "The Riff Raff with Shane Theriot, a format where he "interviews and jams with musician friends and creative people". The first few episodes featured John Oates, jazz great John Scofield and Meters bassist George Porter Jr.. More recent episodes have included "Late Night with David Letterman" bassist Will Lee, Dweezil Zappa, producer/guitarist John Leventhal, Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini, Mike Stern, Daryl Hall, Sammy Hagar, Wayne Krantz, Mark Egan, and many others.

Still motion

Theriot's most recent solo recording is entitled "STILL MOTION" and was released in May 2017. The record features 3 trios recorded in 3 different cities- New Orleans, Los Angeles and Austin, TX. Drum legends Jim Keltner, Johnny Vidacovich and Kirk Covington serve as drummers, while James Singleton, Nate Wood, Chris Maresh and Theriot fill the bass chair.

Discography

As a leader