Boxsons

ALTON — the nighttime music scene lacks a majority of female rockers, but lately, one up-and-comer helps fill the void.

Bassist and vocalist Valerie Shaw, 26, of Alton, a hair stylist by trade, started learning how to play bass nearly four years ago and now makes regular appearances all around Alton. she usually plays with “one-man band” Jason “Gordo” Gordon, who she one day hopes to emulate. they especially share a bond over the Beatles. they have honed their version of “Come Together” and plan to have a joint side project completely dedicated to reworking “Abbey Road,” the 11th studio album by the Fab four.

“We realized we had a perfect fit together,” said Shaw, who met Gordon, of Alton, about four years ago. “He’s sickly talented. He gave me comfort performing on stage and also the ability to improv.”

Shaw made “Hallelujah,” by Jeff Buckley, her own, which she sometimes sings two times a night because her growing fan base adamantly requests it.

“We create our own music,” Shaw said about collaborating with Gordon. “I love free-styling with him, and I love singing with him.”

Shaw, no neophyte when it comes to music, played first chair clarinet for the Bunker Hill High School band. she grew up in Bunker Hill and graduated from the high school. she started taking band class in fifth grade. she credits Bunker Hill band director Gary Dollinger for giving her the foundation she has in music.

“I would say I’ve always had a natural ear for music, but he built my ear,” she said.

And when it comes to the bass, Shaw gives all the credit to Dan Pace of Alton, who she asked to teach her how to play the instrument after she saw him playing in a band at Harris’ in Downtown Alton.

“He taught me everything I know,” she said.

She had just started trying to teach herself the bass for about a week when she came upon Pace. during a break that night at Harris’, Pace showed Shaw two bass lines from “Roadhouse Blues,” by the Doors, in five minutes. That was all it took for her to ask for lessons, she recalled.

“I was using a felt pick then,” she recalled. “I’m all fingers now. Dan taught me the end line (of “Roadhouse Blues”) and how to mute on his break.”

She played out for the first time seven months later at Big Muddy Pub’s open mike night. she hit the open mike scene heavy for awhile before she broke from it to concentrate on lessons with Pace, who she calls her mentor.

“I have learned from a lot of different musicians, but Dan has given me everything I’ve got,” she said. “I took a year doing basic theory and technique.”

Eventually, she again ran into Gordon, who had been living in Arkansas but moved back to Alton. as she was jogging last year on Ninth Street, she saw him.

“We met up a few nights later and did our first little jam together,” she recalled. “We jammed for about seven hours that night.”

Gordon plays several popular spots Downtown, including Chez Marilyn, Big Muddy Pub and also Tony’s Ranch House in Godfrey, Hawg Pit BBQ Barn in Grafton and regularly in St. Louis. Gordon has let Shaw join him at gigs ever since last March, when they reconnected. Shaw and Gordon played Wednesday at Scenic Lounge in Godfrey.

“One day, when he slows down, we’re going to do our Beatles cover band. That’s the goal,” she said.

In the meantime, for the last four months, Shaw has been learning “slap bass.”

“I’ve gone from pick to all fingers to slapping and singing and playing at the same time,” she said. “To sing a melody and play a rhythm is extremely hard.”

She has at least 15 songs down that she sings and plays bass on. the first song she learned to sing and play three years ago, after six months of practicing, was “Walking After Midnight,” by Patsy Cline. now, it takes her a week to learn both the vocal and instrumental part of a song.

“I feel like my style is very unique and modern,” said Shaw, who performs numbers that are not typically from “female” genres. “People tell me I sound like 15 different singers, so it’s hard to say who I sound like.”

She loves classic rock, Motown, funk and blues, but some females who she covers are KT Tunstall, Regina Spektor and Nina Simone.

“I like songs I can make my own,” Shaw said. “I sing songs people don’t hear performed often and that can be changed respectfully into something modern and unique.”

Shaw admitted she never really thought of herself as a singer, but fellow musicians encouraged her and pushed her to sing.

“I didn’t sing until people started making me sing,” said Shaw, who has worked full-time for five years at Dutch Hollow Medical Day Spa in Godfrey as a stylist and makeup artist. “I love music, and it’s my passion, but I wish I could play the bass as well as I am a colorist.”

She said she loves being a stylist first and foremost, but just a “tiny, tiny bit more than making music.

“I make color without even thinking,” said Shaw, who is booked with any of her 400 clients at least two weeks in advance. “Now, I’m still in that stage where I’m still thinking when I play. I want to play without even thinking.”

Recently, Shaw started some side projects to advance and broaden her music knowledge. she will have her first practice Monday with a new all-girl band she formed with Sarah Shoemake of Alton on guitar and vocals, Sarah McGibany of Alton on guitar, Jennifer Hayden of Godfrey on violin, and Shaw on bass and vocals, of course.

Shaw also auditioned and won a place with a new alt-metal, formerly all-male band, yet to be named, out of Jerseyville.

“When it comes to heavy metal, it’s like a foreign language to me,” Shaw said. “But I’m open to all kinds of music, and this is a new experience for me. I feel very privileged and grateful to be doing two things I love; one is my career, and one is my hobby.”

Visit www.valeriesadvancedstyles.com, call (618) 410-1375 or e-mail valerieshaw@rocketmail.com to contact Shaw. call (618) 465-9046 for information from Pace about bass lessons.

jmoon@thetelegraph.com