Colbie Caillat + Shane Harper Perform ‘Try,’ Discuss Their Music Backgrounds [VIDEO]
We’re celebrating the back-to-school season with a new feature called the Collaboration Room, where we pair up two artists in a studio to see what tips, tricks and words of advice they can exchange. We were hoping musical sparks would fly when we placed pop star Colbie Caillat with up-and-coming triple threat Shane Harper, and we weren’t disappointed.
The singer-songwriters started off by sharing a little bit about their respective backgrounds and how they entered the entertainment world.
“I started singing when I was 11 years old,” Colbie recollected. “It was when I heard Lauryn Hill singing ‘Killing Me Softly’ with the Fugees. I just remember I’d never heard a voice that beautiful and that soulful. The way she sang, it just sounded so effortless.”
She went on to discuss how that song contributed to her own style: “Combining the acoustic sound with positive lyrics — that was my goal. Even though I don’t think I knew it at the time.”
Shane has his beliefs to thank for his introduction to music. “I grew up playing in church, so that’s kind of where the guitar and the singing came into play,” he said. He explained that his involvement with his church fueled his “natural passion for playing and wanting to watch someone play.”
“Even on a Sunday morning, watching the church band,” he added.
Though Shane boasts a budding career, Colbie has a little more clout in the music industry and shared some of her experiences collaborating with big artists. We're sure Shane took diligent mental notes.
“[Jason Mraz] was my first artist collaboration," she said. "He actually called me, like, ‘Hey, I have this song I want you to help me finish writing.’ It’s fun because you just bounce ideas [around] and add in your own meaning to the lyrics.”
Shane, on the other hand, has been involved in both the acting and the music world for years, and has experience with a very different form of collaborating. Maybe his advice can be translated to Colbie’s own future collab endeavors.
“As an actor, it’s my job to get the vision across of whoever wrote it, is producing it or directing it. If you’re in a room and you’re collaborating, you should always feel like it’s a group thing. Like everyone has this unified vision for what they want to say. Otherwise it feels odd… I feel like it gets tense, and it shouldn’t really be that way.”
Colbie and Shane put their advice to the test by partnering up for a duet on Colbie’s recent single ‘Try.’ With her sitting behind the piano and Shane on his guitar, the pair knocked out a few verses of the song sounding like they had been practicing for ages. Their words of wisdom must ring true, then!
Check out Colbie Caillat and Shane Harper in the Collaboration Room video above.
Bonus Footage: Colbie Gives Shane Advice About Getting Over Performance Nerves
Plus: Watch Colbie + Shane Chat About Why It's Fun to Collaborate