It takes some people their whole lives to decide what they want to do. Trevor Menear figured it out by the time he was two. That’s how old he was when his parents gave him a drum kit. He loved his little set, but found himself gravitating toward his father’s guitars. “I would pick them up and fool around, bend the strings,” Menear recalls. Twenty-one years later, the Chicago-based guitar slinger hasn’t looked back. On his self-titled debut, he conjures up images of his musical heroes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Duane Allman, while creating his own accessible blues pop hybrid. His expressive voice is bolstered by his plangent, nuanced guitar work that belies his young age. France’s CROSSroads magazine declares, “his playing is on par with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jonny Lang.” While his Artists First/Shangri-La Entertainment debut will be most people’s first exposure to Menear, many have already discovered him through his participation on Warner Bros. Records’ “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur,” where he sits in the company of such giants as Green Day and U2. His cover of John Lennon’s “John Sinclair” was one of six exclusive bonus tracks selected for the American Express edition of the CD. Although he noodled on his dad’s guitars as a toddler, it wasn’t until the ripe old age of 7 that he had his first musical epiphany, courtesy of Nirvana. “The day ‘Nevermind’ came out, my friend’s older brother bought it and he played ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’,” recalls Menear. “I just remember listening to that guitar and I was like, ‘I want to do that; I have got to learn to play the guitar’.” Nirvana is part of a musical nexus for Menear that, not surprisingly, revolves around Jimi Hendrix, Vaughan and Allman, but also embraces Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles. “They are all artists I really admire because they were always progressing,” he says. Currently in Menear’s CD player: the works of composer Bernard Herrmann, best known for scoring Hitchcock’s movies; the Flaming Lips and the White Stripes. His father, noted Midwestern broadcaster Kevin Matthews, finally bought Menear his own guitar when he was 10. Having mastered playing by ear after taking piano lessons at 4, Menear learned guitar quickly. By the time he was in 4th grade, he fronted his first band Moon Bubble. At home, music was a constant. His father played in a cover band and his mother was a former back-up singer. “My father’s band would rehearse in the basement. They were doing Frank Zappa tunes, the Doors, Pink Floyd covers.” Menear’s singular devotion to his craft caused a little parental concern. “I was in my room all the time, learning songs and practicing and my mom would be begging me to come down for dinner,” he remembers. “I was making her really angry because I would stay up there; that’s just the way it was.” Moon Bubble gave way to Stormy Monday, as his burgeoning love of jazz and blues developed. “We started that band freshman year in high school,” Menear says. With a little help from the drummer’s bartending brother, the band was the opener of choice for blues bands playing at Chicago nightspot Joe’s, as well as for a number of national acts including Ted Nugent, Johnny Winter, Night Ranger and the Wooten Bros. Even though underage, Menear pursued club gigs with a passion. “The rule was you had to pretty much finish your set and then leave,” he recalls. Menear played all over Chicago, including the vaunted House of Blues. Offered three music scholarships, Menear left Chicago to study at the University of Tennessee, but after one semester he knew his real education lie in clubs, not the classroom. “There comes a point where your own music becomes so important to you, you’ll put it in front of anything else and I guess that’s what made me want to drop out,” he says. “So I started saving all this cash and selling guitars. I got a studio apartment in Chicago and did the whole starving artist thing.” He also started writing the songs that would end up on his self-produced album. “I really couldn’t afford to hire a producer,” he says. “He kept adding layers until the beginning demos morphed into a polished, finished album. His talent attracted a number of well known guests, including Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, kd lang), Rami Jaffee (Wallflowers, Foo Fighters), David Leach (Ben Harper), Tony Llorens (B.B. King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Grammy-winner Grey DeLisle. First single, the organ-drenched, bluesy toe-tapper “Reason to Leave,” has its genesis in the time-honored tradition of boy meets girl. “I was out with some friends and this girl walked in that I ended up talking for a little bit. We were at a blues bar and I thought if I went home and got my guitar and sat in [with the band], she’d be impressed or something,” Menear says with a little laugh. “I went home, by the time I got back, she was gone.” When he wrote the song, however, the story ends differently. “I thought it would be great to find the right person and just leave for a little while.” Similarly, “Suffer to the Simple” was born out of a real-life situation. The blues shuffler is “about bouncing around the west suburbs of Chicago and being raised under these conservative values and then living in the city completely on your own, paying your own bills,” he says. “That’s a completely different thing.” Menear’s keen sense of observation anchors the lyrics, while his guitar playing causes the melodies to soar. “I think there’s a song for everybody on the record,” he says. “I didn’t do that intentionally, it’s just the way it came out. I just had the pure intention of reaching people.” As much as he loves the album, Menear is eager to take it to his fans and is planning a series of U.S. residencies, followed by European touring. “More than anything, I want to play live as much as possible. I love playing off the energy of the people, the anticipation of the gig and branching out more with extended solos and improvising.” Spoken like a true bluesman. —Melinda Newman