For young electric guitarists everywhere — namely those with a penchant for blues and classic rock — Quinn Sullivan’s trajectory into the music world is one they could only dream of.
Sullivan’s career began after a chance encounter with blues legend Buddy Guy, who pulled him out of the audience and on stage when he was just 8-years-old, inviting him to play guitar.
Since then, the now 25-year-old guitar virtuoso and songwriter has shared stages with Eric Clapton and Santana, toured the world, and has been on a host of national TV programs. Throughout his experience with all of this, he’s also released four albums to his name, with most being released before he could legally buy a beer.
And on June 7th, 2024, he will have a fifth under his belt, titled Salvation.
Salvation emerges as a poignant tribute to resilience and artistic evolution. Born from the depths of personal tragedy, the 11-tracks are a celebration of his roots and a definitive step forward in his journey as an emotive singer-songwriter. Sullivan channels his grief into a narrative of self-salvation, and a process of healing that transcends the need for religious validation.
We got to chat with Sullivan to learn more about his lottery-like path into the music world, his upcoming album, and much more.
So I see where you were discovered by Buddy Guy. That’s pretty wild. Can you tell us in a nutshell how it all went down and how this launched your music career?
Buddy and I met for the first time backstage at his show in New Bedford, Massachusetts at a venue called the Zeiterion Theater. We were lucky enough to know some people working at the theater that knew I wanted to meet Buddy, and they graciously got in touch with his management, and ended up getting us backstage before the show for a meet and greet.
I remember Buddy being so kind and almost soft spoken. He had an American flag rugby shirt on, with a brown fedora and a gold Rolex with gold rings. I remember thinking that this was the coolest person I had ever seen before. I had my guitar for him to sign, a Squire Fender Stratocaster, which he signed for me. He asked if I could play a few notes for him, which I did, and then looked at me and said, “You be ready when I call you.”
I internally freaked out but tried to keep my composure externally as a little 8-year-old-kid. I ended up playing the last 2-3 songs with him onstage and closing out the show with him. That night truly changed my life, professionally and personally, and turned into a mentorship that lasted for about 10 years and a friendship that is eternal. I’m forever grateful for Buddy’s support for me as an artist and the times we had together for 10 solid years.
I see where you have “toured the world since you were 8-years-old.” Also wild. What was that experience like as a child doing such a thing? Was it all good experiences?
It was incredible. I had a lot of lucky opportunities as a young kid, which has gotten me to where I am now. I think when you’re a kid, you don’t really think much about anything, so to be quite honest, I don’t think it totally clicked in my mind until a few years ago. I rarely ever think about what happened years ago, but I do have fond memories of those times in my life. I wouldn’t say anything good in life has all good experiences to go along with it. There were certain things that happened that I wish hadn’t ever happened, but looking back on it now, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about any of this, and what I’m doing currently is what I’m meant to be doing.
You’ve got your upcoming album set to drop in June, and it has some heavy sentiments behind it. What can you tell us about common themes, motifs, and inspirations behind it?
I recorded my new album Salvation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with producer/mixer John Fields at his personal studio. This was a very therapeutic album to make. It was written over a period of about three months and recorded in two weeks.
Musically, it’s truly where I’m at in my life, and personally it touches on topics of loss, trauma, and love. I lost my mother unexpectedly a year and a half ago, so this album was made while simultaneously grieving this unimaginable loss. I felt her strength pushing me through the making of this album. I probably wouldn’t have been able to make an album at that time if it wasn’t for the strength of my mother, so she carried me through the entire process.
I called the album Salvation because that word to me echoes what I’m going through right now. Being saved by the love and the people around you, through the pain of loss and the trauma that comes along with that. That feeling speaks in all of the songs that touch on several topics. I wrote the entire album with John and Minneapolis based songwriter Kevin Bowe. My live band is on two tracks, but we used session musicians for most of the album. John plays bass on most of the songs, and I’m the only guitar player on all of the album. I even got to play bass on some of the tracks too, which is a first for me. I’m really excited for people to hear Salvation and take on their own meanings to the songs.
What can you tell us about the influence behind your single, “Half My Heart,” and why did you choose it to be a single versus other tracks on the album?
“Half my Heart” is one of my favorite songs on Salvation. It’s about the feeling of losing someone you’ve been together with for a while. My favorite lyric from the song that sums up the song perfectly is “you didn’t have to steal cause you had the key.” There’s nothing worse than being done wrong in a relationship, especially when you give someone your full heart and attention, and this song describes that feeling all of us have felt before.
The influence George Harrison has had on me had a major influence on this track, melodically. I chose it to be a single because it showcases new parts of me people might not know. It showcases me as a singer, while not forgetting my guitar playing, and I feel like there’s a new maturity I’m showing in the songwriting.
How might this album compare and contrast to your previous album, Wide Awake? How might you feel you’ve grown as a songwriter?
I think, as I mentioned above, Salvation feels deeper, and more “me” than anything I’ve put out. Not to say that my previous album wasn’t me. It was. There’s just a sophistication to this new music that I’m not sure I had ever tapped into before, and I think the songs are just coming from a more genuine and real place. I tend to never look back and always look forward, so funnily enough I forget that this is my fifth studio album. To me, this album is special to me because it’s a clear picture of everything I am right now, and I just had this moment where I was like “you’re 25, be yourself, make the music you need to make, not the music people want to make.”
Did you find determining the order of songs on the album to be a challenge, and how important is that to you?
The sequence of an album to me doesn’t feel like a challenge, but it definitely feels important because it’s normally the way the artist intends the listener to listen to the body of work. I still listen to full albums, and I think that may be a dying art in today’s society. Most people don’t tend to listen to full records anymore, but I still find it important to showcase the music the way it’s meant to be heard from start to finish. Sometimes you listen back and know right away which songs you want to showcase in the beginning, and which ones you want to leave until the end. You also don’t want to have too many same tempo songs cluttered together and have it be more dynamic in that way where the songs go up and down.
What was the most rewarding and most challenging part about making this album?
The most rewarding part about making this album was the fact that there’s several new songs that exist in the world that didn’t exist before. That’s the exciting part of writing songs, is the fact that before you begin to write, nothing exists and then you end up creating a whole world you can live in for a little while, and to me, there’s a sweetness and comfort about that.
The challenges were insecurities more inside my own head, and I think that just comes with being an artist. You always want other people to like it too, and the scary part is that you don’t know if they will. You have your favorite tracks and your favorite moments, but at the end of the day, the world decides what they like and dislike. I have a sense of confidence that I don’t put anything out that I’m not 100% behind, so I feel proud of this album for all it has to offer.
What kind of advice might you have to young kids who find themselves on a similar career track to you or want to be?
I’d say to make sure you research everything about what comes along with the music industry, and sort of make a decision if this life is the life you want. People a lot of times don’t have the information of what comes along with being a new artist, and some can’t handle the pressure that comes with it, so I’d say if you feel in yourself that you can handle all of it and not take anything too seriously, then give it your all every single day, and fight for what you want and fight for your art.
What does success as a songwriter and musician mean to you?
It’s essentially why I’m here on this earth. I truly feel that way. I think success is great, but why I do what I do isn’t only because I want to be successful, it’s because I have to do it for myself. I don’t know what life would look like without music. It would be pretty bleak and boring. I get high off of playing my guitar, and feeling the emotion from the live audiences night after night. It’s an indescribable feeling. I’m so lucky to get to do this every day.
What’s next after the release of the album?
Tour tour tour. I’m heading out on a US tour this summer to support Salvation and going to be focused mostly on that. I’m always writing and will continue to write quietly and probably head back into the studio at some point, but right now the focus is this new music and turning on as many people to it as I can.
Photo credit: Jim Arbogast
Note* Anna McCoy contributed to this article.
