Trevor Finlay – Shut The Hell Up (2026)
Trevor Finlay was born in Canada but now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he continues the musical journey he embarked on 30+ years ago as a side musician and a solo artist, sharing the stage with such legends as Booker T. and the MGs, Johnny Winter, Chris Isaak, and Buddy Guy. Finlay’s last solo album landed in June 2019, a few months before something called the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he returns with a new single and a new album waiting in the wings.
‘Shut The Hell Up’, the new single from guitarist and singer-songwriter Trevor Finlay, comes exactly as advertised. From the moment the opening stomp and clap rhythm transitions to the classic rock and roll guitar riff, you are in for a blues-inflected number with wry, self-aware lyrics. Anyone familiar with Finlay’s career will not find this surprising. ‘Shut the Hell Up’ is based on an archetypal rock chord progression with a minor pivot chord that recalls Van Halen’s David Lee Roth years.
“I must like the taste of my foot in my mouth”, Finlay sings in his charming and velvety voice. “I speak my mind, and I get burned”, he continues later. “You’d think by now that I would have learned / To just shut the hell up”, and so it goes throughout the song. Ironic lamentation complete with a wink, a grin, and advice from his mother.
Meanwhile, the guitar/bass/drums arrangement does the simple, but not easy job of keeping the bluesy riffs nodding along while Finlay does a clever bit of soloing, balancing melodic lines against a chunky blues chord. Then the song slides into a mellow groove where Finlay completes his journey back from the doghouse before a final series of admonitions: “Shut the hell up!”
This song is a textbook example of what a songwriter can achieve by way of the universal. Almost no one is immune to two minutes and 52 seconds of a catchy rock and blues riff, especially when smile-worthy lyrics about a situation nearly everyone has experienced accompany it. Throw in Finlay’s appealing voice and succinct guitar solo, and you have a rock song that perfectly signals the end of Finlay’s seven-year silence.
Find out more about Trevor Finlay on his official website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was sent to us by Dead Horse Branding.
Listen to more rock music on The Other Side Reviews Rock playlist:
