We’re continuing with our series featuring some of the creative people that we know. Every Tuesday we will introduce them as they share with us the ten things they can’t live without. Today we are introducing our dear friend and musician/geek/technology advocate, Bryan Shelton [@LifeasBryan] Check out his band Life as Lions.

Location: Houston, TX

[one] touring

You know when your friends all want to take a week road trip to experience the country? Multiply this times ten and this is the feeling I have about touring. Everyday is a saturday, you’re always experiencing a new city with new people, trying the local food and the list goes on. I would, at the drop of a hat, go back on tour!

[two] my guitars

I started playing the guitar in the summer of 1998 and have yet to put it down. There is nothing more soothing and sexy about the style and sound of either my Les Paul Deluxe or Highway One Telecaster. They’re two totally different beasts and the tone I get from both are priceless. I couldn’t do what I do without them.

[three] delay pedals

Now playing off my guitar top, the absolute ONLY guitar pedal I NEED is my delay pedal. Having a delay pedal expands SO much of what I do musically. It adds the etherial sound when needed and it rounds out other things like leads and such. I could not survive with out my delay pedal.

[four] guacamole

I, for all of you who don’t know, am half Mexican on my Mother’s side. I have grown up with homemade guacamole since I can EVER remember. I remember watching my Grandmother make it in an old fashioned molcajete which is a stoned bowl and pestle tool used to grind the avocado and other ingredients together. The smell of garlic, cilantro, pico del gallo, and other ingredients does it to me EVERY TIME.

[five] evernote

I love new technology start up companies. They’re young, brash, hopeful of the future that their product will make them successful. One, to me, that shines through, aside from Twitter and Facebook, is Evernote. Evernote is a great product to save your ideas, things you like, things you hear and see. You can add pictures from your smartphone and access it from any computer and most all smart phones. I’m typing this in Evernote. People who use the service know how invaluable it is.

[six] lifelong pursuit of the perfect cheeseburger

Much like guacamole, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love to eat hamburgers. I don’t know if it was the happy meal when I was a child or going to fuddruckers at a very young age with my family, but I am now on a pursuit to find the BEST tasting cheeseburger. Now that I am older and realize great tastes, combining flavors to achieve the best tasting burger has become a passion of mine. I will ALWAYS eat a good burger. I, in 26 years of age, have never gotten tired of eating a good burger.

[seven] mom and pops

My rocks, my anchors. I have never been a person to look at my life and say “my dad could have been there more” or “my mom didn’t love me”. At a very young age I learned that they were working hard and sacrificing a lot for me to happy and I am forever in debt to them because now that I’m older to realize what it is to work hard for someone I can’t wait to support them when they need me. They have ALWAYS supported me in my decisions to achieve my dreams and never told me I couldn’t do it.

[eight] mobile phones

Anyone who has known me for a matter of a few years knows that I have a hobby/obsession/passion for mobile phones. Now that my passion has shifted towards smartphones in general, I am always on top of mobile phone technology and things going on in that space. I have owned over 100 phones since my first mobile phone, the Samsung N105 with Sprint PCS back in the summer of 2000. I can’t wait for the next big smartphone. Android, iPhone or Blackberry. Give it to me!

[nine] cityscapes

I have taken this quality from my Mother that I am a city kid. I always have been. I’m enthralled by the look of a bunch of skyscrapers together. I love the hustle and bustle of the city and looking at cityscapes in a magazine, as a photo, painted on canvas goes straight to my heart. I will be a city kid forever and can’t wait to move to either San Francisco or Chicago – two of the greats in the cityscape scenery next to New York and Houston.

[ten] watches

When I was child I would get watches as gifts and always lose them. It was a big problem. There was a long period in my life where I didn’t have a watch. Then I got my first kinetic watch and that was it. I’ve noticed that a lot of older men are into watches. Nothing says suave about a guy like their shoes and watch. I’m working on the shoe thing – but for now I’ll start with watches.

Stay tuned for text Tuesday when we feature our dear friend and interior designer/graphic designer/aspiring architect/fashionista Cathy Alvarado.

Until next time!

dc