Werewolves of Portland is guitarist extraordinaire Paul Gilbert's sixteenth solo album and one where "solo" couldn't be truer. Because the world went into lockdown early 2020, it wasn't possible to get a band to record in the studio. The result was that Paul plays all of the instruments on the record: drums, keyboards, bass, and of course guitar. As with Gilbert's previous album Behold Electric Guitar, the inspiration for the songs did not come from the guitar, but from writing lyrics and singing melodies. Paul explains: "The process of writing lyrics, then melody, then guitar, then backing it all up with the other instruments is a wonderful discovery that really started coming together for me on 'Behold Electric Guitar'."