The new album, Villain, is out! 5 stars from CDBaby!
Pit Bull Blues ringtone now available! CLICK HERETo Purchase the song itself, click here:
".his greatest recording ever."--Vanessa Salvia, Eugene Weekly
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My last album, Yellow House got praise and airplay two years running—charting like crazy in the States, Europe, Australia and NewZealand.
Villain is even better, due out February 1, 2011. I'm promoting with Green Light Go Publicity.
I alternate between acoustic and electric albums. Yellow House was scaled-down. While Villain is a step up in studio production (by Ehren Ebbage), the song craft shines—suitable for my solo acoustic act. I tour acoustically, on any size stage. (I opened for Taj Mahal and Keb Mo to a couple of thousand folks.) And I can play all night, mostly originals from a 100+ songlist.At 100 gigs a year for over a decade, I have been on bills with Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Cake, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Jerry Joseph, Jimmy Cliff, Derek Trucks, Los Lobos, Hootie & The Blowfish, Patty Larkin, John Fahey, Rusted Root, and more.
Back in 2005 I made my last rock album. John Shipe & The Blue Rebekahs, with a cadre of Oregon Indie scenesters from Dan Jones & The Squids, Eleven Eyes , and Salt Lick. The Rebekahs enhanced my eerie tension between the unusual and the familiar--a synthesis of seasoned songwriting and sonic intrigue.
How did I get started? Back in the late 80's, when 40 ounces of Pabst whispered in my ear that I had a future in this Biz. Boy did I suck, loudly with great enthusiasm. (I got tapes to prove it.) I thought I was vintage Eric Clapton re-incarnate.
After a while, I got my own style--rich composition/hack delivery. Good enough to be in a nationally touring band called The Renegade Saints. (Almost made it big with a blend of Northwest heavy rock & Southern Americana.) Then I went solo in the late 90's to pursue more idiosyncratic sounds, releasing Sudden & Merciless Joy, which performed well on the Oregon charts.
On my own, I improved just enough to get some love from Performing Songwriter Magazine--Twice (See above)
With over 200 original songs, 15 years of touring and 10 recording projects, 30-plus Shipe tunes have played on 100 indie and commercial radio stations. I cross paths with every genre and scene possible--pop, punk, indie, jam, alt country, folk, grunge, acid.splunge.
My motto: "Orthodoxy is the enemy." My other motto: "Context is everything."
International airplay continues. (I am not passing the torch yet, you bastards!) In 2003, I released a 31-song double CD called Pollyanna Loves Cassandra. (Modeled after The White Album--using every style of music known to us in our lifetime, plus a nod to the future.)
Acoustic releases: The John Shipe Song Clearance (2004); A Stealthy Portion (2000), which continued to chart in the Oregonian two years after its release.
If you've read this far, thank you for your interest, and here's some aspirin. There's only a bit left. In addition to the dropped-names above my colleagues include Zero, Dave Andrews & Calobo (who sent their talent to The Decembrists) Dan Jones, Tractor Operator, Lea Krueger. Dirty Martini, Justin King.
Lastly, I give guitar/songwriter lessons, and some of my ex-students are making me proud in the Biz: Jessica Plotkin (Stalking Jane) and Jason Bell (Stars of Track & Field), and watch out for River D. from The Tunnel Kings.
Currently, I am committed to the acoustic act for a while. And I don't sound nothing like Eric Clapton no more! He don't need no stinking help from me.
Oh, and that other band I was in, The Renegade Saints. Well, we're playing again. We even put out a live album recently called Mercy Saints Alive!
