About Shipe

I alternate between acoustic and electric albums. The latest, “Yellow House,” is the scaled-down sort. And it’s being called my best. In 2005 I made my last electric album (for the time being). John Shipe & The Blue Rebekahs, with a cadre of Oregon Indie scenesters from Dan Jones & The Squids (indie punk rock), Eleven Eyes (acid jazz), and Salt Lick (alt country). The Rebekahs enhanced my eerie tension between the unusual and the familiar–a synthesis of seasoned songwriting and sonic intrigue.

Back in the late 80′s, no one said out loud that I sucked, when 40 ounces of Pabst whispered in my ear that I had a future in this Biz. And boy did I suck, with great sucking enthusiasm. (I got tapes to prove it.) Thought I was vintage Eric Clapton re-incarnate. Tried to sing like him, tried to play like him. (But Eric Clapton wasn’t dead yet. So how could he re-incarnate anywho?)

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.

This hype promo crap and genre-dropping is a dirty business, but it has to be done: Over 200 original songs, 15 years of touring and 10 recording projects. (No help from major record labels.) 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.”