Artist description Formerly guitarist with Paradox/MCA recording artists Big Bang Theory, Washington DC's Mike Shupp fronts a driving, power-pop trio with heartfelt tunes and rich guitar textures...

Music Style alternative / melodic rock / power pop

Similar Artists Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene, Paul Westerberg, Replacements, Neil Finn, Crowded House, Gin Blossoms, Posies, Del Amitri, Owsley, Tonic, Better Than Ezra, Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox Twenty

Artist History Washington, D.C.-based Mike Shupp writes American guitar pop songs in the way that Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene, REM, or Paul Westerberg do. Like those artists, his songs conjure the heartland, cruising through summer nights with one hand on the wheel, and the unlimited potential in tomorrow. With his buzzing and crunching guitars, soaring vocal harmonies, and hooks that he seemingly has written into every other line of every song, Shupp's music, and his newly released "This Time" (Private Mind Records), is classic American pop. Recorded at Shupp's own City Park Sound studio, and mixed by producer/engineer Don McCollister (Sister Hazel, Shawn Mullins, Indigo Girls) at Nickel & Dime Studios in Atlanta, "This Time" is Shupp's third full-length solo release. Shupp plays all instruments on "This Time" except drums, and laid down the tracks in his home studio during July and August of 2002 (with a harmony vocal assist on "She'll Come Around" from brother Bill Shupp, who is also drummer with The Deathray Davies). After tracking drums at Mike Harvey's Actiondale Recorder (performed by Chris Zogby), Shupp packed up the studio and travelled to Nickel & Dime in Atlanta, setting up there to add a few finishing touches, while McCollister simultaneously mixed tracks in the main control room. Shupp, formerly guitarist with Paradox / MCA recording artists Big Bang Theory lives outside of Washington, D.C. in Falls Church, Virginia. "October Sun", was the debut solo release from Shupp, receiving radio play on 43 stations nationally, and charting at three CMJ reporting stations. Shupp was mentioned in SPIN Magazine as one of SPIN's Best Unsigned Band contest winners. While playing with the world beat/dance/pop Big Bang Theory, and providing the cutting guitar presence which eventually helped the group land deals with EMI Publishing and Paradox / MCA, Shupp was writing some of the first songs which would eventually become "October Sun", and help to define his own, more melodic sound. Recording the Big Bang Theory major label debut with three-time Grammy winning producer Glenn Rosenstein (Talking Heads, Ziggy Marley, Grey Eye Glances), he crafted the guitar sound which gave BBT its edge. For 2000's "The Key", his second full-length CD release, Shupp worked with producer Jeff Murphy in Murphy's Short Order Recorder studio outside of Chicago. Murphy was a member of the legendary, power-pop band The Shoes, and producer for Material Issue (including "Valerie Loves Me"), Local H, Tommy Keene. Shupp again played all instruments on "The Key" except drums, played by Chris Zogby. The Washington Post called the "The Key" "an excellent new CD... a blast of righteously rocking power-pop... 'The Key' shimmers... " while The Fairfax Journal printed, "... a rocking and emotional gem"... "Local music- one of this year's top 10 releases" National college and Triple-A radio stations again gave airplay. Tour plans for "This Time" are in the works for Fall 2002 and the new year. Performances have included opening for such artists as Lisa Loeb and Tommy Keene at sold-out shows at DC's 9:30 club, as well as being included in The Washington Post's "Night Lights of '97" top 20 local shows.

Group Members (current) - Mike Shupp (guitars, vocals), Chris Zogby (drums, percussion), Chuck Dolan (bass, harmony vocals)

Instruments Guitars, Bass, Drums

Press Reviews "[Shupp] has just released his third solo album, 'This Time', and it's a killer... a must-have." - AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE Issue 34 · Jan-Feb 2003 * * * * * * * * * * "A song [Keep Me Waiting] that owes its soul to Tom Petty and Cheap Trick runs the risk of sounding purely corny these days. But Shupp, formerly of Big Bang Theory, has come up with a great chorus and truly passionate vocal delivery. He's leading a band that's played together for four years and it shows in the seamless arrangement..." * * * * * - Dave Marsh, Starpolish Critic's Corner (Creem Magazine Founder, Rollingstone Editor); "Three years ago, Mike Shupp released his first solo album, a solid set of made-in-Virginia pop-rock. For its follow-up, Shupp traveled to Illinois, where he recorded with producer Jeff Murphy, whose Shoes helped define power-pop... Shupp wrote the songs and played all the instruments except the drums - 'The Key' shimmers even more appealingly than its predecessor... ringing guitars, high harmonies and heartbroken lyrics... buoyant songs as 'Head on Straight' and 'Right Through Me' compare well to the work of Shupp's models..." * * * * * - Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, February 2nd, 2001; "...a rocking and emotional gem, full of robust, hummable harmonies and multitracked guitars. Right out of the box, the album comes at the listener like a wall of rocking bliss, with tuneful rockers like 'Stranded' and 'Keep Me Waiting' mixed with more hypnotic and lush numbers like 'The Key' and 'My Life'..." * * * * * - Lou King, The Journal, February 2nd, 2001; "...a blast of righteously rocking power pop..." * * * * * - Eric Brace, Washingtonpost.com Nightlife, January 31st, 2001; "Shupp's second album... finds him plying a very straightforward brand of pop-rock that will appeal to fans of folks like Jim Basnight, The Plimsouls, Tommy Keene, Spooner and other artists from the 80's who appreciated the virtues of a biting guitar part married to an urgent melody. Produced by Shoes' Jeff Murphy, Shupp plays everything but the drums, where he is ably backed by Chris Zogby. The partnership with Murphy is appropriate, as a lot of Shupp's songs have a real Heartland feel..." * * * * * - Mike Bennett, Fufkin.com, January 7th, 2001; "Together with Chris Zogby (drums) and Jeff 'The Shoes' Murphy (production), Mike Shupp has assembled a strong set of tunes that manages to re-create the strident post-punk alternative college rock that eighties' last standers like R.E.M., Replacements and Soul Asylum 'saved' us with. Which is indispensable because nobody seems to be churning it out anymore..." * * * * * - Kevin Mathews, Power of Pop, December 22nd, 2000; "Paul Westerberg done right! A really strong sophomore album." * * * * * - Audities, November 16th, 2000; "Straight-ahead pop-rock with jangly, slightly distorted guitars and splashy vocal harmonies. Shupp's well-crafted songs bring to mind what Tom Petty might have sounded like coming of age in the VH-1 era..." * * * * * - Will York, Listen.com, October, 2000; "There's nothing better than a songwriter with a sense of melody and the intuition for a killer hook. ...On 'October Sun', Mike Shupp delivers both of these skills in spades along with some great guitar playing. ...Shupp's sound combines shreds of Marshall Crenshaw and John Hiatt wrapped around a rough-hewn electric core that recalls The Replacements..." * * * * * - Mode Magazine Vol. 3, No. 10, Millennium CD Review Roundup, April, 1999;; "...classic power pop elements... ...Songs like 'Letter to Annette' are rooted in the pop rock tradition that suggests the Beatles, but actually begins with the early '70's group, Big Star..." * * * * * - Mark Jenkins, Metro Connection, WAMU 88.5 FM, January 24, 1998 11:55 a.m.

Location Falls Church, Virginia - USA

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