Filtering by Category: New Music

"Strong Swimmer" Video Premiere

The Stranger just premiered the new video for my song Strong Swimmer, along with this really BEAUTIFUL write-up. The response - in emails, direct messages, tweets, Instagram posts & texts - has been unbelievably moving and powerful. It made me think that maybe I should use my news page here for an actual bloggy-type post and share some back-story about how the video came to be.

As good things do, this video project took time to come to fruition...

Over the past couple of years, on tour and at home, I've met a number of young people in the midst of really painful gender identity (and in some cases mental health) struggles. And I've known for a while that if I ever made a video for my song "Strong Swimmer," I wanted it to be for them. But I wasn't sure how to tell their story in a sensitive, meaningful and transformational way. Not yet anyway.

Enter my young niece Mackenzie (now 14), who lives here in Seattle. In talking with her about all of this stuff it became clear that these ARE the questions teenagers are asking these days - everywhere (maybe even more so in super liberal Seattle?! I'm not sure). Anyway, I told her I wanted to do an art project around it and wanted her help, but I didn't have a very clear vision yet and she wasn't all that compelled. She's a super creative kid though, and around that time she was just starting to take up visual art. She'd started drawing these characters - all different blends of gender traits, clothing styles and names she'd made up. It was becoming her main creative outlet and I thought it was such an interesting reflection of all the questions facing her age group. She gives all her characters similar facial features, but one day a character is named "Kenny", the next it's something like "KenKen," or "Paloma" or "Misell" or whatever persona she feels like giving them, gender norms be damned! I found it fascinating. And the drawings were SO GOOD. 

THEN...Halloween 2017. I asked Mackenzie what she was dressing as and she replied "one of my characters." I was like "Whoa, cool! Can I see it?" She showed me this amazing drawing of a sort of gender-neutral kid she'd named "DoodleKen" wearing an outfit she'd dreamed up, complete with a cape and a sword. It turns out she not only drew the character, but she SEWED HERSELF A CAPE(!) and MADE HERSELF A SWORD(!) out of a yard stick & duct tape, and went trick-or-treating as her own self-made super-hero!!! 

WOW. 

I immediately thought "holy smokes! THERE'S our video concept!" Because why shouldn't kids get to completely create their own identities these days? And once they get through all the muck and pain and uncertainty, the identity they create gets to be POWERFUL.

So I chatted with Mackenzie about making a video with her character (and costume) as the crux of the storyline, and she was excited about it. We worked together to craft the story arc and we both felt like it was an important, relevant story to tell right now (and could potentially even help some people!). I bought film gear to use with my iPhone (ala. the Tangerine Director's iPhone set-up) ;), and we started to shoot the video ourselves, with Mackenzie as the main character (turns out she's a wicked little actress too!). Enter my friend Genevieve Pierson, a brilliant photographer and videographer in Seattle who I've worked with a bunch (*she shot all the stunning album photos for my latest album, The Man Who Made Himself a Name). I told her about the project and she kindly offered to come help coach me a bit with filming one afternoon. She spent a few hours with us and then a week later sent me this message... 

"I want to preface this email by telling you how much I've been thinking about this. I've been taking time and wondering about whether to approach you with my thoughts or not....I'm curious about what you're hoping for as a final end product with your video... is this purely the experience about the challenge of trying something new? Or, are you hoping to end up with something more professional? Are you taking it into your own beautiful and creative hands because it's more about a special experience with your niece? AWESOME if so...I suppose, ineloquently, what I'm trying to say is that I'm so inspired by Mackenzie, the song, and you in general, and I'd like to offer my co-directing/ shooting/ editing skills to you for this project... I would scrounge up styling, hair and make up, a couple more additional locations to round out the story, etc. but ultimately it would closely follow your treatment and shot list. No dollars involved....I'm approaching you with this because I think the voice you're creating with this is really important. And I see the ways I could help to make it as loud as possible."

Mackenzie and I were totally floored and immediately said "YES, PLEASE!!!" So we started over - shot everything from scratch - with Genevieve at the helm. She helped to shape & fill out the storyline in crucial ways, brought an amazing team on board who believed in the heart of the project (including the AMAZING Christopher Harrell, another wicked talented director here in Seattle who came on board to co-direct), and shot & edited everything to perfection. She and Christopher also directed Mackenzie (& the other actors) on set in the most gentle, effective and loving ways, it was amazing to watch! I can't get through 30 seconds of this video without crying. And I can't think of a single thing I've ever been a part of making that makes me more proud.

Without further ado, I give you the video for "Strong Swimmer"... 

Some of you you know that the song itself has it's own back-story, but if you missed that you can listen to a lovely NPR Weekend Edition piece about it HERE

Love, Shelby

Shelby Earl & Band Live on KEXP 90.3

As always, we were incredibly honored to play live in studio on KEXP 90.3, the best radio station in the world. I also feel pretty damn lucky to have had such an amazing crew with me for this one. Click on the pic below to watch the full performance! 

 

http://KEXP.ORG presents Shelby Earl live in the KEXP studio. Songs: The Man Who Made Himself A Name, The Vapors, Stay With Me Tonight & James.

Host: John Richards, Audio Engineer: Kevin Suggs, Cameras: Alaia D'Alessandro, Scott Holpainen & Justin Wilmore, Editor: Justin Wilmore, Photo by Niffer Calderwood

The Man Who Made Himself a Name is IN STORES NOW!!!

I couldn't be happier to have my new album, THE MAN WHO MADE HIMSELF A NAME (produced by Martin Fevyear, The Spectacles and yours truly!) is finally out in the world via Nine Mile Records/Redeye. The reception has been amazing (we're already on our 2nd run of CDs & vinyl is moving fast too!), there's been loads of great press, and I'm about to hit the road to share the new songs with people along the west coast! If you haven't ordered the album yet, you can do so right here... 

The NEW ALBUM, THE MAN WHO MADE HIMSELF A NAMEAVAILABLE NOW! ORDER (CD/Vinyl/Digital) at: Bandcamp // iTunes // Amazon

Or come to a show sometime soon! I would love to see your face. 

The Story of "Strong Swimmer" on NPR's Weekend Edition

As though my heart can handle any more excitement this week, NPR's Weekend Edition aired a beautiful segment about my song "Strong Swimmer" (off the new album, THE MAN WHO MADE HIMSELF A NAME, out March 10th!) this morning. Notes of trauma and healing have been streaming in all morning from around the country, and I am so moved and humbled. Thank you all for sharing your stories with me. And if you missed this radio segment today, you can listen to it here... 

If you'd like to hear a live version of the song you can stream this recording of my performance on KEXP's Morning Show with John Richards earlier this week. <3

xo, 

Shelby

SONG PREMIERE: Josiah Johnson Duet "Like I Do" at Huffington Post!

You guys know the amazingly talented Josiah Johnson (from that one little band...you know the one)... Well, that wonderful dude threw down the most STUNNING (read: heartbreaking) vocal performance on my new record.

The song is a duet called "Like I Do," and I'm thrilled to FINALLY be able to share it with you today. Read about how the song came to be at Huffington Post, or stream it below... 

 

The new album comes out March 10th and you can pre-order it RIGHT HERE

xo,

Shelby

 

LIVE ON KEXP EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!

File this one under "craziest things I've ever done:" John Richards of KEXP 90.3 invited me to stop by The Morning Show at 8:30AM (PST) EVERY MORNING THIS WEEK to play a live acoustic version of a new song off the new album, THE MAN WHO MADE HIMSELF A NAME, and I SAID YES! If you're in Seattle you can tune your dial to 90.3 FM, or if you're elsewhere in the world visit kexp.org to listen in! 

KEXP 90.3 "Song of the Day" Podcast!

I'm excited to announce the "The Man Who Made Himself a Name" (the title track off the new record, produced by Martin Feveyear) is KEXP's Song of the Day today! Have I mentioned how much I love this radio station and all the people at it? Like, until the end of time. Read all about it HERE!  

The Man Who Made Himself a Name Teaser Video

My bandmate, Navid Eliot, and I went into the salty desert on tour last October and shot all this footage, which my MEGA talented pal Luke Mckinley turned into this fly little teaser vid for the single. See if you can spot the Morton's Salt Factory in the background! 

First Musical Guest on The Scott Carty Party!

It was an honor to be the very first musical guest on "The Scott Carty Party," a new show hosted by my talented pal Scott Carty featuring "a cocktail, a conversation and a concert." Episode 1, featuring Chef Ethan Stowell, Eric Beindorff of Collingwood Whiskey, Scott, and myself, is now LIVE on the Youtubes!

Check it out right here! https://youtu.be/vHznZjLd-RM

‪#‎CartyParty‬

New Video in the Wall Street Journal!

Remember that terrifying article about "The Really Big One" in the New Yorker? Well, it inspired some art-making, in the form of an "apocalyptic love story" video for my new single "Stay With Me Tonight (feat. The Spectacles)." The Wall Street Journal has the full story and the premiere right HERE

Shelby Earl & Band In Entertainment Weekly

We were super excited to see the video for our new holiday track, "We Three Kings," featured on Entertainment Weekly today! The song is an exclusive for Amazon.com's ALL IS BRIGHT holiday compilation. You can visit here to download the song, and here to watch the video!

 

New Holiday Song FREE on Amazon!

"Imagine Christmas standard "We Three Kings" as rerecorded for a spooky David Lynch film… That’s exactly how this Seattle singer-songwriter’s cover of the track sounds—a wall of reverb carries staccato guitar, rattling tambourine, and haunting lead vocals. It’s ideal for a Twin Peaks-themed holiday season—hallelujah, indeed!" - Amazon.com


I was honored to be asked to contribute a new track to Amazon.com's ALL IS BRIGHT Exclusive Holiday Compilation, alongside heroes like Lucinda Williams, Beth Orton, Brandi Carlile, Liz Phair, Yoko Ono w/ The Flaming Lips, PHOX (+MANY others!). The full holiday compilation is available FREE to Amazon Prime Members, and non-Prime members can purchase my track "We Three Kings" for a mere $.99 right HERE. I hope you'll add it to your holiday playlist! 

And of course, don't forget my original holiday song, "This Christmas Is For Us," which is available on BandcampAmazon, and iTunes

Happy Listening! 

-- Shelby

The Little Song That Could...

Many of you already know the story behind my song & album (of the same name) "Burn the Boats." Over the past few years the song has become a bit of an anthem at my live shows, but the album was already tracked when I wrote it, so only a little snippet made it on the record (in the form of an outro). The full song has never been released in recorded form, UNTIL NOW!!! 

I'm happy to announce that I've joined forces with the fine folks at London Tone Music to record & release a full-length/full-band version of "Burn the Boats," as a part of their 52x52 project, and it's available on iTunes starting TODAY! The wonderful Jonathan Plum produced and helped me to completely re-imagine the song arrangement. My hope is that even those of you who have heard it many times will hear new life in this version. 

Enjoy! 

 

-- Shelby