[Cover photo credit to Ricardo Llamas]
Eugene, Oregon based singer/songwriter John Shipe has previously released the albums Yellow House, Villain, and The Beast is Back. His next album will be Water This Dark, working once again with Producer Tyler Fortier (Anna Tivel, Jeffrey Martin). It arrives on May 10th, 2024.
In February, Shipe released the first single from the album, “What Do I Owe?” inspired by the Book of Job with a twist on the tale where a man makes his case to the universe.
Now, we’re very happy to premier the title track “Water This Dark” today on Wildfire Music + News which will officially release this Friday on March 8th.
This dramatic track has a Gospel and Blues feel from the outset, both in sound and in theme, establishing bass elements right away and using the first person, “I” to describe a matter of life and death. But it also throws in Western and Americana elements that make the situation, a person’s soul-searching, feel reminiscent of a battle-ground where they are at war with themselves, and the elements, to seek a better outcome. The fact that Shipe mentions a specific river, The Colorado, brings the whole situation down to earth and makes this archetypal battle more personal and human.
However, this is really a song of two blended parts, where the first paints a picture of struggle and resistance, even referring back to a dangerous moment in the past, and the second part begins to look ahead and make new determinations about the future. In that context, the Gospel elements begin to rise and the beats become less somber and more celebratory. But this transition leaves audiences with the awareness that sometimes very firm determination is needed to turn things around. This is confirmed by Shipe reflecting on the fact that “every once in awhile, the river gotta take one man.” These darker truths combined with a hopeful outcome make the song’s message very memorable.
John Shipe shares about the track:
In 2017, just before I got sober, I nearly drowned in the Colorado River. The chorus came to me in a flash as I was drying out – literally and figuratively. Four years later, I went back to that river, had a joyful swim, and wrote the verses of rising strength & wisdom.
This song was Produced by Tyler Fortier and he also provided percussion, guitars, and vocals. The song features John Shipe on vocals, guitars, and piano, Mike Walker on organ and piano, Bryan Daste on pedal steel guitar, Lilli Worona on violin and vocals, Nate Barnes on drums, Phillippe Bronchtein on lapsteel guitar, organ, and piano, Sam Howard on bass, with Erin Flood-Fortier providing additional vocals. Additional recording was provided by Ehren Ebbage.
Shipe shares about his previous album and Water this Dark:
The Beast revealed 18 of my 75-plus unreleased songs about: secrets, sacrifice, friendship, rejection, redemption, parenthood, subjection, repentance, faith, doubt, reckoning, grace, forgiveness, goodbyes, surrender, violence & loss, and triumph. All from a lived-in, grown-up vista.
Water this Dark is modest with only 9 songs, but even more grown-up, wiser with with even more compassion & empathy, and melodies even more emotionally compelling.
Shipe has opened for Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Derek Trucks, Cake, Jerry Joseph, Los Lobos, Hootie & Blowfish, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Jimmy Cliff etc. Shipe was nominated for Best Original Song at the Los Angeles International Indie Short Film Festival. Two songs appear in the AOF award-winning Vicktory to the Underdog, nominated for Best Soundtrack. Shipe’s work has also appeared in other films, on TV, and in documentaries.
