Availability

Europe: Spring 2012 tour with Tom Brosseau

Artist Biography

Shelley Short writes songs inspired by experiences she had growing up in Portland Oregon, where she now lives. She grew up with musicians around, lots of records, books, fictional and non-fictional characters, complex movie plots, and her own very overactive imagination. Shelley started writing songs in high school on the bass guitar, and learned covers such as Mo Tucker’s “After Hours” and Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I could Cry.”  Several years later, her love affairs with the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and Ween, spurred her to learn to play guitar, and to write songs again.

Shelley loves being at home, but a life lived on the road has been the usual as of late. This has changed her definition of what home really is, a subject that her new album ‘Then Came the After’ explores. “Change is bound to happen, you never know when, or why, so to try to find happiness wherever you are is as close to home as I can get at the moment.”

Touring with and opening for the likes of Tom Brosseau, Darren Hanlon, M Ward, Loudon Wainwright the 3^rd, and Whispertown has kept her busy in Australia, Europe and the U.S.A. for the past few years. Shelley is excited to keep up the momentum of life on the road, especially when she can share the road with good friends.

When not singing on her own records, Shelley sings harmonies and choruses on records by Tom Brosseau, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Laura Gibson, Carcrashlander, Alexis Gideon and Norfolk and Western.

Album

’Then Came the After’ will be released in Australia on 11/11/11 (Flippin Yeah) and in Europe (Africantapes) in Feb 2012.

The album was recorded throughout 2010 and 2011 at Liophant Studios with Alexis Gideon and in Mike Coykendall’s Studio, both in Portland, Oregon. The songs reflect the emotions of the album title: the unknown, change, happiness and sadness of human relationships and the mystery of life.

‘Then Came the After’ was written and recorded with a fuller, brighter, and more live sound in mind than the previous album, ‘A Cave, A Canoo’.  Though both albums share a depth of spirit, Shelley’s musician friends Rachel Blumberg, Nate Query, Mike Coykendall and Alexis Gideon helped bring a positive vibe to the new sound.  The more complex sound of ‘Then Came the After’ experiments further with new genres and soundscapes. In songs such as “Plane” inspired by the melodic and meditative sounds of Pharaoh Sanders and Melanie, you can hear how the harp and piano of Alexis Gideon (Video Musics, White Hinterlands), upright bass of Nate Query (The Decemberists, Black Prairie)  and drums of Rachel Blumberg (M Ward, The Decemberists) complete the ethereal  yet grounded visual effects of the repetitive guitar and vocals,  floating the  song into the clouds to be carried by these talented musicians.

Discography:

2011 and upcoming Spring 2012: Then Came the After: Flippin Yeah Industries (2011) and Africantapes (Spring 2012)

2009: A Cave, A Canoo: Hush Records

2008  Water For The Day: Hush Records

2006: Captain Wild Horse (rides the heart of tomorrow): Hush Records

Selected Press