Michael Shoup // Singer-Songwriter

One of the most appropriate gifts I’ve ever received....

Tue, 29 May 2012 00:04:26 -0500

One of the most appropriate gifts I’ve ever received. Thanks Sara & Kenny. #fb (Taken with instagram)

What happens when you’re both creative and obsessively...

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:25:16 -0500

What happens when you’re both creative and obsessively organized at the same time. #newlife #fb #ilovemoleskine (Taken with instagram)

Bring Michael to YOUR Hometown

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:01:23 -0500

Have you ever wondered why some of your favorite artists never make it to your home town? The reason is actually pretty surprising; they often don’t even know you wanted them there!

I’m proud to announce that I’m partnering with an awesome new service called Gig Funder which aims to solve that issue and provide a way for you to help gather support to bring me out on tour to any city you’d like!

How Gig Funder Works:
Think of it like Kickstarter.com for live shows. An artist [me :) ] wants to play for you! You can pledge at multiple levels to bring me out to your city, and each level has it’s own awesome reward. If there are enough pledges to fund the gig, then I book it and everybody is rewarded! If there aren’t enough pledges made for a specific city, the gig is off and no one is charged.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?

I’d love to come out to YOUR city this summer and play, so please, head on over to Gig Funder, sign up, and let’s start a campaign to bring music to Your city.

» CLICK HERE to check out Michael’s Tour «

More info on Gig Funder here.

Please, share with your friends to help get the word out, and I can’t wait to come play for you!

~ michael

Bright beautiful day in Seattle. Can’t wait to play for...

Sun, 06 May 2012 15:58:02 -0500

Bright beautiful day in Seattle. Can’t wait to play for you tonight! #fb #nvillegoesnw (Taken with Instagram at Pike Place Market)

Nashville Goes Northwest

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:01:33 -0500

I’m hitting the road again!
[or the air, more specifically]

I’m hopping a flight this morning to the Pacific Northwest where I’ll be sharing the stage with some superb songwriters and poets in Portland, Oregon, as well as Vaughn and Seattle, Washington. Also on the bill, an interview with Indie Music PDX about songwriting, life, and the biz and an in-store performance at Portland’s coolest record shop, Music Millennium.

To top it off, it’s my Birthday this week… and bonus points to anyone who can guess the date.

If you’re in or around the area, please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter and come on out to one of the shows. I’d love to chat life and music with you!

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In other news, my Song For You project is in full swing, with a new video due to be released as soon as I get back to Nashville! For now, feel free to listen to the newest tunes here, and as always, I want to hear your stories. Tell me over here.

Now to close my laptop before I miss my flight. Happy Tuesday!
~ michael

Travel day! #fb #songforyoutour (Taken with Instagram at I...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:20:27 -0500

Travel day! #fb #songforyoutour (Taken with Instagram at I 71 S. Kentucky)

Sounds like my daily routine, minus #5. Must. Practice. #5.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:49:00 -0500

Sounds like my daily routine, minus #5. Must. Practice. #5.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:03:49 -0500

Highs and Lows // Michael Shoup

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:15:09 -0500

New “Song For You”!

We’re doing things a little differently this month, folks! In celebration of my first monthly Live Show Broadcast, I’m releasing this month’s “Song For You” early as a FREE download.

The final video and story origination will come next week, complete with handmade artwork and animation from my friend and fellow artist Cory Basil [check out the cover photo for a sampling of what’s to come].

Enjoy the download, and come back this evening for a Live performance or this song and many more, right over here.

<a href=”http://music.michaelshoup.com/track/highs-and-lows” data-mce-href=”http://music.michaelshoup.com/track/highs-and-lows”>Highs and Lows by Michael Shoup</a>

Another #SongForYou video shoot in the bag thanks to @chelseamcn...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:37:55 -0500

Another #SongForYou video shoot in the bag thanks to @chelseamcn #fb (Taken with instagram)

Izzy likes to tell me when to take breaks from recording…...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:23:34 -0500

Izzy likes to tell me when to take breaks from recording… #fb (Taken with instagram)

Live Show RESCHEDULED to March 29

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:28:49 -0500

Friends, I’m sorry to announce that, due to a technical issue with Viso and Youtube’s Live Streaming platform, we’ve had to reschedule the broadcast for March 29 at 8pm.

Good news, it’ll be the same time (8pm CST), and I’ll be releasing the new Song For You for download on the same day!

Stick with me and I’ll make sure it’s a great show for you all.

Seeya March 29th!
~ michael

Live Music, Q&A, and a new “Song For You”...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:30:05 -0500

Live Music, Q&A, and a new “Song For You” debut…

Friends! I am partnering with Viso Music to bring you a FREE LIVE Broadcast on March 22nd at 8pm CST. I’ll be performing an acoustic set, answering questions, and giving you a sneak peek at my new song that will be up next week! Please leave your questions or requests as comments on the Broadcast Page here and I’ll answer them during the show. I’m super excited and can’t wait to play for you.

Click Here to leave your comment.

Can’t sign on for the LIVE performance? I may be coming to a city near you very soon! Check out my tour dates below and grab advance tickets for a discount. If I’m not playing near you, I’d love to come play YOUR living room. Click here for details.

Upcoming Shows:

Apr 19, 2012 - Columbus, OH @ Woodlands Tavern w/ BJSR - Buy Tickets

Apr 20, 2012 - Cincinnati, OH @ Roh’s Street Cafe w/ BJSR - Buy Tickets

Apr 21, 2012 - Indianapolis, IN @ Indy Hostel - Buy Tickets

May 4, 2012 - Portland, OR @ Alberta Street Pub w/ Josh Hoke - Buy Tickets

May 5, 2012 - Vaughn, WA @ Words and Music

Check my Shows Page for the most up-to-date tour listings.

Life… #songforyou #fb (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:24:37 -0500

Life… #songforyou #fb (Taken with instagram)

Chorus complete. I’m allowed to go to bed now. #songforyou...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:11:07 -0600

Chorus complete. I’m allowed to go to bed now. #songforyou #fb (Taken with instagram)

Creating Space for Creation - Guest post by Kristen Wright

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:30:06 -0600

From time to time, we all need a helping hand. Sometimes it comes in the form of a simple encouragement. Other times it comes in the form of a powerhouse assistant who doubles your productivity & creativity, and just happens to be a killer songwriter herself.

Enter Kristen Wright.

Kristen has been working behind the scenes with me for months booking tours, arranging details on Song For You, and keeping me properly caffeinated. A superb artist in her own right, I asked her to share some insight on the process of creating her debut EP, “In the Year of Letting Go.” This girl has quite a story to tell on this record, and I know you’ll enjoy the glimpse she gives you into her collaborative process.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Kristen Wright on How to Collaborate…

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A month ago I created this link post anticipating the start of creating my first EP. One month in and I have learned so much with the rest of the project scheduled to finish tracking at the end of March. It has been a whirlwind so far of syncing the schedules of everyone involved, having a little faith, and a lot of late hours. But most of all, it has been one of the best times of my life. I’m creating music with my best friends.

The link post above has this quote by Jack White: “You’re doing your best when you let God in the room and allow the natural things that occur when people collaborate.”

For the majority of my singer-songwriter career I’ve flown solo. I’m from Indiana, and at an early age, I was under the impression that you could not be from Indiana and do music with your life. So when I embraced my passion, I thought I had to do it all myself because no one else around me was going to get me there. So this notion, combined with my innate independent nature made for a challenging habit to break.

Until last fall, I didn’t have a band. I accompanied myself, wrote songs that I could play, and found my sound in that simplicity. Stripped acoustic folk is still a huge part of my sound, but now, so are my amazingly talented friends, and their abilities have taken my music where I never could.

I’ve been meditating over the arrangements for this EP for a few months now, and I thought I had to come to rehearsal with every element nailed down — false. I created a solid chart so my band could follow my crazy tunings and format, but I’ve left a lot of space for my band to contribute to what the song becomes.

My opening track for the EP (Get the teaser for FREE here.) has become a complete and incredible arrangement with an element I could not have created without the help of my cajon and bass player.

Allow space for your creations to become something greater than your imagination.

Even as an arranger, you have to step outside of yourself as a writer and look at your work from a separate perspective.

If you’re like me, you have trouble with letting go and letting the song become more than you thought it could be. How fitting that this EP is entitled “In the Year of Letting Go.”

So collaborate. Need others. Give. Communicate. Be. This is what making music is about!

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For updates on Kristen’s project, follow her Tumblr, like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter!

Chasing the Main Thing

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0600

I recently received this painting featuring one of my favorite Stephen R. Covey quotes as a gift [thanks Chels!]. It’s now hanging in my bedroom as a life catalyst that I wake to every morning, and it reminded me this week how difficult it can be to maintain focus and balance in your life.

How many choices, obstacles, emails, phone calls, in-laws, clients, agents, or band members do you face every day that have the potential to derail your direction?

Some of you might know me from my music and some of you from my posts about getting out of your own way, but even with all the systems and analyzing I put my life actions through, I find myself needing to remember this quote and refocus every few months. I find this to be true especially among creative personalities, which tend to thrive on the fuel of sleep deprivation, coffee, and directional ambiguity.

Trust me. I’m right there with you.

I’ve mentioned the 5 steps I take to realign before. Previously mentioned Stephen R. Covey has his own famous 7 Step system for maintaining stability as well. But the common thread I find in almost every method or system to refocus is one similarity: break it down to build it up.

It would seem we’re all doing Too Much.

I love to make a nerdy music analogy of the situation. You see, for every possible melody, there are an enormous amount of complex harmonies, arrangements, and rhythms that could accompany it. But for a superbly written, well thought-out melody, there’s often nothing quite as beautiful as it being performed solo.

I feel like our lives are exactly the same. We all have responsibilities. We all have time commitments and excuses and reasons why things can or can’t happen. But nothing is quite as beautiful… quite as stunningly successful as when we quiet all of those voices and stand alone chasing the Main Thing.

Not long ago, I started a collective of fellow artists inspired to help other artists quiet the storm around them and focus on that main thing. Between us, my team and I have experience from touring with Grammy Award winning bands to working behind the scenes at companies like SONY and MTV Networks, but we’ve always been in this business for independent artists. Through advising and helping build a support structure around their craft, our aim is to help artists fearlessly give of their art, by fearlessly giving of ourselves.

And today I’d like to invite you to participate.

How This Works:

If you’re a musician, songwriter, or artist passionately sharing your talents but feeling like you’re going nowhere, I want to hear your story… and I personally want to help. If you’re ready to smash fear, foster creativity, overcome your own stumbling blocks, and get out of your own way, fill out the form below and tell me about yourself.

The Catch:

Just like my work with my own artistry and songwriting, I am determined to see the artists I help understand and succeed at their dreams. This means I get wrapped up in their lives, desires, and dreams. I do everything in my power to help them succeed, which often means revealing deeply personal stories, creating opportunities, and sharing a deep bond with my artists. I am so driven to help my artists succeed that if you don’t experience a change in drive and direction within four weeks of working with me, I will work with you for free until you do. My goal is to help you build strengths that eliminate your need for my help. However, because of the time and energy I invest into these relationships, my team and I cannot work with more than five artists at a time.

If this sounds like something you’re dying to try, take your time filling out the form below and let me know why you’re in need of help. If I think we’re a good fit, I’ll be in touch.

Meanwhile, keep chasing.

~ michael

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Apply to Foster Creativity

Hipster Rex. Proof that I never went to art school.

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:33:39 -0600

Hipster Rex. Proof that I never went to art school.

My current favorite quote delivered to me from my favorite...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:55:02 -0600

My current favorite quote delivered to me from my favorite person. Blog coming soon, stay tuned. #fb (Taken with instagram)

Who controls/updates your Tumblr? Is it you or your agent/manager?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:42:00 -0600

It is the one and only, Me!

There are some things I don’t EVER think one should outsource… and number one on my list is talking to real people.

You guys are what it’s all about to me, and I’ll never put a barrier between what I put out there and what you want to say back.

You can rest assured that when it says it’s me, I will Always be the one moderating, listening, and posting on this blog. My lovely assistant, Kristen [who is also featured singing in this video], may post from time to time but always as herself. You can follow her adventures as well here: http://kristenwright.tumblr.com/

Thanks for asking!
~ michael