Miles of Music

Mike Shupp
This Time
Private Mind (mikeshupp.com)

From just outside Washington, DC Mike Shupp found some success as a member of local phenom Big Bang Theory during the early ’90s. Shupp’s third solo disc finds him awash with his jangly and power-pop sensibilities still intact. His sound brings to mind the likes of Matthew Sweet having been weaned on a diet of ’80s music from Athens. Something of a sophisticated heartland roots-pop. Says Larry O. Dean of Amplifier Magazine “The ability to come across as approachable, coupled with winning songs and smart, uncluttered arrangements, makes This Time a must-have…” (Private Mind Records) “The former Big Bang Theory guitarist has just released his third solo album, This Time, and it’s a killer. Shupp is a renaissance performer, cut from the Marshall Crenshaw/Tommy Keene cloth; his songwriting is unpretentious and straightforward, almost transparent (that’s a good thing) and devoid of cliches… Vocally, Shupp brings to mind the underrated Darden Smith, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe (minus his huffing and puffing) and Windbreaker Tim Lee – gruff but warm pipes, plaintive and honest sounding; when he sings, you listen and are transported.” – Larry O. Dean, Amplifier Magazine. (Private Mind)