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Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband
Few would-be recording artists have the confidence or wherewithal to enter the mainstream music business on their own terms. The nature of today’s consolidated label structure and clogged mass media channels forces most struggling bands to jump at the first opportunity they see -- if they see one at all.
This hyper-Darwinian environment makes the nine-year saga of Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand that much more intriguing. And it is an affirmation for all those who still believe in music’s ability to rise above the impossibly long odds offered by the high-stakes recording industry.
Not only did the band, and only the band, play their own instruments on their CD, Dream Big, they finished the CD – completely – before even stepping foot into a record label conference room. By making their own disc before signing a contract, they never had to adhere to the edicts of record label execs or go through the standard A&R process of choosing label approved songs and producers. They did it on their own and on their own terms.
THE RUBBERBAND
Like his band-mates, Ryan Shupe began playing music at a very early age. A second generation fiddle player, he started playing at age five and was soon performing professionally and touring nationally with a group called the PeeWee Pickers. He still plays a fiddle he found in his great aunt’s closet.
After years of playing in other bands, Ryan Shupe found that getting gigs in and around Salt Lake City wasn't as a difficult as keeping a group together. After years of fronting bands which inevitably split, Shupe decided to form the RubberBand so he could enlist a rotating group of musicians on a gig-by-gig basis and never have a group “break up.” His plan didn’t exactly work, however. One by one, the temporary sidemen began to stick, fusing into the close-knit final incarnation that exists today.
“I’ve known Ryan for roughly 20 years,” says banjo player Craig Miner. “He and I both played in bands as kids - different bands in different parts of the state but the music world was so tight knit we knew each other.” Miner started playing music on a ukelele bought at a garage sale and continued to adding instruments to his repertoire which now includes guitar, mandolin and bouzouki. He even hand crafts most all of his own instruments.
Guitarist Roger Archibald began playing guitar at age 11 against the backdrop of Black Sabbath and Metallica blaring from his older brothers’ stereos and later worked as a musician in the same regional music circuit as Craig. “I used to be in a band with Ryan’s sister and when he started looking for a guitar player to start his new band, he asked me to learn some songs. It gelled and we really worked well together so I continued to play with the band and eventually became one of his main players.”
Shupe found he attracted like-minded players with a high level of musicianship principally because of his own virtuosity.
“I played fiddle from the age of eight so I have some appreciation for a good fiddle player,” says drummer Bart Olson. “My first impression of Ryan was, ‘This guy’s a prodigy.’” Olson could be described the same way. He grew up in a musical environment playing with his award-winning family band, “The Olson Family Fiddlers” and later picking up the drums as his favorite instrument. “I thought the band’s sound was really intriguing, continues Olson. “We have that element of improvisation which is cool. I've always liked music that breathed a little more and had that quality of musicianship to it.”
Bassist Ryan Tilby grew up not far from the Shupe family, and played bluegrass with Ryan and his siblings for years before the RubberBands creation. Tilby even had a brief stint as the banjo player for the RubberBand in its early years, before going off to college to study jazz guitar. “I tell you, it’s such a pleasure to be playing with Ryan, Craig, Roger, and Bart. Musicianship aside, these are simply some of my favorite people. They’ve been like brothers to me; but on a definite part-time basis.”
“You have to love playing music and that's why I like all these guys,” Shupe says. "Everybody just loves it. If any of us were in it to be famous or make money, I don’t think it would have worked.”
VAN HAVEN
As the band solidified, its fan base grew. “The band has been steadily building a grassroots following since 1996,” Olson says. “When I joined, they already had a van which I thought that was the most amazing thing. Custom van, five inch TV and a raised roof – I thought, ‘Man, I’m in heaven!’ We booked as many gigs as we could and continued to build contacts. It’s gotten better each year. More gigs, better pay.”
Their regional following spanned Utah, Colorado, Northern California and kept expanding. They recorded and released four independent albums all told including a live album and a Christmas collection. Eventually, they had a decision to make.
“It was about 1999 when we transitioned from part time day jobs to full time music,” Miner says. “None of us were married at the time so it was easier to make ends meet. Always a pinch, but we made it work.”
Their ability to keep the wheels turning had a lot to do with the seriousness with which they approached the effort. “We've all been really dedicated to each guy having a job in the band,” Olson says. “Whether it was marketing or booking, we divided the back room work amongst ourselves and really became a good little business.”
“I'm not sure how it worked,” he admitted, “but we’ve been able to scrape by each year and grow it. We toured like crazy, probably 200 dates a year, all in a van pulling a trailer.”
Archibald says their focus never wavered. “After I switched to the band being my main job, I was still giving guitar lessons to make ends meet. But that was my side job, even if we were playing a free show, the band was the priority.”
Five guys in cramped quarters can present some challenges, however. “It would get tough at times, but we're all pretty laid back,” Olson says. “If we didn't love it so much we’d probably self destruct. All the other stuff -- the smell that can be created in a carpeted van, the nights you pull over on the side of the road because there's nowhere else to sleep – that’s all secondary to how much we love being musicians.”
Each has made sacrifices to feed that unadulterated love for making music. “That's when we got a serious education,” Shupe says, “and we started realizing this would work a lot smoother if we had somebody behind us. Maybe we should try to get a label deal.”
THE DEAL
Amazingly, the band had never considered radio formats or genres so figuring out which labels to approach was an issue. “We didn't think that much about where we belonged,” Shupe says. “We were just playing music. When the time came, I really felt like Nashville was the place for us. Aside from the music, the lifestyle and values, they have helped us feel right at home.”
“We all play acoustic instruments and our songs fit better there, philosophically,” adds Miner. “On a personal level, the people, fans and other musicians are very much like we are.”
Having an established following and regional success put the band among a small but illustrious group of performers who have been able to set their own parameters -- The Dave Matthews Band, country’s Pat Green and Hootie & The Blowfish, to name a few.
“We had Nashville producers interested from early on but they all wanted to change things, add things or supply the songs,” says Tilby. “To which we were all opposed.”
Meeting Nashville producer and songwriter Jason Deere proved to be a breakthrough. “With Jason we got the vibe that he understood what we were doing,” Miner says. “So we got together and made a high quality album to be delivered to a label as finished product. When it was done we took it around to the labels and did conference room performances. We found the perfect match with Capitol.”
That kind of creative freedom for a newly-signed recording artist is almost unheard of. “What's shaped this band is a desire to put on a good show and provide positive and entertaining music for our fans,” Tilby says. “It's been a natural evolution born mainly out of a lot of playing. It isn't like anyone came in and said, ‘This is what you need to do.’”
BIG DREAMS
Recorded in a small house converted into a studio in Utah, the album conjures the band’s well-developed and energetic live show. Olson says, “We actually finished the record in only two weeks. We'd played all the songs so much while touring that we had them nailed by the time we went into the studio to record.”
Opening with the acoustic propulsion of “Banjo Boy,” a song that name-checks Béla Fleck and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, the album immediate establishes the group’s unique, well-honed sound -- not to mention their sense of humor. Shupe trades mandolin for fiddle as the album eases into “Even Superman” with its imaginative use of time signature and tightly wound harmony vocals.
The title track is a simple, yet beautifully direct call for hope that, along with “Would You Love Me” and “New Emotion,” cements Shupe's credentials as a songwriter. The band’s musicianship stretches out on tracks like “Simplify,” the reggae-charged "Rain Falls Down" and the instrumental "Ambush." As the album closes with “Never Give Up,” “Oh How I Miss You” and “Hey Hey Hey,” the band’s joyful love of music and performing comes to the forefront.
"The idea was to capture in a recording what we already were," Shupe says. "We wanted a sound that we could recreate live."
As a result, Dream Big is the true story of a true band. “From day one we've been creating our own sound and style that I don't think anyone can duplicate,” Olson says. “Too often in our culture people try to make things fit a mold but all the truly beautiful things in art and nature are unique.”
“There's a common thread running through all the songs even though the styles cross into a lot of different areas," Shupe adds. “We try to create music that’s entertaining but also music that people can relate to. It's a balance.”
“The album title speaks for itself,” Shupe continues. “It's about a fundamental belief in humanity. If we can make someone's life better, even if it's just for three minutes, then we'll consider ourselves a success.”
