STRONG VOICE, SURE HAND
J.J. Shiplett moves through punk to rock to country
Calgary singer-songwriter J.J. Shiplett has a theory about today’s country music: It’s all based on Tom Petty songs.
“So much of what’s happening in country, roots, Americana, whatever you want to call it, is really some sort of weird adaptation of Tom Petty’s music,” Shiplett says. “He was known for simple, straightforward music and that’s basically what a lot of country is heading towards.”
A decade or two ago, Shiplett’s rootsy, Springsteenesque style would have been considered rock music. But now with rock in decline, country has expanded to embrace almost any artist with a strong voice and a sure hand on guitar.
That partly explains how J.J. Shiplett, a kid who grew up playing in punk bands in southern Ontario, is now one of Canada’s fastest-rising country stars, earning comparisons to Nashville superstars such as Chris Stapleton and Eric Church.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I’ll take it,” Shiplett says. “Again, that speaks to what country has done over the last 10 or 15 years. It’s been the place where people who actually play instruments go to to create, whereas in a lot of other styles of music, the use of a drummer and guitar player is gone. All you need to do is play keyboards and program the bass, guitar, drums. Country has allowed people who are not quite the genre to come in and be a part of it.”
In Shiplett’s case, it was Canadian country star Johnny Reid who recognized his potential. The soulful Scot heard Shiplett’s roughhewn voice on a friend’s album, and tracked him down.
“A couple of weeks later, we were in Nashville, chatting and working on tunes together,” says Shiplett, recognizing the encounter as his lucky break. The platinum-selling singer not only signed Shiplett to his management company but also led him to a record deal and helped with his major-label debut, this year’s Something to Believe In.
“It’s a collection of songs I wrote over a long period of time,” Shiplett says of the new record. “There are some polished moments on it, and some rougher moments. I think as people get to know me, they’ll understand that’s who I am: Sometimes I’m polished, and sometimes I’m rougher around the edges.”
Born in Red Deer, Alta., Shiplett grew up in a musical family that moved often, with parents who insisted on piano lessons at an early age.
“I didn’t like piano because I didn’t want to play Royal Conservatory stuff,” he says. “I wanted to get to the songs. So I went to the guitar. That’s one great thing about guitar — all you need to do is learn four chords and you’re off to the races. You won’t be good all of a sudden, but you could play Wonderwall or something like that.”
Now 32, he’s been writing his own songs since he was a teenager, though he never took it seriously until he was in his mid-20s.
“I’m a lyric guy,” he says. “I love a good lyric. Lyrics make or break a song. You can have great instrumentation and great harmonic influence in your song but if you miss it with the lyrics, you miss it.
“I try and dive as deep as I can into songwriting and lyrics. I believe the sign of a good songwriter is somebody who can put some emotion in the song and give the listener something to grab onto. That’s what I try to do in my songs, make sure there’s some truth and some honesty to it because we don’t need any more fluff in music. We’ve got the fluff taken care of, it’s already out there. We need some heart and soul put into songwriting. That’s my job and my main goal as a songwriter.”
Shiplett recently finished a western Canadian tour as a solo opener for the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, an experience he says was “the time of my life.
“Really, the thing I grabbed from that was I want to do this,” he says. “There’s no other option for me. There’s no Plan B. This is it. Those guys are all 69-70-71 years old, and they’re up there onstage every night. They had so many ups and downs over the years, and for me, it was inspiring seeing some older guys who love music just as much as I do. You can do this for a long time, and you can enjoy it.”
Country darling Jess Moskaluke, classic rockers April Wine and alt-rock heroes Sloan are among the artists coming to Ottawa in the countdown to the Grey Cup.
The Grey Cup Festival concert series is a three-day, all-Canadian affair that runs Nov. 23-25 at the TD Place Arena. The fun starts at 6 p.m. Thursday with a night of country music, headlined by Saskatchewan sweetheart Moskaluke. She’s the woman who sings Cheap Wine and Cigarettes, and who won this year’s Juno for best country album. Also on the bill is Calgary’s J.J. Shiplett and Vancouver’s twangy bearded wonders, the Washboard Union.
Friday night is dedicated to alternative music, with Halifaxbred stalwarts Sloan at the top of the program. Opening the show is the Toronto party band Dwayne Gretzky, covering everything from Bowie to Beyoncé and Springsteen to Supremes, and Calgary indie folk outfit Reuben and the Dark.
On Saturday, prepare to flash back to the late ’70s when you hear the cowbell that signals the start of Oowatanite, one of April Wine’s big hits. The platinumselling rockers, still with singer-guitarists Myles Goodwyn and Brian Greenway in the lineup, share the arena stage with another Canrock blast from the past — Trooper, the band responsible for such classic-rock staples as We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time), Raise a Little Hell and The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar.
Tickets to each concert are $45, plus surcharges, available at tdplace.ca.