With the upcoming release of his new album later this summer, Utah-based musician Ryan Shupe will be touring the country to promote his new album, “We Rode On.” This upcoming album will be Shupe’s eighth, and he said it marks a change in his style, shifting to more of a rock sound rather than his usual country sound.
“With this album, I kind of wanted to just focus more on a certain theme — let the music be more focused than on my previous albums,” Shupe said. “I kind of picked what we do best, which is a rock theme with that acoustic bluegrass influence in there. I think that … makes it probably one of the most unique and widely accessible albums.”
With this change of sound, Shupe also opted for the independent recording route as he wrote, produced and recorded most of the songs on the album himself, using acoustic instruments such as the fiddle, the electric and acoustic guitar, and the mandolin.
“You know, going independent, I felt like we could kind of control a little bit more of where we were spending our efforts and resources,” he said. “We get to choose our destiny, and on the flip side, we were able to put together a whole team that we kind of hand-picked ourselves. So with going independent, we got to pick the puzzle pieces to our label.”
To start off his three-month “Make America Shupe Again Tour,” Ryan Shupe and his ensemble, the Rubberband, performed in Las Vegas on May 20. He will now make his way to Utah to perform in the Sandy Amphitheater on Friday, June 3, and he said he hopes his fans will take away something special from his new album.
“I just wanted this album to be positive,” Shupe said. “That is kind of the overall vibe, and it is just a good, fun time, so I think people will like the album, crank it up and rock out to it.”
As for his band, Shupe said he feels like he has been pretty lucky with his ensemble. When Shupe first created the Rubberband, he said, he wanted a band that wouldn’t break up, allowing the group of musicians to leave, come back and change from time to time. But for the most part, he said, he has the same guys with him every step of the way.
“I like to get a core group of people that I can draw from because I feel like if you play together, you kind of start to gel,” he said. “But in some ways that gives me a little bit of flexibility when it changes because it is kind of fun, sometimes, mixing it up and moving into a different dynamic.”
Shupe’s performance at the Sandy Amphitheater is the first of many he will give throughout the state, including in Layton at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater on June 17 and in American Fork at the American Fork Amphitheater on July 4.
For more information about the upcoming shows and the release of his new album, visit shupe.net.
If you go ...
What: Ryan Shupe "Make America Shupe Again" concert
When: Friday, June 3, 8 p.m.
Where: Sandy Amphitheater, 1245 E. 9400 South
How much: $10-$16
Phone: 801-568-6076
Web: sandyarts.com/sandy-amphitheater
Email: ewhite@deseretnews.com