(Nashville TN) The all new B.B. King's Blues Club in Nashville opened Friday August 22nd to a packed house and rowdy crowd. The evening was the CD Release Party of the Michael Shipp Xcursion, (MSX). The CD is titled The Adventures of Roosterboy on Tiffer Records.

Shipp also performed to an even rowdier crowd on Saturday night ending the two night engagement to a appreciative crowd. Shipp spoke to the audience saying, “brand new band, brand new CD, brand new B.B.King's in the Music capital of the world, it just doesn’t get any better. Shipp’s new CD was a long time coming for the monster guitarist/songwriter from Arkansas. He began recording the CD in 2001 sandwiched around the 9/11 tradgedies. Then, he took a year to tour with old musical pal from Arkansas, Billy Bob Thornton. They toured Europe and the U.S. as well as began work on Thornton’s new CD, Edge of the World, to be released in September. After his whirlwind year with Billy Bob, he holed up in Nashville with co-producer Steve Tolson to finish the work on the swampy and intriguing concept like CD, The Adventures of Roosterboy.

“They decided I should tour now, so we cherry picked a very cool Memphis band to debut this material. We rehearsed over in Memphis and Mr. Tommy Peters, who owns the new B.B. King's in Nashville, as well as the same venues in Memphis and Los Angeles, asked us to open his all new place down on the river in Nashville,” Shipp said Monday. "We were very excited and now we begin working on taking the show on the road for an extensive period."

The Memphis ensemble that comprises the Michael Shipp Xcursion includes drummer Kimmy Trammell, bassist David Smith, David Biegert on Keyboards and Susan Marshall on back ground vocals. Shipp was filmed and interviewed on Friday by local TV stations as he performed his sound check and was asked how it felt to open the new prestigious venue. He also spoke of how great the folks at B.B.King's treated him and his band.

 Shipp is often compared guitar wise to Rolling Stone Keith Richards, as well as ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Vocally, he is a bluesman from the south and draws from inspirations such as Tom Waits, Dylan, Mark Knopfler, and others. The CD is straight on rock, or as Billy Bob Thornton calls it, “eerie swampy music from the South we miss so much these days.” The Adventures of Roosterboy CD is available at www.michaelrshipp.com. Stay tuned to the website for future announcements regarding tour dates and venues.