Local businessman hits road with new project

Lynda Hollenbeck
Benton Courier
Monday, August 18, 2003

A Benton man has begun a new venture. Longtime Billy Bob Thornton guitarist, music partner and fellow Arkansan, Michael Shipp has left Thornton's band and current tour to promote the release of his solo project CD.

The new CD, titled Adventures of Roosterboy, is by the Michael Shipp Xcursion and is on Tiffer Records.

Shipp and Thornton met just out of high school and performed in bands throughout the late 1970s and 1980s before Thornton became successful in the film industry, Shipp said.

Recently, Shipp toured more than 12 countries with Thornton during the promotion of Thornton's CD, Private Radio.

Shipp also did extensive work on Thornton's soon-to-be-released CD, The Edge of the World, on Sanctuary Records.

"I will certainly miss playing in Billy's band and all the great times we had with such great fans," Shipp said.

He said he has his friend's blessing to pursue this project. "I've poured every ounce of heart and soul I have in these songs for MSX (Michael Shipp Xcursion)."

Shipp's new CD will feature what he describes as "hard-edged songs about the demons of life inflicted on a rather haunted individual as he journeys through the Deep South, trying to fit in, recover and finally just survive."

One track, "If You Had a Soul," is co-written with longtime pal Thornton, he noted.

Thornton referred to The Adventures of Roosterboy CD as "eerie, swampy rock we miss so much these days."

The CD will be officially released Aug. 22 in Nashville, Tenn., during a live performance by the Michael Shipp Xcursion at a new B.B. King venue, Shipp noted.

The CD, which sells for $12.99, is already available for purchase locally at Hastings Music Books Video and at Shipp Communications, he said.

"I wanted to get some out here now before it's everywhere else," he said.

"It's my own label and I can do what I want to with it," he added.

Shipp is looking forward to many new opportunities as he steps out on his own.

"We put the band together hurriedly, but it's got some of the best Memphis musicians," he said.

Shipp, of course, will be playing guitar - his special instrument, Goldie - which he refers to as his "six-string soul mate."

"My guitar has always been a place of escape for me," he said. "It's where I find inspiration."

Shipp said music has been his "lifelong passion and dream."

"This CD has taken several difficult years to complete and is the product of a man who refused to give up or quit," he said.

He noted that his CD at Hastings is located in the "Local Artists" section, but he hopes eventually it will be set up as a separate display.

He said he plans to join Thornton in the future for special projects. "We're still great friends and want to work together again," he said.

Shipp's album was recorded at Red Alert Studios in a pastoral setting outside Nashville, he said.

"We were in the middle of beautiful countryside, which helped the creative process immensely," he added.

Shipp, who has two adult children and one grandchild, said he and his wife Kim are expecting a baby.