ABOUT JIM SHELLEY

     Jim Shelley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, writer, painter, and former high school teacher and football coach. Since the release of his first album, 12 SONGS, in 1983, he has usually recorded his albums in his home studio on a four or eight track tape machine, more often than not performing all the instrumental and vocal parts himself, though over the years he has employed a full band on a number of occasions. 

     Shelley's music encompasses elements of everything from first-wave Brit-pop and '60s garage rock to folk and country to punk, hard rock and metal to electronica to sound collage and extreme noise. 

     Shelley is a prolific writer, having composed, recorded and released more than 500 songs on over forty records, most of them since 1989. He played a prominent role in the so-called lo-fi movement of the 1990s and early 2000s. 

     Over the last couple of decades, Shelley has performed live sporadically on the East Coast, mostly in or near his home town of Bridgewater, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, with various rock bands, including Book Of Proles, The Plague Dogs, The Karl Rove, Fear + Whiskey, and most notably the stylistically diverse Book Of Kills, the "live" version of which has featured a number of different line-ups from 1994 through 2023. 

     In 2012, Shelley published his autobiography, The Ballad Of Jim Shelley: My Life As A Failed Rock Star.

     Jim continues to produce new music. In early 2022, he announced the formation of yet another incarnation of Book of Kills, one which he declared would be the last. By the end of that year, the band had indeed played several live shows. 

     Check back regularly for the latest news on releases and upcoming gigs.