The Circuit Venue

Director Resume

Summary of Qualifications:
Thirty-five years experience in music production and promotion.

Band Membership:
Played bass in several bands since age sixteen. Performed with Merle Shupe and the Star Dusters, a top forty dance band; Ron Ricks Band and Lee Cheeney Band, Country Bands; and Bittercreek, a Bluegrass Band.

Music Teacher:
Learned to play the fiddle, mandolin and banjo well enough to teach five children: Ryan, Daron, Tara, Bonie and Stacee Shupe.

Band Organizer:
Organized Powder Ridge Bluegrass Band, pulling together musicians in the Northern Utah area, and won the 1989 Telluride National Band Contest and performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1990.

Band Director and Promoter:

Pewee Pickers – 1979-1986 – Developed this youth Bluegrass band with son Ryan and four other musicians who ultimately toured the United States and Europe. Performed on the Ralph Emory Show in Nashville and played for Ronald Reagan’s trip to Utah in 1989. The group produced two albums, were featured in Bluegrass Unlimited (a premier Bluegrass magazine), and opened for Michael Martin Murphy. Member Matt Fl inner now plays with the bands Phillips, Greer and Flinner and Left Over Salmon, lives and works as a studio musician in Nashville, and was nominated for a Grammy for his first CD release of original work, Ryan Shupe and his Rubberband, who signed with Capital Records and Danny Bates lives and works as a studio musician in Nashville, and is playing fiddle, mandolin and guitar with country artist Mark Wells.

String Fever – 1986-1995 – Organized this youth Bluegrass band with son Daron and daughter Tara and three other musicians. The band toured major Bluegrass Festivals in the United States and Europe. Won the Telluride National Band Contest in 1994 and performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1995. Won 1st in the Western Regional of the Pizza Hut International Bluegrass Showdown in Fort Collins in 1995 and placed 3rd in the finals at Owensboro, Kentucky, beating out Nickel Creek. Opened for Alison Krauss and Emmalou Harris. Produced three albums.

Salt Licks – 1994-1996 – Organized this youth band with son Ryan and three other musicians: Craig Miner, Dan Bates and April Lancaster. Won Telluride National Band Contest in 1995 and performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Showdown in 1995 and placed 1st in the finals at Owensboro Kentucky. Offered a recording contract with Pine Castle Recording Artists. Ryan and Craig Miner have reorganized with Roger Archibald (a previous player in String Fever) and two other musicians into Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band who have signed a contract with Capital/Nashville. Dan Bates is presently living in Nashville and playing with Country Artist Mark Wells.

Festival Promotion:
Served on organizing and promotion committees of the following festivals and/or contests: 1978-1986 – Golden Spike National Fiddle Championships; 1982-1987 – Park City Bluegrass Festival; 1988-1993 – Fort Buenaventura Bluegrass Festival and Mountain Man Rendezvous; 1987-1989 – Utah State Fiddle and Instrument Contest at the Utah State Fair; 1990-1994 – Utah State Fiddle and Instrument Contest at the Weber County Fair; 2003 – Solder Hollow Bluegrass Contest.

Concert Promotion:
Opened the Jackson Street Junction Arts and Community Center in Ogden, Utah, and ran two concert stages. The concert stages operated five nights a week as a performance venue for national touring groups as well as local bands. Performances include all genres: Rock, Celtic, Bluegrass, Country, Hip-Hop, Folk. “The Junction” continued in Salt Lake at various locations featuring local and national groups and is now located at The Circuit Theater in Midvale.