Ahoy, mates! Captain Russ T. Shipp of Rusty Shipp here with some BIG news! A lot of new and exciting things have happened for us this year, including winning the 2020 JFH Awards for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and 3 other awards—which is all thanks to you wonderful JFH voters out there!
Naturally, we’ve turned our gaze to the future, to the new songs and next album of Rusty Shipp, an album we hope to surpass the ambition and creativity of an award-winning album like ‘Liquid Exorcist.’ This next album is actually one we began working on BEFORE ‘Liquid Exorcist,’ a full-length concept album that started taking shape right after our ‘Mortal Ghost’ album’s release. But we decided to release an EP first before launching into another LP, and then that EP kept growing and becoming more complex until it became ‘Liquid Exorcist,’ a concept album in its own right, and kind of an EP/LP hybrid. But now that we’ve been sitting on these new songs for a while, letting this new story marinate and grow for years, we’re very excited and confident that this will in fact be our biggest, best, most epic, most ambitious, most creative, ULTIMATE RUSTY SHIPP MASTERPIECE ALBUM!!!
So if we’re attempting to make the ultimate, nautical rock ’n’ roll concept album, what could be a more nautical concept than the ocean itself?! With scientists saying that up to 95% of the ocean is still unexplored, who knows what could be lurking down there? The imagination naturally wanders to tales of sea monsters and lost, underwater civilizations, and we plan to take the listener on an underwater journey to the “Dark Side of the Ocean” to see what mysteries could be lurking there. The further down the rabbit hole we’ll go, the weirder and weirder it will get in this journey to the bottom.
**More info on the album and its concept here: https://bit.ly/RS-Presale
But something else is bubbling up from the surface of the deep; in this case it’s a newfound sense of vision and mission in me (Russ T. Shipp), being the primary lyricist in the band. Whereas ‘Liquid Exorcist’ was very much an album of artistic expression, rich in imagery and soundscapes that brought the listener into scenes of 1940’s naval battles with sea mine terrorism, lately I’ve been convicted to have a different approach with this next album. Even before the challenges of 2020, I’ve become increasingly disturbed by the lack of fulfillment, purpose, vision, and happiness I see in the lives of people today, and I think the world needs so much more than a really creative, artistic concept album about the mysteries of the ocean; they need songs that will help them navigate these current times in the world, and the more direct circumstances of their daily lives. And so for this new album, I’ve undertaken a lofty, songwriting challenge: make a full-on, artistic concept album that journeys to the bottom of the sea (with all the fun that goes with that), while also addressing the fallout of 2020 and replacing that chaos with messages of hope and strength. I want to give people singable, mantra-like lyrics that will empower them, fill them with real hope they can cling to in their every day lives, that will grow their faith and purpose every time they sing them.
We’ve been really getting more and more convicted and intentional in this band about what specific, clear messages we are wanting to communicate to people and get stuck in their heads. There is such incredible power that comes from making music and lyrics, and so we want to be responsible with that power to literally elevate the listener’s overall focus to one that is set on the most important, most life-giving things in life, and specifically the following: God’s desire for Shalom (or harmony) in the world, God’s desire for us to individually become ALL that He created us to be, God’s desire for us to love Him by loving all of His creations, and God’s desire for us to be raised— like Jesus— to eternal life after we die. If the most powerful being in the universe wants all of those things for us (harmony, fulfillment, unconditional love, and eternal life) and is indeed working all the time to give them to us, then really what is there left to be afraid of in this life? That is the message we want to get stuck in the world’s heads and hearts, and so we hope to accomplish that in this new album.
Want to see if we accomplish our goal? Right now we’re allowing people early access to the album-making process when they preorder our new album, which includes getting a demo of one of the new songs, exclusive access to private live streams straight from the recording studio when we’re laying down the new tracks, and everyone who preorders will get the new album months before its public release!
Really we need people’s help from this Presale so that we can have funding to pay for the recording sessions up front, so we’re trying to sweeten the deal for people by offering special, exclusive merch items and rewards that are ONLY available to people who preorder before December 8, when our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign expires. Please watch the video and click the link below to find out more about the new concept of the album and also what special merch and rewards we’re giving out before the Presale ends on Dec. 8!
**Video about the new album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOHCOuCnTVE&t=1s
HUGE thanks to anyone who believes in us and our music enough to help us bring these new songs into the world by contributing to our crowdfunding campaign!!
And please join us on December 8th on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Periscope) @6pm CST for a telethon-style live stream as we close out the final hours of our crowdfunding campaign with some live music from the band (including the revealing of a new song) and contests for FREE Rusty Shipp merch! See you there!
Hold fast to hope, everyone!
~Russ T. Shipp and the crew of Rusty Shipp
**Check out the new album Presale here: https://bit.ly/RS-Presale