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Jim Shelley (b. February 29, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, writer, poet, painter, and teacher. Since the release of his first album, 12 Songs, in 1979, Shelley has usually recorded his albums in his home studio on a four or eight track machine, more often than not performing all the instrumental and vocal parts himself, though in recent years he has employed a full band on a number of occasions.
Shelley is a relatively prolific writer, having released more than 500 songs on over forty records, most of them since 1989. He played a prominent role in the 1990s lo-fi music scene.
Over the last couple decades, Shelley has performed live perhaps a hundred or so times on the East Coast, mostly in or near his home town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, with various rock bands under the names of Book of Proles, The Plague Dogs, The Karl Rove, Fear + Whiskey, and most famously, Book Of Kills.
On 10 February 2010, Shelley announced on the "official" band web page, that he was disbanding Book Of Kills "forever", though he left open the possibility that the group might play an occasional benefit in the future. A month later, March 13, 2010, the group performed one final time at the Little Grill in Harrisonburg, the venue where they delivered their first live show in 1994.
In early 2010, Shelley created a new, more improvisational group called Fear + Whiskey. He completed and released his autobiography, The Ballad Of Jim Shelley: Confessions Of A Failed Rock Star, January 19, 2012.
Selected discography
12 Songs (1979)
What I Did On My Summer Vacation (1983)
Bloom Or Die (1989)
For The Good Of The Cause (1991)
Don't Stop The Scream (1992)
The Haunted Life (1992)
Wee Jim's Blackeye (1993)
Big Business Monkey, Volume One (1993)
Songs For A Gone World (1994)
Detritus (1994)
Big Business Monkey, Volume Two (1994)
Saint Judas (1995)
Writing On The Wall (1996)
Splendid Trigger (1996)
Nothing You Can Say (1997)
So Far In Every Direction (1997)
If I Should Fall (1998)
Welcome To Concrete (1999)
Songs - 1983-2000 (2000)
E.P. (2001)
Hoggett Heads (2002)
All About You (2002)
Wasp 51! (2003)
Rockin' The Cheetah's Ass: Book Of Kills Live (2004)
I Can't Give You Anything But Love (2005)
The Monkeyclaus Sessions - The Karl Rove (2006)
Monkeyclaus Plus - The Karl Rove (2006)
Adventures Of An Inspired Amateur - Box Set (2006)
Different (2007)
The Plague Dogs (2008)
This Is Your Book Of Kills (2008)
Toward The Escape (2009)
The Strange One (Outtakes & Demos) Volume One (2010)
Bona Fide (2011)
The Pleasures Of Saying Goodbye (2012)
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