His own dammed self

The DIY guitar magic of “weird socialite” Beaver Sheppard

Like many people, I first met Beaver Sheppard at some ridiculous late-night party where everything is hazy and no one really matters. He was clever and absurd and probably the only person anyone would remember the next morning. “I’m a recognized name for a lot of other things than art, like being a weird socialite,” says Sheppard. “I went out every day for an entire year, back in 2006—I went out every single day, every night.” Which is maybe why I was a bit surprised the first time I heard Beaver play. He stepped on stage with only his guitar and sang songs that were beautiful, sincere and often incredibly sad— comparable perhaps to Daniel Johnston. Sheppard describes it as “lo-fi guitar magic,” which may be the best way to define his music if you feel the need to do so. Moving here from Newfoundland 10 years ago (for a girl), he worked as a chef in various fancy restaurants that will not be named, finally ending up at Dépanneur le Pick-Up, meanwhile continually recording songs, often on a four-track in his bedroom. It’s only after five years of living here that Sheppard started playing shows, a lot of shows, getting a record released on a Baltimore label and eventually going on tour with Wolf Parade. How­ever, he wasn’t getting the same kind of mainstream hype heaped on other local acts. “To tally up, I probably played 25 shows this last year, but everyone probably only knows about two or three of them,” he says.

Arbutus Records was also supposed to release his record last year, but that fell through. So this year, like many artists, Beaver’s doing it on his own, releasing two new records on his web-site (beaversheppard.com).

He’ll also be playing shows with his new band called Country, which he describes as “new-wavy/no-wavy.”

“They’re going to think we’re a country band, but we’re doing sarcastic political songs about Africa and bottled water and mass suicide.”

Excited about his new projects, one can only wonder if this will be the year that pushes Sheppard out from the underground.

“There’s a certain magic to being a no-one. I’m not angry about it. I stay true to myself and I stay true to the people around me,” he says. “I just want to write songs where no one even understands what I’m saying, but still walks away from it thinking, that was fucking beautiful.” ★

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