BIO
“It is very rare that I hear a band that was previously unknown to me that blows my ears off… Rusty Shipp have rocked this album right out of the park.” - Andy Phelps, The Metal Review
True to their name, Nashville’s Rusty Shipp have created a sound known as Nautical Rock ‘n’ Roll. Characterized by its dark, underwater sound, haunting vocals, and unconventional heavy riffs, the music is a perfect fusion of grunge and surf rock, sounding appropriately like a “rusty ship”! On the surface, the band may appear as a mere gimmick; however, there is actually great depth (pun intended) under the stories of salty sailors and sea angels.
The band has created a multi-dimensional, artistic experience that integrates music, narrative story-telling, illustration, and video to take the listener on a voyage into their underwater world with its undercurrent of provocative philosophies. Artistry and depth aside though, their music is most memorable for the Beatlesque chord progressions and hooky vocal melodies at the core of every song.
Named after singer-songwriter Russ T. Shipp, the band was started in 2014 in Nashville, TN and grew to include AJ Newton on drums, Doug Webster on bass, and Rex Shredman (Ryan Starkman) on lead guitar. Russ T. has his own signature sound, weaving his raspy voice in and out of falsetto and vibrato; at times sounding like a “higher-pitched Kurt Cobain,” as one music critic put it, and other times like a ghost.
Tirelessly thinking and working like it’s a divine mission, the band’s goal is to “inspire people’s imagination, fill them with hope, and do our part to increase harmony in the world using the medicine of music.” The result of this zeal is the band's third concept album “Capsized Empire.”
The group has played concerts with artists such as Saliva, Tantric, Smile Empty Soul, Chuck Mosley (Faith No More/Bad Brains), and Kevin Max (dc Talk). The band annually plays a 6 hour show (of originals and covers) for 25,000 runners near the finish line of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in downtown Nashville, as well as a monthly private livestream for the group’s Patreon “The Ghost Shipp,” and frontman Russ T. Shipp performs every week in a livestream for the band’s social media community, ‘The Shippmates.’
ACCOLADES
RADIO
“SINNERS IN THE HANDS” charted as the #4 rock song in the US (Christian Music Weekly)
“NECK BREAKER” WON RadioU’s Battle of the Buzz song contest
“CAPSIZED EMPIRE” named #1 Album of 2025 (The Antidote, Radio Show on Effect Radio)
“[Capsized Empire is] the best album I’ve heard this year!” - Dave Hawkins, Host of The Antidote
“LIVING WATERS” 6th Most-played Song of 2023 — ChristianRock.net
“BOTTOM OF THE BARREL”
#14 Rock Song of 2022 — Christian Music Weekly’s National Radio Chart
#1 Song of 2022 — Crossroad Radio (WBFJ)
#12 Song of 2022 — Some Sort of Rock Show (WJTL)
#26 Most Requested Song of 2022 — RadioU
“Rusty Shipp returned with a brand new single called ‘Bottom Of The Barrel’...already it’s a contender for my favorite song of the year.” - Andy Herrin, 102.9 FM The Buzz, Nashville‘s Rock Station
AWARDS
WON — Song of the Year (Rock) for “Living Waters” in the 2023 Josie Music Awards (Largest Indie Music Awards Show)
WON — Alt Rock Song of the Year for “Bottom of the Barrel” in the 2023 Grizzly Awards.
“DARK SIDE OF THE OCEAN” (ALBUM)
#1 Album of 2022 — The Antidote, featured on Effect Radio, etc
#5 Album of 2022 — JesusFreakHideout.com
“[Dark Side of the Ocean is] an ambitious work…its concept and storyline brilliantly executed… flawlessly arranged and beautifully crafted on every level.”
- Album Review, Eclectic Music Lover
OTHER PRESS
Rusty Shipp won Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and three other awards in the 2020 JFH Awards, was named top 30 artists of 2020 by Effect Radio, and ‘Liquid Pendulum’ stayed at #1 for 3 weeks on the USA Rock Radio charts according to BigBigHit. The group has had premieres, features, and interviews on HM Magazine, CCM Magazine, PureGrainAudio, Jesusfreakhideout.com, NewReleaseToday, RadioU, Effect Radio, Cross Rhythms (UK), and many others, including Nashville’s FM rock stations Lightning 100 and 102.9 The Buzz.
