Greg Shupe
Greg Shupe has been performing around the US, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and the Caribbean since his college days in Minnesota and West Virginia. Accompanying himself on guitar (and occasionally mandolin or concertina) he has played at festivals, clubs, colleges, coffeehouses, benefits, and rallies. Thousands of people have heard him share his eclectic repertoire of folk, blues, country, gospel, bluegrass, traditional, swing, political, and humorous songs from around the country and the world. He also writes and performs his own songs, several of which are featured on the new CD - Midnight Train.
Born in southeast Arizona, Greg grew up in southern West Virginia, where the influences of traditional mountain tunes, country music, and union songs had a profound effect on his musical orientation. Over the years he has performed in bands, trios, duos, and solo. He spent three years singing 50's and 60's songs in the Blue Moons. He and Jeffrey Tveraas formed the duo Two Grits. He played in the Washington DC area with two groups, Late for Dinner (Dave Shepp and Tom Shaffer) and Thin Ice (Tom Shaffer and Fred Crozier). He has sung and played guitar with Doris Justis and Linda Baer. He was guitarist and vocalist for the West Virginia String Band. He has performed with Harmony Dem, a vocal group from the US Virgin Islands.
A social worker by trade, he has worked for AARP and Ralph Nader's Public Citizen, as well as for the states of Maryland and West Virginia. Since 1992 he has been involved in the issue of homelessness. For the past twenty years he has been living and working in Baltimore.