After spending years in and out of bands with his younger brother, Michael Shaw is ready to step out on his own as An Intimate Evening With Michael Shaw on This Is It. out June 2, 2015. Journeying deep into the Antrim Coast of Ireland, Michael Shaw conceived the album during a weeklong pilgrimage to his birthplace (perhaps a coincidence or perhaps by fate, Van Morrison’s first ever performance at the nearby Dunluce Castle occurred that week, adding to the mystical conception vintage pop sound of this record). “I rented a cottage, just a short walk across some farmers’ fields to the Giants Causeway,” Shaw says. “Then I holed up for a week and split time between driving the countryside, feeding the wood stove, and writing songs.”
The first song from This Is It. is “Leave Me Alone”, debuting on Nerdistwith a music video directed by Ashley Rodholm (tUnE yArDs, Set Your Goals). The video, like the album, dually inhabits both Shaw’s long-lost youth and his unfolding present, showing him as a boy and an adult going on an adventure that ends with a sweeping guitar solo and a frantic escape. Find the video here: http://nerdist.com/premiere-leave-me-alone-by-an-intimate-evening-with-michael-shaws-is-a-loner-anthem/
The album acts as a two pronged tribute: first to the vintage acts he grew up listening to, and second as a tribute to Shaw’s mother, who was diagnosed with cancer a week before writing started and passed away a week before recording concluded. From the psychedelic swirl of opening track“Floating Away” to the majestic march of “Leave Me Alone” to the epic soar of“Gooseberry Fool”, This Is It. is an album rife with historical music reference points without sounding dated or “retro”, displaying Shaw’s adept command of songwriting and musicianship.
Born in Northern Ireland, Shaw spent his youth divided between there, London, and his current home of Northern California where he developed his bittersweet sound in line with Oasis, ELO, and T. Rex as a guitarist in bands like Petrol and the Aktion before stepping out of the shadows to give the pop formula his personal touch.
“I consider this band a gift from the universe,” Shaw says. This Is It. will be released on June 2, 2015.