“Rise Up” by Lee Shupp

The bluesy spirit pervading Lee Shupp’s songwriting doesn’t consign him to a purist vein. He smooths over the rugged edges of his new collection Rise Up with flashes of pop sensibility that never threaten to dilute the gravitas underlying each of the album’s eight songs. It’s a brief release by modern standards. However, the condensed focus and impassioned songwriting present throughout Rise Up deliver a fulfilling experience that many longer albums lack. The San Francisco-based singer/songwriter and guitarist leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to satisfy audiences but, most importantly, to satisfy himself. 

It isn’t hard to believe that tracks such as “Here There Be Dragons” aren’t personally satisfying. Shupp lays it on the line for listeners with this honest glimpse into his psyche, and countless listeners will relate. His facility on the guitar is notable, but the song proves he’s a skilled lyricist. He drenches the song with bluesy grit. The recurring slide guitar work during the song has an uncompromising tone. It is the musical equivalent of several exclamation points scattered throughout the cut. 

Slide guitar is a crucial contributor to the album’s second track “Ride Tall in the Saddle”. It is a bit less raucous than the opener and more deliberate, and the accompanying massed vocals employed during the refrain make a distinctly different impression than the earlier “Here There Be Dragons”. “One Step Ahead of the Sandman” owes more to Shupp’s rock and pop influences than the blues. It has a punchy chorus that stands out and plays as if it’s cut from much of the same cloth as “Ride Tall in the Saddle”, sans the slide guitar. Consistent production values contribute an unified character to the release. 

A strong vocal arrangement lightens the rock character of the album’s longest track, “Elemental”. It’s a song light on its feet, briskly paced, and once again distinguished by Shupp’s underrated lyrical acumen. The four minutes plus running time allows Shupp to musically stretch in a way that the remaining seven tracks do not. The album’s final two tracks take a stylistic turn away from their predecessors. “Going Home” veers close to symphonic pop with light orchestration. The slight psychedelic haze hanging over the track is appropriate for a San Francisco-based musical artist. However, it never goes too far in that direction and leans more towards the pop end of the spectrum. 

“Safe and Sound” is one part narrative lyric and another half character study. Rise Up’s closing song gains a great deal from its supporting vocals, and the bell-clear musicality of Shupp’s vocals is the track’s undisputable center. The acoustic guitar playing during the album’s final two songs gives Rise Up’s conclusion a different sonic character than the first six tracks. However, the energy remains, albeit shaped in another way. It’s a fitting close for the release. Lee Shupp’s Rise Up may be short by contemporary standards, but the Texas-born San Francisco transplant packs those eight tracks with ample content. It’ll satisfy even the most rigorous listener. 

Mindy McCall