Americana singer-songwriter Rick Shelley has been writing, recording and playing music throughout Southern California since he migrated to the desert in the late '80s. During his '20s, he was a fixture on the L.A. music scene with his band RagTag. When that chapter closed, he spent 12 years in Woodshed. The latter made their home in the Coachella Valley, but toured from the desert to the mountains and beach towns between Southern and Central California.
During the RagTag years, he was the charismatic front-man, reinforced by guitarist James Danielson, drummer Eric Turner and bassist Nick Oliveri. Their sound comfortably sandwiched between the gritty Glam-Metal of Guns N' Roses and the serpentine Punk of Jane's Addiction.
Woodshed featured nearly the same line-up as RagTag, the only difference being Dean Oliveri on bass. This time out, Rick split lead vocal duties with James and played rhythm guitar. Their sound, inspired by disparate influences like Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Grateful Dead, was rough-hewn, rustic and Bluesy.
The band made their name as an incendiary live act, and recorded three well-received albums between 1994 and 2001. Following a recording session at the infamous Rancho de La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, Woodshed kind of went on hiatus...Rick recently noted "The band never officially broke up, we just evaporated in the summer heat, I guess." Sadly, their fourth album remains unreleased.
The next decade truly tested Rick's mettle. A sudden divorce quickly turned his life upside down. So he set aside music and concentrated on raising his kids. As they came of age, he rediscovered his muse. He found experience had made his music more heartfelt, introspective and nuanced. By 2014, he re-emerged as a solo artist, and began booking shows locally in the desert.
The following summer Rick connected with producer and multi-instrumentalist, Chris Unck, (Pink, Butch Walker, Black Roses). The pair retreated to Chris' High Lonesome recording studio in Joshua Tree, Rick had stockpiled at least 40 new songs since emerging from his artistic hibernation. They pared down to six superlative cuts, and co-produced his debut EP, "1909 Miles."
The EP arrived in November 2015, receiving rapturous reviews. But Rick didn't rest on his laurels. He and Chris hit the ground running and began work on his full-length follow-up, "Hope Wrapped In Razor Wire." While the EP felt lean and unfussy the new effort was augmented by bassist Damian Lester and drummer Tyler Saraca, and the result was lightning in a bottle. Christened The Desert Dogs by Chris, the four-piece decided to road test their expansive sound.
Since then they have played select shows in the desert as well as The Grand Old Echo in Los Angeles and Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. In a recent interview, Rick confided, "The guys in The Desert Dogs make the sound I hear in my head when I write. I couldn't have come across a better, or more talented group of players. We're a band in the truest sense of the word, and a damn good one!"
Rick has made his mark with songs like "Walking With Ghosts," "Dead Horse Hollow" and "Highway 99 Bakersfield," an ode to the Bakersfield sound. A richly evocative storyteller, his songs employ an economy of language that recall Texas Troubadours like Robert Earl Keen and the late Guy Clark. He shares his hard-won wisdom with pathos, humor and grace. Every narrative accompanied by indelible melodies and killer hooks.
