Jim Shelley

Who is Jim Shelley?

Jim Shelley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, writer, painter, and former teacher. Since the release of his first album, 12 Songs in 1979, Shelley has usually recorded his albums in his home studio on a four or eight track machine, more often than not, performing all the instrumental and vocal parts himself, though in recent years he has employed a full band on a number of occasions.

Shelley is a relatively prolific writer, having released more than 500 songs on over forty records, most of them since 1989. He played a prominent role in the 1990s lo-fi music scene.

Over the last couple of decades, Shelley has performed live sporadically on the East Coast, mostly in or near his home town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, with various rock bands under the names of Book of Proles, The Plague Dogs, The Karl Rove, Fear + Whiskey, and most famously, Book Of Kills.

On February 10, 2010, Shelley announced on the "official" band web page, that he was disbanding Book Of Kills "forever," though he left open the possibility that the group might play an occasional benefit in the future.