Rob Shipley Music Equipment Fund
Donation protected
Welcome. My name is Rob Shipley and I am proud to have been a singer/songwriter for the better part of a decade. I am proud to be the second and last generation of a family of musical performers. My goal is to spend the remainder of my life inspiring future generations through my original songwriting. This page was established so you can invest in me and my journey to continue doing what I do.
About my mission.
I was just five days out of the hospital when my mother brought me to my first live music event. The venue was a square dance in a fire hall in the small rafting town of Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. I was lucky enough to be born into an incredibly musically gifted family.
I was raised around people who preformed and entertained for those who enjoyed being entertained. The leader of the band who I traveled with was my great uncle Dave Dahl. He played the piano, fiddle, and sang for crowds of square dancers. My grandfather, Paul Dahl, played a claw-hammer banjo and fiddle. The Dave Dahl orchestra entertained tens of thousands of people in its sixty-five year lifespan! You can imagine why I remain inspired.
A few years ago my grandfather passed from this world after living an impressive life. He inspired everyone he met and made sure to take care of others. Towards the end of his life he would play music for senior centers for next to free just to have the opportunity to engage with the elderly. This man gave his heart and soul to make others happy.
My great uncle still plays to this day, but the march of time has depleted the numbers of the once thriving crowd. The old guard of faithful square dancers is diminishing daily. To grow up in that atmosphere, to see the decline of social dancing in my area, deeply inspired me to make a difference in my own community.
Following in the footsteps of those before me.
When I was fifteen I saved to be able to afford my first guitar. I started teaching myself how to play, and when I would start trying to learn a song, without fail, my creative inspiration would kick in and our would pour an original song.
I joined the United States Army as soon as I possibly could. My best friend and I sat in our high school history class and witnessed the devastation of September 11th. I graduated High School and immediately shipped off to Basic Training, Advanced Individual training, and after graduation, served in Egypt and El Salvador, and then two very long and difficult combat tours of duty in Iraq. In almost ten years I spent more years training for duty or outside of the United States than in it. I am proud of my service.
In the few moments of downtime I did have, I started intensely writing music to cope with the stress of being away from the family and friends I loved. While in Iraq I even formed a band with some friends and preformed for the troops. I love making people happy with music.
The mission of my performance is to be a storytelling songwriter. My passion is to preform for grateful audiences. Every single song I've ever written tells a real story. When I preform, I sing from the heart I've placed on my sleeve. To honor my grandfather, I play music professionally in hopes of making as many people happy as possible, just like my great uncle and grandfather did.
Recent Events.
One of the greatest blessings of my life is when I met my fiance, Stacy. After being made a very happy man while dating her, I was honored when she said YES to my proposal on April 25th, 2015. As my life moves in new and exciting directions with her and as we close on our first home together, we realize just how many things we need to be working hard towards. We understand how hard it is to stretch the dollar towards things like appliances and closing costs on a house. I'm so happy to be poor with the woman I love, and I'm proud to save for our big purchases, together. At this time my "extra money" is very thin.
The need.
The sound equipment I use is geared for larger audiences. The venues I play in are much smaller than what my current equipment is designed for. It is also heavy, outdated, and extremely cumbersome. Most bars in the towns I play in will not supply a quality sound system. As a professional, I wish to display the very best sound quality to my audience as possible.
While researching possible solutions to my problem, I came across the Bose L1 professional amplification system. Monetarily supporting my sound system updgrade will reduce the space my system needs in my vehicle, allowing me to preform using a fuel efficient compact car and not an SUV. This will increase the range of the places I play music to include Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. This will significantly impact my marketability and profitability and barring any catastrophe, ensure that I will never need a solo acoustic sound system upgrade ever again.
Bose sound system
This professional system upgrade will cost over two thousand dollars.
Service to the Community
Some places I bring live music to are not suitable to have bands preform. Some establishments can only offer to pay a nominal fee to performers. I sometimes take these gigs knowing that my grandfather raised me in places he lost money going to. To me, the performance and the chance to entertain others outweighs the need to be paid what I'm worth. In adopting this philanthropic attitude, my equipment has suffered. This is the physical cost of the service I provide to my community.
My second need comes in the form of equipment repairs for both my acoustic and electric guitars. I purchased my first professional acoustic guitar in 2007 and I am proud to say that it has been played about every single day since. My music, and the instruments that enable me to share my music, are as part of my soul as any important living remembered memory. My guitar is an extension of my soul. It is also as crucial as any tool in a craftsman's workshop. Just like your vehicle enables you to travel, my musical equipment enables my music to travel.
My trusty acoustic guitar has seen the better part of one thousand three hour long shows. I have played my guitar in personal, professional, and spiritual situations:
I have been leading worship for over 300 members of the Suncrest United Methodist Church. It's a great honor of my life to do so, but if my guitar snaps I cannot play my guitar like I was born to do. This would cause me an immense amount of sadness. I have played and sang at numerous weddings, birthdays, parties, and other gatherings. I need the equipment possible to continue entertaining your friends, family, children, and business partners.
I have played my trusty guitar with gusto, pouring out my heart and sweating buckets in the process. In the flamboyance of my performance, my guitar began to crack a few years ago. The fix the local guitar shop provided was insufficient. Recently, while I was tapping a drumming rhythm on my guitar at a show, I heard a second loud crack. both the front and back of my actoustic guitar is broken. This requires a professional luthier.
The winters in West Virginia are sometimes very extreme. The temperature may fluctuate fifty degrees in the span of a few hours. Coupled with the dry air of heating and air conditioning, solid top guitars like mine have a habit of cracking. I am incredibly worried that the guitar I bought with the money I earned serving the United States will break into pieces mid-performance. This is my only performance capable acoustic guitar.
I do not know how much the "temporary to permanent" fix might cost. I need to be prepared to replace the acoustic guitar and retire my first workhorse. I sing and play at events more than any two performers I know. I have played hundreds of shows. I need this upgrade.
Electric Guitar
I currently have two albums worth of worthy material that may never get to your ears without your help. God forbid if I am to parish, my music literally perishes with me. Recording is a rightly expensive and time consuming endeavor. Most recording studios run from 25 dollars an hour to hundreds of dollars an hour. It is as expensive as hiring contractors for your home or a mechanic for your vehicle. I am a performer, not a studio musician; it takes me longer to become satisfied with my recorded works.
My electric guitar is essential for recording full band music. Unfortunately my electric guitar is in pieces, left to the care of a friend who never came through in upgrading the guitar. I need to buy the appropriate electronics for the upgrade and pay a professional luthier to fix both my acoustic and electric guitars.
This could cost hundreds of dollars
My birthday is June 17th. I would love to be able to use the funds we raise collectively to invest in the future of my heart, and the future of my craft. I am asking you to invest in a man who has invested time serving his nation, his city, his place of worship, and the people that live all of those places.
I am asking for five thousand dollars. Please believe that every cent of our fundraising effort will be used in my music. I have a sound system to upgrade, an electric and acoustic guitar to fix, and two studio albums to record with what is left over from my equipment upgrade.
Thank you so much.
Rob Shipley
About my mission.
I was just five days out of the hospital when my mother brought me to my first live music event. The venue was a square dance in a fire hall in the small rafting town of Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. I was lucky enough to be born into an incredibly musically gifted family.
I was raised around people who preformed and entertained for those who enjoyed being entertained. The leader of the band who I traveled with was my great uncle Dave Dahl. He played the piano, fiddle, and sang for crowds of square dancers. My grandfather, Paul Dahl, played a claw-hammer banjo and fiddle. The Dave Dahl orchestra entertained tens of thousands of people in its sixty-five year lifespan! You can imagine why I remain inspired.
A few years ago my grandfather passed from this world after living an impressive life. He inspired everyone he met and made sure to take care of others. Towards the end of his life he would play music for senior centers for next to free just to have the opportunity to engage with the elderly. This man gave his heart and soul to make others happy.
My great uncle still plays to this day, but the march of time has depleted the numbers of the once thriving crowd. The old guard of faithful square dancers is diminishing daily. To grow up in that atmosphere, to see the decline of social dancing in my area, deeply inspired me to make a difference in my own community.
Following in the footsteps of those before me.
When I was fifteen I saved to be able to afford my first guitar. I started teaching myself how to play, and when I would start trying to learn a song, without fail, my creative inspiration would kick in and our would pour an original song.
I joined the United States Army as soon as I possibly could. My best friend and I sat in our high school history class and witnessed the devastation of September 11th. I graduated High School and immediately shipped off to Basic Training, Advanced Individual training, and after graduation, served in Egypt and El Salvador, and then two very long and difficult combat tours of duty in Iraq. In almost ten years I spent more years training for duty or outside of the United States than in it. I am proud of my service.
In the few moments of downtime I did have, I started intensely writing music to cope with the stress of being away from the family and friends I loved. While in Iraq I even formed a band with some friends and preformed for the troops. I love making people happy with music.
The mission of my performance is to be a storytelling songwriter. My passion is to preform for grateful audiences. Every single song I've ever written tells a real story. When I preform, I sing from the heart I've placed on my sleeve. To honor my grandfather, I play music professionally in hopes of making as many people happy as possible, just like my great uncle and grandfather did.
Recent Events.
One of the greatest blessings of my life is when I met my fiance, Stacy. After being made a very happy man while dating her, I was honored when she said YES to my proposal on April 25th, 2015. As my life moves in new and exciting directions with her and as we close on our first home together, we realize just how many things we need to be working hard towards. We understand how hard it is to stretch the dollar towards things like appliances and closing costs on a house. I'm so happy to be poor with the woman I love, and I'm proud to save for our big purchases, together. At this time my "extra money" is very thin.
The need.
The sound equipment I use is geared for larger audiences. The venues I play in are much smaller than what my current equipment is designed for. It is also heavy, outdated, and extremely cumbersome. Most bars in the towns I play in will not supply a quality sound system. As a professional, I wish to display the very best sound quality to my audience as possible.
While researching possible solutions to my problem, I came across the Bose L1 professional amplification system. Monetarily supporting my sound system updgrade will reduce the space my system needs in my vehicle, allowing me to preform using a fuel efficient compact car and not an SUV. This will increase the range of the places I play music to include Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. This will significantly impact my marketability and profitability and barring any catastrophe, ensure that I will never need a solo acoustic sound system upgrade ever again.
Bose sound system
This professional system upgrade will cost over two thousand dollars.
Service to the Community
Some places I bring live music to are not suitable to have bands preform. Some establishments can only offer to pay a nominal fee to performers. I sometimes take these gigs knowing that my grandfather raised me in places he lost money going to. To me, the performance and the chance to entertain others outweighs the need to be paid what I'm worth. In adopting this philanthropic attitude, my equipment has suffered. This is the physical cost of the service I provide to my community.
My second need comes in the form of equipment repairs for both my acoustic and electric guitars. I purchased my first professional acoustic guitar in 2007 and I am proud to say that it has been played about every single day since. My music, and the instruments that enable me to share my music, are as part of my soul as any important living remembered memory. My guitar is an extension of my soul. It is also as crucial as any tool in a craftsman's workshop. Just like your vehicle enables you to travel, my musical equipment enables my music to travel.
My trusty acoustic guitar has seen the better part of one thousand three hour long shows. I have played my guitar in personal, professional, and spiritual situations:
I have been leading worship for over 300 members of the Suncrest United Methodist Church. It's a great honor of my life to do so, but if my guitar snaps I cannot play my guitar like I was born to do. This would cause me an immense amount of sadness. I have played and sang at numerous weddings, birthdays, parties, and other gatherings. I need the equipment possible to continue entertaining your friends, family, children, and business partners.
I have played my trusty guitar with gusto, pouring out my heart and sweating buckets in the process. In the flamboyance of my performance, my guitar began to crack a few years ago. The fix the local guitar shop provided was insufficient. Recently, while I was tapping a drumming rhythm on my guitar at a show, I heard a second loud crack. both the front and back of my actoustic guitar is broken. This requires a professional luthier.
The winters in West Virginia are sometimes very extreme. The temperature may fluctuate fifty degrees in the span of a few hours. Coupled with the dry air of heating and air conditioning, solid top guitars like mine have a habit of cracking. I am incredibly worried that the guitar I bought with the money I earned serving the United States will break into pieces mid-performance. This is my only performance capable acoustic guitar.
I do not know how much the "temporary to permanent" fix might cost. I need to be prepared to replace the acoustic guitar and retire my first workhorse. I sing and play at events more than any two performers I know. I have played hundreds of shows. I need this upgrade.
Electric Guitar
I currently have two albums worth of worthy material that may never get to your ears without your help. God forbid if I am to parish, my music literally perishes with me. Recording is a rightly expensive and time consuming endeavor. Most recording studios run from 25 dollars an hour to hundreds of dollars an hour. It is as expensive as hiring contractors for your home or a mechanic for your vehicle. I am a performer, not a studio musician; it takes me longer to become satisfied with my recorded works.
My electric guitar is essential for recording full band music. Unfortunately my electric guitar is in pieces, left to the care of a friend who never came through in upgrading the guitar. I need to buy the appropriate electronics for the upgrade and pay a professional luthier to fix both my acoustic and electric guitars.
This could cost hundreds of dollars
My birthday is June 17th. I would love to be able to use the funds we raise collectively to invest in the future of my heart, and the future of my craft. I am asking you to invest in a man who has invested time serving his nation, his city, his place of worship, and the people that live all of those places.
I am asking for five thousand dollars. Please believe that every cent of our fundraising effort will be used in my music. I have a sound system to upgrade, an electric and acoustic guitar to fix, and two studio albums to record with what is left over from my equipment upgrade.
Thank you so much.
Rob Shipley
Organizer
Rob Shipley
Organizer
Morgantown, WV