Jim Shelley & Book Of Kills

Jim Shelley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, writer, painter, and former high school 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 tape 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's music encompasses elements of everything from first-wave Brit-pop, '60s garage rock, folk and country to punk, hard rock and metal to electronica to sound collage and extreme noise.

Shelley is a 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 sporadically on the East Coast, mostly in or near his home town of Bridgewater, Virginia, with various rock bands, including Book Of Proles, The Plague Dogs, agitprop The Karl Rove, Fear + Whiskey, and most notably the stylistically diverse Book Of Kills.

Former Alternative Press writer Jim Santos described Shelley as 'one of America's great unknown songwriters.'