The Shelby Brothers – Music Family

A fixture of the Columbus music scene, Jesse Shelby has for years been gifting our community with beautiful music, soft spoken kindness, and a true investment in doing good through his art.

Collaboration has always been at the forefront of his endeavors, and his current venture, The Shelby Brothers, is no different. The Shelby Brothers is a four-piece band composed of Jesse and his brother, Hank Shelby, on guitar and vocals, Evan Collins on bass, D.B. Woolbright on drums, and often many other local musicians. These most frequently include songbird and river rat Ivey Ruth Jones, Martell Hughes, Joseph Melancon, and Lloyd Buchanan.

Jesse transitioned out of Fellas and the Vine, his previous project, when his brother moved to Columbus in 2015. “We have different musical influences because of our age differences” says Jesse. “We’re both multi-instrumentalists – guitar, bass and drums. I think that affects the way we hear and play; he likes to play more notes than I do. He’s a better guitar player.”

After playing as a three piece folk-rock band with Joseph Melancon for about two years, they became members of the Friday night house band at The Loft, the Magnetic Musos, from 2017 through 2020. This residency provided a wide range of collaborative musical opportunities for them. Evan Collins joined the trio on bass in September of 2019, and the pandemic brought them D.B. Woolbright. “D.B. and Evan became bonded as a rhythm section, and that’s when the band – the Shelby Brothers – hit a new stride,” says Jesse.

“We’re coming up on five or six years playing with Evan,” continues Jesse, “and I’ve never heard another bass player like him. He has such a unique approach to the bass as an instrument. I was a fan of his long before I got to play with him. Not only is he a fantastic player, he’s also just the nicest guy on the planet. He’s kind of our band counselor, and he’s in school studying to be a counselor.”

Holding it down with Evan, we have D.B. Woolbright, the director of the Springer Theater Academy, “And a real renaissance man,” laughs Jesse. “We’re always grateful to play with our other drummers, Martell Hughes and Joseph Melancon too – they are all so incredibly talented in drastically different ways.”

In their current configuration, the Shelby Brothers play a mix of originals and covers, a fair amount of which is folk-rock and americana, but “we don’t like to get stuck in any one genre,” says Jesse. “We love blues, zydeco, funk, soul, rock, and many other alternative and indie styles. We often shape our sound to the energy of an audience at an event, which is probably influenced by all of those years as a house band at The Loft.”

After the creation of Might As Well Records in 2020, the band has transitioned to playing primarily local shows, allowing them to be more intentionally present in their family lives. “When the shut-down happened,” explains Jesse, “Our gigs just really shifted. We started doing a lot of daytime shows, which I’ve really enjoyed. More family friendly stuff, not just playing for the folks who are out late. We’ve been doing a bunch of different city events, festivals, things like that.”

This local presence has allowed them to become involved in local outreach concerts, including two Playing For Good concerts in collaboration with The Loft, and with TruthSpring, a local nonprofit. “One of my hopes is to develop these fundraiser concerts, both under the Playing For Good banner and in other ways we can turn music into something more. We have a few gigs coming up: Chattahoochee Brewing Company for Saint Paddy’s Day, and another event there on the 31st. April we’re playing the Omaha Brewing Anniversary on the 1st, Banks Food Hall on the 22nd, and Wild Leap Brewing on the 29th.”

Always a family man, Jesse attributes his early interest in music to his relationship with both his grandmother and his father. “My grandmother always encouraged me to go out and play music. She wanted me to play in front of people for the purpose of lifting their spirits. I’ve always had that motivation, and my grandma inspired that. Anytime I’d get frustrated with being a musician, she’d point me back in the right direction. “

When it comes to songwriting, Jesse’s father is his primary inspiration. “I watched my dad play in cover bands my whole life. They were fantastic, but I always just wanted to hear something that my dad wrote. It was super motivational – it made me think, ‘I wanna make something.’ With the guys I play with, we just churn out songs so easily. We can go to a show, just hear it, and pretty much just write off the cuff. When you’re hearing music all the time, you gotta get it out.”

One of Jesse’s favorite things about being a musician in the south is the relationships he is able to foster with other local creatives. “I don’t like playing solo music,” he says, “I like being in collaborative projects. Being able to have musical conversations, everyone has their own dialect, and I get really excited watching everyone inspire each other.”

The Shelby Brothers have an upcoming single, featuring Ivey Jones, set to come out in spring of this year. Titled “Drowning My Good,” it’s about “how we often can’t trust our own ‘thought life’. Just the constant thinking that your brain might be doing, and the untruths or lies that come in and out. Whether you’re dealing with self hate, anxiety, or something else,” says Shelby. At its core, the song is about “swimming in that thought life.”

Jesse recalls the songwriting process, describing how every time he would take a shower, he’d have all these incredible ideas for the song. After expressing this notion to Ivey, she laughed and quipped, “If I ever took a shower, maybe I’d find my muse.”

With Lloyd Buchanan on keys, this song is different from much of the music Jesse has written in the past, a shift he attributes to his co-writer. “The vibe of it is less folk-y,” he says, “This song is different. It’s relaxing. It feels medicinal to me. I actually used to come home from work and play the chord progression and patterns to help me relax.”

When asked where he’d like to see the Shelby Brothers In the future, Jesse says, “I hope to be doing more music with my kids as they get older. I hope they get more excited about making music. The same thing goes for my bandmates. I hope we grow more into a family band, maybe even changing the name to the Shelby Family Band. I’d love to share it more with the kiddos as the years go by.”

To find out more about their upcoming shows, head on over to Facebook (@shelbybros) and Instagram (@shelbybrothers_music). If you have an event you’d like them to play, shoot an email to theshelbybros@gmail.com.

By Sarah Algoe