SHURMAN formed in Southern California in the early 2000’s during a revival of the Country Rock music scene made popular many years earlier by bands like the Byrds, the Eagles, & Gram Parsons. The band quickly earned a reputation as a “must see live act” due to their relentless touring schedule & sweat-drenched live shows. Early shows saw the group honing their unique sound mixing elements of Rock & Roll, Blues, Country, Folk, & Soul music. Singer/Songwriter Aaron Beavers, and his high school best friend and drummer, Damon Allen, began recording demos of the 100+ songs Beavers had written while living in Hawaii. The duo soon recruited like-minded musicians Rich Mahan on guitar and Johnny Davis on bass and started playing around LA at famed spots like the Troubadour, The Whiskey a Go-Go, the Mint, and eventually found themselves with a residency at the Viper Room. The band created quite a buzz in town and soon signed a record deal with Vanguard Records who released their debut album “Jubilee” in 2005 to much critical acclaim. The label was unsure how to market a band that was “too rock for country & too country for rock and roll” and eventually dropped the band from their recording contract. Shurman spent the next 3 years on the road performing close to 1000 shows, and garnering fans and admiration from fellow musicians like Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, John Popper from Blues Traveler, and longtime Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell who said the group reminded him of the “pre-Heartbreakers stuff we used to play back in Florida”. Along the way, the band recorded a live record in Arizona titled “A Week in the Life”, before venturing across the country to record their sophomore release “Waiting for the Sunset” at famed 16-Ton Studios in Nashville, TN.