Shawn Van De Peppel has seen enough of the music industry to know when something feels right. The Montreal musician, who’s been playing since age 16, is preparing to release his most personal work yet: The 51st State Blues, a stark acoustic album that strips away everything but voice and guitar.
“It’s been a lifetime in music,” Van De Peppel reflects, and that journey shows in every decision on this record. From his early days drumming with The Hot Showers to his pandemic-era explorations under the svdp. moniker, he’s been steadily working toward this moment of clarity.
The Hot Showers years were formative, even if commercial success remained elusive. “While we didn’t sell a million records, we had some amazing years with awesome life experiences and rocked pretty hard if I may say so,” he says. Those experiences included sharing stages with Jesse Malin, the New York legend who became both mentor and friend. After one show, Malin “asked us to come to Toronto to open for him the next day again.”
The connection to Malin runs deeper than just shared bills. When Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke in May 2023 that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Van De Peppel dedicated a song to him on the new album. “I even wrote a song dedicated to the great Jesse Malin (The Mayor Of The East Village). Malin suffered a spinal stroke in 2023 but continues to inspire with his PMA and refusal to give up.”
During the pandemic, Van De Peppel found himself “itching to try music that was away from rock ‘n roll and closer to the music I was listening to such as Nick Cave, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey – even Ennio Morricone.” The svdp. project allowed him creative freedom, releasing “songs one at a time instead of thinking in album form.”
Frank Turner’s recognition of this newer work proved pivotal. “Eventually, British musician (and all-around lovely guy) Frank Turner noticed my newer work and invited me to play his coveted Lost Evenings Festival in Toronto, September 2024.” The festival came to Toronto for the first time in 2024, and Van De Peppel found himself “surrounded with loads of local talent, such as The OBGMS, Thunder Queens, Guilhem and The Dirty Nil.”
But success with svdp. led to an unexpected realization. “Although I was incredibly proud of what I’d accomplished during the svdp. years, I wanted to reinvent myself. I’d come to realize that my confidence as a musician and as a person had changed.” He discovered comfort in simplicity: “More and more, I felt comfortable playing my songs with just an acoustic guitar and vocals – no bells and whistles.”
The new album represents this stripped-down approach. “I found inspiration in 1960s folk music and decided that I would record an album very much like how they recorded back then: mostly live, little to no overdubs, letting the songs speak for themselves.”
The challenge was significant: “My challenge was to record an album with just voice and guitar without having anything sound repetitive. I recorded almost 20 songs and kept 10.” The result is what he considers his finest work: “I believe this is my best work to date as it took a lifetime of songwriting and life experience to finally get to this moment.”
The album title might suggest political commentary, but Van De Peppel explains it differently: “If the title track and album name make the whole thing sound like a political statement, it’s more of a symbol on where I feel we’re at in this upside-down world. I talk about that, about ego, growing up, love, loss.”
The 51st State Blues arrives July 4th, 2025. “I couldn’t resist bringing it out on Independence Day,” he says. For an artist who’s spent over two decades finding his voice, this album represents something essential: the confidence to trust in the power of songs themselves.
