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.
In 2009, bandleader Aaron Beavers moved back to his native state, relocating the band to Austin, TX. “We were totally burned out from the road and Los Angeles is not really a great place to be when you are broke coming home from a tour”. Beavers completely re-tooled the band’s lineup with a standout group of musicians from the TX music scene, including bassist Mike Therieau, (the Loved Ones) who had also recently migrated to Austin from California. In 2010, the band signed another recording contract, this time with Universal Republic Records subsidiary Sustain Recordings. Unfortunately, the company folded a week before their third album “Still Waiting for the Sunset” was ever officially released. “I went to the label’s offices to pick up the vinyl pre-releases of the record and there were a bunch of moving trucks taking out boxes and all the furniture” Beavers knew it was time to move on…once again.
In summer 2011 Shurman returned to their DIY approach to making music and recorded two albums in their backyard in South Austin. The band split the 25 songs into 2 albums and co-released “Inspiration” on German roots rock label Blue Rose Records & Scandinavian label Rootsy in late 2012. The band got back to work with a year long National tour, including over a month of European dates, and festivals south of the border in Mexico. “This band has been fortunate to have had a few record deals, and even more fortunate to have SURVIVED a few record deals,” says Beavers. In late 2014 the group entered world famous Cedar Creek Studios with 11 new songs that would be the band’s final release. It was the same studio where Alt-Country pioneers Uncle Tupelo recorded their major label debut, “Anodyne.” The record, “East Side of Love,” was released in 2016, and was met with great international press, but there were no tour dates to support. The band was losing the spark that had propelled them down the road for the previous 15 years. Beavers disbanded the group the following year, taking a much needed hiatus from the music business while happily raising his family in Austin, TX.
In April 2025, as fate would have it, Aaron received a call from Shurman’s former Swedish record label, Rootsy, asking if there was any chance the band could reunite for a few Scandinavian festival dates. The label thought it would be a great idea to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album, “Jubilee,” and Beavers readily agreed. “I called up Damon and original guitarist Rich Mahan, and asked if they wanted to get the band back together for a few shows… and luckily they LOVED the idea!” The three founding members, alongside long-time Shurman collaborator and bassist Mike Therieau, will be sharing the stage together on August 22-25 for the Stockholm Roots Festival and Rootsy Summerfest in Falkenberg, Sweden. Expect the same high-energy American Rock & Roll that earned them a legion of die hard fans for a decade and a half on the road in the US and abroad!