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Find The Others (SONIC BIDS)

"Making honest music requires digging in the dirt."
   
So says guitar virtuoso Andy Sheppard, who certainly got his hands dirty for his new project, Find The Others — a sure-to-be-stunning audio/visual experience he and drummer Mark Mariash (Sarah Slean) will be bringing to the Park Theatre on Dec. 1.
   
"I was thinking a lot about my childhood in rural Ontario tobacco country," explains Sheppard, 38, over the phone from his home. "As I was mining for inspiration for songs, I realized it was an unbelievably emotional time. I lost a grandfather, then another grandfather, then my parents got divorced. I was in Grade 5 or 6 and was barely equipped to deal with it. It provided a lot of material."
   
Indeed, it was fertile ground; Sheppard wound up with a whole album’s worth of songs. Released as Find The Others on Nov. 1, the emotionally affecting record is all about contrasts: the frenetic pace of city life and the quiet of country living; bucolic farms supporting an ethically problematic industry — not to mention serving as the backdrop for a young Sheppard’s emotional upheaval. (The music itself is also a lesson in juxtaposition; many of the album’s soundscapes were crafted on a converted ’69 Martin steel guitar and a late-model laptop.)
   
Still, despite the weighty subject matter, "I don’t consider it to be a depressing record," Sheppard says. "My story’s not unique — but I wanted to get as personal as possible."
   
As hyper-personal as Find The Others is, the guitarist opened the door to a host of contributing artists — including Isabella Rossellini, Snowblink, Mark Duggan, Jorn Andersen (Bruce Cockburn, David Wilcox) and Olivier Alary (Bjork) — to help tell his stories.
   
"Music that connects is personal and universal," he says. "It was great to see how other people reacted to it. You never know — music is not a good language that way. You can’t really explain what’s going on and you have to leave it open to interpretation."
   
The songs on Find The Others are incredibly evocative, which is what inspired the visual component of the project. For the live show, Sheppard and Mariash will play in front of a 12-foot by nine-foot screen that will showcase synchronized visuals by Matt Hilliard-Forde (Buck 65, Emm Gryner), Graydon Sheppard (Feist, Hidden Cameras) and others.
   
"I was just lying awake at night thinking about it," Sheppard says of the idea. "It opened a can of worms and created new challenges, but I’m pleased with how it’s working out."
   
Indeed, Find The Others has proved to be a rejuvenating project for the veteran musician.
   
"I’m really excited about it," he says. "I’ve been doing music for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve felt like I’m onto something interesting."   
 

FIND THE OTHERS
Dec. 1, Park Theatre