"Do what you love, love what you do."

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Someone said that to me when I was fresh out of college and, even now, I still take it to heart.  It's like when a young John Lennon was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and he answered "happy", but everyone thought he misunderstood the question.

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My name is Shreepal (pronounced Shri-paul), but people mostly call me by my nickname "Shreeps".  It's East Indian and means "protector of prosperity". 

I was born in New Hampshire and raised in a suburb outside of Philadelphia, PA called the Main Line (after the train line into of the city).  I grew up like most American kids, playing Little League and Mario Kart, and excited for The Simpsons on Sunday evenings.  As a shy, first-generation kid though, I often felt overwhelmed and anxious.  Music was something that helped me through all of that!  Around middle school I started singing ALL the time and joined multiple singing and choir groups at school.  I've never stopped singing from that point on actually.  It's always been part of my life and a regular source of joy and camaraderie.  

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The first music that really captured me was The Beatles & Michael Jackson, partly because my parent's small vinyl collection.  From there, I discovered songwriters and bands like Paul Simon, Tom Petty, Van Morrison, Sting & the Police, Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, The Grateful Dead, and R.E.M - all of whom had some impact on me as an impressionable young listener.

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I began playing guitar late in high school and wrote my first song not long after.  I developed a love songwriting process and how a spark of inspiration could become an obsession.  I loved doing it and making music in general but I never considered doing it seriously.  But after graduating from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) and with plans to work in financial advising, I took a road less traveled and enrolled in the Atlanta Institute of Music & Media (AIMM) to study music and the guitar performance.  Years later, I point to this as an example of my adventurous and sometimes divergent nature.  I went from the office back to the classroom.  AIMM was a sea change, everyone was so #@$@ good!  The depth and breadth of talent was astonishing and then there was me, shy and overwhelmed again, but also falling in love with it all at the same time.  I discovered I had a knack for it (you know, all of those "you have artistic fingers" comments growing up coming true).  Not long after I was no longer thinking about heading into the office, I was thinking about Hendrix voicings and copping lick off Eric Clapton's famous Bluesbreakers album.  It wasn't until my mid-twenties that I I decided to become a full-time professional musician.

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I've played over 1600+ gigs in the decade and a half since that fateful decision.  In my late twenties and early thirties, I averaged ~120 gigs a year.  These days I'm more selective about my calendar, but my passion for playing hasn't waned at all.  Singing and performing brings me the same joy as when I first started playing!  If I put it down for too long, I get restless, and it feels like something's missing.  If my past is any sign of my future, I'll be booking gigs long into old age. 

For several years, I was really dedicated to learning and performing new songs weekly.  As a result, I know hundreds of songs to tailor setlists to each gig and audience.  You can view my full repertoire on my Songlist page. Thanks for your support and no matter where you are, thanks for supporting live music! 

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