midwestern working-class music

shugE is a force of nature from Minneapolis (Minnesota) who writes songs and cuts his heart out & leaves it on stages in front of audiences.

shugE played shows, released a bunch of solo albums from 2004-20013, & toured the country as a solo artist sharing stages with touring friends including Screaming Females, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pat the Bunny (Johnny Hobo & the Freight Trains, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, & Ramshackle Glory all at different times), & many other friends who would often host shows in their regions while shugE would always organize & perform at shows with them when they toured through Minnesota,....mixed in with that was his time as the front person of the band Hayduke Lives! (putting out one album and touring the country in 2008)-- followed by a handful of years as the front person for SORRY OK (releasing two albums & touring the country twice & while running the Minneapolis DIY record label Anti-Civ Records from 2005 until 2013)....then shugE hung up the guitar in 2013 to fight personal legal battles (a long long custody battle for his son).

shugE played his first show out of hiatus in July of 2016, but still never really returned to regular performing....until 2022.

During the COVID pandemic shugE prepared to really return to the stage, took the leap & performed in public on May Day of 2022 for the first time in over four years (& after only a small handful of random performances in over a decade), & is not looking back.

As part of shugE’s 2022 “comeback”, the latest solo album “first winter” finally got a proper release & is stream-able on all major streaming platforms.

Since then a new 6-song live EP, “I’ll be in love with you until the day I die” was released last year (4/13/23).

On top of “first winter” & “I’ll be in love with you until the day I die”, now shugE has finally released his highly anticipated (& high production value) studio album, “DARK WINTER”, which he has been working on since coming out of hiatus.

DARK WINTER was released in it’s 15-song entirety on February 2 of 2024.

DARK WINTER is now available on all streaming platforms & shugE has physical copies available (along with the previous two releases) on www.shugemusic.com.

…enjoy, & we’ll see you at the shows!