Biography

Contact Information: John Wendland (314) 397-1328
john@roughshop.com

Rough Shop writes songs drawing from various strains of folk, rock, country, and soul. Hammond B3 organ drips from the edges, and the acoustic and electric guitars give weight to songs coming from singer-songwriter intuitions and narrative song-craft.

This is the second holiday album by the St. Louis-based band, Rough Shop. The music of Rough Shop is informed by rock, pop, soul and country music, and these influences shine through on nine original songs and four versions of not-often covered holiday songs including “Purple Snowflakes”(recorded by Marvin Gaye), “I Wish You a Merry Christmas” (penned by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), “North St. Grande” (written by the venerable English folk-rock band Stackridge) and a re-write of a Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross song, “Gimme That Wine.”

The five-piece band is comprised of veteran St. Louis musicians who together have been putting out albums since 2006. The principal songwriters of Rough Shop (Andy Ploof and John Wendland) have had their songs played at Farm Aid and on NPR’s “Whad’Ya Know?” and The Riverfront Times has heralded Ploof and Wendland as the “Best Songwriters in St. Louis.” Rough Shop has been named by The Riverfront Times as “Best Americana/Folk Act” and has made St. Louis Magazine’s “A List” for Established Music Act. The members of Rough Shop have played SXSW and CMJ, showcased at the International Folk Alliance Conference and have toured Europe numerous times as part of Rough Shop and previous bands One Fell Swoop, Hazeldine and Nadine.

Many bands have recorded holiday albums but “Lit Up Like A Christmas Tree” isn’t like other holiday albums. This is a labor of love for the band. Rough Shop has become famous in St. Louis for putting on their annual holiday extravaganzas. These concerts often sell out and draw upon the talents of a host of special guests; they have become communal, celebratory musical experiences of the highest Yuletide order. The original songs are really the heart of the shows, which are rounded out by versions of holiday chestnuts ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to George Jones to Rufus Thomas to the Sonics.

The approach of these shows shaped the direction of “Lit Up Like A Christmas Tree.” Many special guests from other bands (the Love Experts, Magnolia Summer, Ransom Note, for starters) join Rough Shop on this 13-song collection that manages to communicate all the feelings of the holidays: wonder, loneliness, joy, sadness, celebration, longing, family, helplessness and beauty.
credits
released October 28, 2014

Andy Ploof (lead guitar, baritone guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals)
Anne Tkach (bass, glockenspiel, xylophone, percussion and vocals)
John Wendland (rhythm guitar, bouzouki and vocals)
Jon Parsons (piano, organ and vocals)
Spencer Marquart (drums, percussion and vocals)

With special guests: Danielle Aslanian, Steve Carosello, Chris Grabau, Cindy Petracek, Jack Petracek, Steve Scariano, Merv Schrock and Toby Weiss.

"Whatever your genre preference, I think you're going to find Rough Shop's 'Lit Up Like A Christmas Tree' will be an album you'll look forward to playing every Christmas. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 20."
http://www.stubbyschristmas.com/home/rough-shop-lit-up-like-a-christmas-tree-review

"Top Albums of 2014
I still have a few posts to make before closing up shop for a while, and here's one: my choices for the best new Christmas albums of the year. Here are my Top 5:Rough Shop - "Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree". I reviewed this one in depth earlier, and it held it's position as one of the best new albums of the year. A great addition to your Christmas music collection from the band from St. Louis.
https://merryandbright.blogspot.com/2014/12/top-albums-of-2014.html

"But what makes the album really shine are the Rough Shop originals spanning a wave of Christmas feelings from loneliness and wonder to longing and pure joy—with the requisite humor thrown in. Songs like the nostalgic, Wilco-esque leadoff track “Christmas Isn’t Like Any Day” and the wistful “Snowbound Girl”: “When the holidays are crashing all around you/ A blanket of white is all you see/ Crowds and confusion surround you/ And you’re longing for the way you used to be…” could well be holiday classics."
http://lipulse.com/2014/12/09/lit-up-like-a-christmas-tree/

"This is a band I’d never encountered before somebody on Twitter recommended them to me at the beginning of December, and they won me over with the opening track, “Christmas Isn’t Like Any Day.” There’s goofy tracks like “Gimme That Twine,” heart-tugging numbers like “A Christmas Snowfall,” even the funky “Soul of Christmas.” Probably the most eclectic album from a single band or artist I’ve heard this year, but even as they go from one style to the next, you can feel the personality underpinning the whole enterprise."
http://beatrice.com/wordpress/2014/12/10/9-best-holidaysongs-2014/