Musician bikes year-long tour

SANDPOINT — If it weren’t for a chance encounter, Joel Shupack might have skipped Sandpoint altogether.

About six months ago, the Portland, Ore.-based folk artist, also known by his performing name Leo J, randomly met local musician Erin Brannigan while on the road. Their immediate friendship put Sandpoint at the forefront of Shupack’s mind when he decided to tackle his most ambitious project yet — a year-long music and storytelling bicycle tour of the United States.

“When I was planning my route, I thought to myself, ‘I’ve definitely got to hit Sandpoint,’” he said.

A year is a long time for anyone to be out on the road, but for Shupack, it’s entirely the point of the trip. As an enthusiast of music, travel and storytelling, he wants to experience the country’s many different cultures and unforgettable residents. In fact, Shupack deliberately packed light — if 50 pounds of gear strapped to a bike can be considered light — to further that goal.

“A friend of mine told me, ‘The less stuff you have, the more you’ll rely on other people, and that makes the trip more interesting,’” he said.

It’s also the primary reason he’s using a bicycle. Driving gets you to your destination more quickly, but you also miss the nuances and flavors that make up a region’s character.

For example, when Shupack neared Spokane, he happened upon a small rural road, where a nearby sign informed him of a country gospel music performance occurring within the hour. He decided to take advantage of the opportunity, and as a result, he had experiences and met individuals he otherwise would have missed.

“If I were driving, I wouldn’t even have been on that road, for one thing,” he said. “For another, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the sign.”

That spontaneity is one of the hallmarks of Shupack’s trip. In a vague sense, he knows he’s going to be circling the outermost perimeter of the country, and he figures he’ll probably be on the road about a year. But he doesn’t need to keep himself to a strict timetable, either. Typically, he bikes 50 miles a day while on the road, but if something catches his interest during his travels, there’s no rush. “I want to see the places in between the places people usually go,” he said.

Shupack successfully raised $5,000 on Kickstarter to help fund his cross-country adventures and the resulting artistic output. For the lion’s share of his needs in the coming year, however, he intends to rely on the kindness and generosity of strangers. According to Shupack, he’s already seen an abundance of both between meals, lodging and simple kindness.

After leaving Portland at the end of May, Shupack arrived in Sandpoint at the beginning of the week to perform music at a house show. He plans to stick around for the rest of the week to get more of the local experience and to play another show at Downtown Crossing.

Shupack is chronicling his experiences on his website — www.commonplaceradio.org — and he intends to start uploading podcasts as his journey progresses. His hope is to craft the experiences and stories he collects over the months into radio-ready anecdotes.

There are plenty of miles left ahead of him, but he’s already seeing a hopeful message take shape. “People in this country are far more generous and interested in things outside themselves than most would think,” he said.