As members of the band SHOES, Jeff Murphy, John Murphy and Gary Klebe started walking a road in the early 1970's that began in the unlikely location of Zion, Illinois and has gone from recording and releasing records, made on a 4-track tape machine in a living room, to signing a major label record deal and recording albums in England, Los Angeles and Chicago. The band started 3 publishing companies, their own indie record label; Black Vinyl Records and built a commercial recording studio; Short Order Recorder in their hometown of Zion. Eventually branching out into outside production, Jeff engineered, produced and managed the studio for over 20 years, working on projects for independent and major labels, as Shoes continued to record and release their own music. With the onset of digital recording, Shoes closed their analog studio in 2004 and set up digital recording studios in their homes. In 2007, Jeff released his home-recorded solo album, Cantilever. In 2012, Shoes released Ignition, their 11th studio album. As Shoes, Jeff, John and Gary continue to write and record new music, manage their label and oversee re-releases of their back-catalog. With the 2020 release of the Elektrafied 4-cd box set, Shoes has had releases in every one of the last 6 decades.
