R.O. (Raphael Odell) Shapiro is a purveyor of original Americana music, carefully crafted and soulfully sung. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Sag Harbor, an old whaling town at the very eastern end of Long Island. He started performing at an early age, first with dance and then musical theater, before picking up guitar at the end of high school. He attended Yale University, still focusing on theater, but spent a lot of his evenings singing with a cappella groups, a rock band, and a choral folk ensemble called Tangled Up In Blue, or TUIB. After graduating he moved to New York City to pursue acting, but also started picking up some small venue gigs. When he realized that he was more excited about playing dive bars than Broadway, he packed up and headed out west to California to team up with fellow TUIB alum, Jenner Fox, forming the band Odell Fox. They started touring almost immediately, cultivating an energetic and intimate live show experience that R.O. has continued to build upon as a solo artist. They moved to Austin, TX, where they released two records, the “Moon Shiner EP,” in 2016, and “Thank You,” in 2017. When the band parted ways at the end of 2017, R.O. stayed in Austin, gigging regularly in the hallowed venues of that world famous music scene. It was then he developed the full-band, electrified sound that you can hear on 2021’s “King Electric Sessions,” his first release since leaving Odell Fox. In recent years he has typically played solo, touring regularly in the Northeast, California, and Pacific Northwest including Alaska and Vancouver Island. R.O. has drawn comparisons to Ray LaMontagne, Josh Ritter, and Nathaniel Rateliff. He is a winner of the 2022 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriting contest, and recently recorded with producer/instrumentalist Phil Cook (Bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger.) He is currently based in Northern California, and always on the lookout for new communities and stages where he can share his authentic warmth and wit.
