We are Society of Broken Souls. We believe in living life authentically and honestly, fearlessly and without apology. By embracing the idea that we’re all a little broken, we have discovered a solace that comes from bringing our broken-hearted jewels out of the darkness. And so we look to the cracks in our hearts and the chips on our souls to invite you, by way of song, to discover beauty and freedom, strength and courage from the cracks in your own beautiful souls.
We are Dennis James and Lauryn Shapter. We write, record, and perform songs for fearless hearts, using words and melody to create musical snapshots — snapshots that confront our shared, raw humanity while they celebrate the beautiful mosaic of the human experience. We write our songs individually and arrange them collectively, and then produce and engineer our recordings at home in our attic, playing most of the instruments you hear on our recordings.
We are Society of Broken Souls but we started off as Truckstop Souvenir. When that name no longer seemed to suit what we do, we left it behind, but our sound is rooted in the foundation of two voices and a shared passion for honest music. An ever-expanding array of instruments and sounds are finding their way into our songs, and as such our music runs the gamut from a denser and edgier electric sound to our signature, stripped-down, acoustic interpretations.
We support each other when the going gets tough and stand together as witnesses for our own struggles, the struggles of those we love, and the struggles of those we’ve not yet met. We laugh — a lot — and we cry a lot, too. Sometimes we swear and sometimes we drink, because sometimes we feel beaten up by the world. But sometimes we swear and sometimes we drink because we are giddy with the richness of our lives. Through it all, though, we live, with as much honesty and integrity as we can muster, two gypsy souls who found home making music. We would be honored if you would come along for the ride.
~Lauryn and Dennis
February 1, 2015