John McCabe

I owe my introduction to punk rock — and possibly my musical awakening — to the painter Nem Hackett. Growing up near the gravitational pull of the Meat Puppets in Phoenix, AZ, I somehow missed them entirely during my formative years, mostly because I was deep in a decade-long Grateful Dead coma. Nem snapped me out of it, and I’ve been chasing songs ever since.

My earliest musical days took shape in Madison, WI, where I played on the streets and in coffee shops like Steep ‘n Brew alongside Dave — an older, homeless guitar player from Kentucky. We were an unlikely duo, and it was a crash course in playing live.

In the late ’80s, Nem and I started The Shelf Talkers in Boston. We only managed to record a single 4-track tune — “On The Road” — to 1/4" tape, but the spark was there.

Fast forward: about 15 years ago, I cobbled together a DIY home studio and began tinkering with making demos. That eventually led to my debut studio EP Flower Circle in 2017, produced by John Kimbrough (Walt Mink, Teen Judge). We followed it up in 2019 with These Years, recorded with the same team at Janky East.

Later that year, I co-founded Good at Rockets band with Joel Cassara. Just as we were gaining altitude, the pandemic hit — but we managed to record and release our first EP Unraveled in 2021, followed by the single “The Margin” that September.

Since then, I’ve released the What For, No One Ever Says, and Trading Cards EPs. In 2022, I signed with Subjangle Records for a compilation (Somehow or Another) and my LPs Adorned (2023) and It Rings A Bell (2025). 

My latest project is underway; I just wrapped up recording 4 songs at Electrical Audio - Studio B with producer Jason Narducy (Superchunk, Bob Mould, Verboten, Split Single). Look for that release later this year.