Joe Shooman

Joe 'Rev Shoo' Shooman is a British music journalist. He is listings editor for The Fly, having stepped down as live reviews editor due to emigrating to the Caribbean. Shooman also writes, or has written for, several music publications, including Metal Hammer, Play Music, Plan B, Music Mart, Music Week, Songlines, Record Collector and Mixmag. Other publications that have featured his work include Hotline, Ryanair inflight and The Big Issue.
Outside the UK his work appears or has appeared in countless travel and music magazines including Reykjavik Grapevine, the French webmag Rockfort, Miami Weekend Golfer and Rock and Roam. His travel writing has included two guides to Liverpool published by itchy and Bacardi City Guides.
He used to work on BBC Radio Merseyside show PMS Radio which focuses on new and underground music from across the world, working up from production assistant to producer and presenting the show on many occasions when mainstay Roger Hill was touring worldwide including a spell as an artist-in-residence in Helsinki, Finland. Roger still presents the show which is now in its 35th year of broadcast.
Joe was also involved with various national shows on BBC 6 Music as a reporter and reviewer, as well as a stint on BBC Radio Wales.
Previously, Shooman was Assistant Editor of the Welsh music and culture magazine Sothach and a writer on the UK's biggest independent music website Drowned in Sound. His short stories have been published in the UK by Tell Tales and in the USA by Thieves Jargon.
Joe Shooman is also a qualified sound engineer and has also worked as a music publicist and label affiliate of Spank Records.
When he was younger, Shooman focused on performing and writing creatively. He played bass in a Welsh punk band called Vaffan Coulo releasing an album which went to number 5 in the Alternative Chart of Slovenia. The group toured Spain and Holland as well as extensively in the UK, and recorded and released several singles independently. The band had numerous Radio Cymru sessions, television appearances and videos for various TV channels across Wales. The band also appeared on dozens of compilations on the worldwide punk rock scene, everywhere from the Philippines to Portugal.

Later, Shooman went on to join Steven Kennedy's live band, which also featured Ryan Forrest, ex-tour drummer for Finlay Quaye. At the time, Kennedy had just released the single Autopilot, featuring Elvis Costello as guest backing vocalist. This three-man lineup of Steven Kennedy's band played several gigs in the UK and Berlin during 2004.
Shooman also wrote plays performed at two of Wales' top theatres - Theatr Clwyd in Mold and Cardiff's Sherman Theatre.
In June 2010 Shooman saw his biography of Blink 182, released by Independent Music Press.
Currently Shooman is living in the Caribbean and working as a tourism, travel and entertainment journalist for the Cayman Free Press. CFP titles include the Caymanian Compass daily newspaper, the Sunday Observer, monthly entertainments magazine What's Hot, business monthly The Journal, quarterly lifestyle magazine Inside Out, The Chamber commerce magazine and other special issues such as the yearly Hurricane Supplement.
Forthcoming will be Hyperkinetic, an anthology of new fiction in the form of short stories written by people working in and with music. The book is co-edited by Shooman and Berlin-based photographer/journalist . It will be published under a new collaborative publishing project. Contributors to the anthology include Ben Myers, Jake Kennedy, Joel McIver, Martin James and Zoe Street Howe
Shooman is a staunch Bangor City fan.
Selected books
*Shooman, Joe. Trivium: The Mark of Perseverance. Independent Music Press, 2006. ISBN 0-9552822-0-9.
*Shooman, Joe. Whose Space Is It Anyway?: An Unofficial Guide to the Sites That Changed the World. Independent Music Press, 2007. ISBN 0-9552822-1-7.
*Shooman, Joe. Bruce Dickinson:Flashing Metal With Maiden And Flying Solo. Independent Music Press, 2007. ISBN 0-9552822-4-1
* Shooman, Joe Bruce Dickinson:Eine Biographie. Iron Pages, German translation 2008. ISBN 978-3-931624-53-8
* Shooman, Joe Bruce Dickinson. Kalla Kulor Forlag, Swedish translation 2009. ISBN 9185535567
*Shooman, Joe. Kasabian: Sound, Movement & Empire. Independent Music Press, 2008. ISBN 1-906191-00-X
*Shooman, Joe. Blink 182: The Bands, The Breakdown, The Return. Independent Music Press, June 24, 2010
Anthologies
*Various Authors. Stories From The City. Redwood Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9560557-3
*Various Authors. Tell Tales v3: The Anthology Of Short Stories. Tell Tales Ltd, 2006. ISBN 0-9547761-1-9
*Various Authors. Year Of The Thief. Thieves Jargon Press, 2007. ISBN: 0-95477-611-9
Editor
*The Itchy City Guide To Liverpool 2005 . Itchy Media, 2005
*The Itchy City Guide To Liverpool 2006 . Itchy Media, 2006
*Bacardi City Guide To Liverpool 2006.
Forthcoming:
*Various Authors. Hyperkinetic: An Anthology Of New Fiction 2010 (co-editor with Paul Sullivan )
Contributor
*The Virgin Book Of British Hit Singles. Virgin Books, 2008. ISBN: 0-75351-537-7
*1001 Escapes To Make Before You Die. Quintessence Publishing, summer 2009.

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