Shupe resumed his performing career with a band called Salt Licks, whose biggest claim to fame was first prize in the Pizza Hut International bluegrass showdown, beating more than 300 entries, including Nickel Creek, which has since risen to mainstream stardom. The prize was a recording contract with Pinecastle, a major independent bluegrass label. When Shupe refused to sign away publishing rights, his band mates were apoplectic, according to Ted. Nobody turned down such an offer.

Recalls Ted, "Ryan said, 'Dad, music is my life. I am not going to be at the mercy of somebody else controlling my life and my career."'

After the band broke up over that issue, Shupe took a gamble. He formed a flexible — or "rubber" — band that used whatever musicians were available when he needed them. Using an ever-changing cast of guitar and banjo players, he produced his first self-made CD at a cost of about $20,000.

"I probably had a hundred bucks to my name," he says with a laugh, "and I just found a way to come up with that much money. I wouldn't recommend people doing this. I set up terms with companies and maxed out credit cards. It worked, and I decided to keep doing it. I don't know if I was determined to make it my career, but it just felt like it was what I was supposed to do. I kept selling enough CDs to pay off the bills."

Eventually, a permanent band solidified, comprised of drummer Bart Olsen via Spokane/BYU; Miner, who grew up in Utah; guitarist Roger Archibald, from Spanish Fork; and bassist Collin Botts, another BYU alum. They spent a decade playing 80 to 90 dates a year and honing their act, sometimes touring with the likes of Tricia Yearwood and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Along the way, Shupe and his friends became jacks of all trades — designing album covers, building a Web site, advertising, booking gigs, producing press kits, handling finances and bookkeeping. They didn't have a record label and all the promotional clout that comes with that, so they did it the long, hard way, hitting the road and developing a following and their own musical style.

"We spent so many years refining what we do," says Shupe. "When we finally went to Nashville, the reaction was, 'Hey, you guys are unique.' Being able to develop outside of the normal umbrella helped. Being on our own, we found our ways to do it. Mostly, I just followed my gut. People said, 'You need to go to Nashville;' we said, 'No, not yet, let's wait.' Then one day it seemed time."

· · · · ·

The time came when Shupe shopped one of his self-made CDs with a Nashville insider to gauge where he fit commercially and to seek a critique. That led to a meeting with a producer and to gigs in Nashville and the deal with Capitol. Shupe and the RubberBand are currently recording their second album for Capitol. Rather than record it in Nashville, they are working in a studio in Provo.