Alexis Gewertz Shepard

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Alexis Gewertz Shepard (born 1969, died March 31, 1998) was a folk singer-songwriter. She led the Alexis Shepard Band, also including John Rapoza, Jerry O'Hare, and Mike Aiello. She was hit by a truck and died while riding her bicycle in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This occurred just before the planned recording of her debut album, and a group of Boston-area musicians, including Faith Soloway, Jenny Reynolds, and Esther Friedman, collaborated to release an album of Shepard's songs (from demos and live recordings) after her death. Her mother, Deborah Gewertz, is an anthropologist who studied the people of Papua New Guinea, and wrote about the ritual that commemorated Shepard's death in an article in Amherst magazine.

Her song Purple Ray Gun appeared posthumously on the Respond compilation, a benefit for domestic violence causes, and the project was dedicated to her.

[edit] External links

• Official web site

Persondata
NAME	Shepard, Alexis Gewertz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	folk singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH	1969
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	March 31, 1998
PLACE OF DEATH	Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA