Art Motel
| Shows at the Purple Fiddle |
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Art Motel is a Rock, Rhythm & Blue-Folk band based out of Central and South-Eastern Ohio. Contemporary yet pre-historic. Serene yet mysterious. Tender but dangerous. Much like the Appalachian mountain chain where the members’ original roots straddle, there’s hospitable darkness within the unity of the group.
Although officially formed on January 1, 2026, the theory of Art Motel began circa 2023. Lead songwriter Hunter Lepi had just returned from a troubadourian stint in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming – suprachiasmatic drummer Jeff Shaffer relented a five-year prowess from the Pacific Northwest throughout Oregon, Washington, and California.
As longtime friends and musicians, the reunification booked them several shows in all directions throughout Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Asheville, Nashville, Kentucky, and Maryland. In no time, the duo transcended luck and opened for Buffalo Wabs And The Price Hill Hustle one night in Columbus, Ohio. In the same city that next summer (2024) “Hunter Lepi & The Weapon” presented themselves at the 52nd annual ComFest for the first time.
When all seemed good enough to become complacent, Hunter and Jeff desired a heartbeat – bass guitar. Their longtime peer Nathan Zangmeister of the nationally and internationally renowned The Wayfarers, as well as several life-long accolated projects, agreed to join a rehearsal. It was less of an audition and moreso a conjuring of ballistic, ancient mysticism. “Hunter Lepi & The Arsenal” then began exhibiting properties of a benzene ring: uniform and succinctly organic possessing alternating single and double (and now triple) bonds. The trio then played several live shows which led to opening for Raelyn Nelson (granddaughter to Willie) in Marietta, Ohio in Autumn of 2025.
Throughout this time, the plotting and scheming never ceased. Convinced they were a great tasting birthday cake, the group knew that the perfect icing had moved back to the outskirts of town after a quarter of a century career in Nashville, Tennessee… David Spires.
Nearing the end of his life, Picasso said of a doodle on a napkin at a café, “that took me my whole life to draw.” And if Charles Bukowski’s headstone reads, “Don’t Try” we might insinuate, “Just Do.” Similarly, Spires is a master of alchemy on pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, and guitar. His time lapse of professionalism gained him access to recording and touring with many acclaimed country music artists like Shania Twain, Jo Dee Messina, and Josh Turner, to name a few.
A couple rehearsals conspired into a new lineup of “Hunter Lepi & The Arsenal” at The American Legion in Dresden, Ohio in November of 2025. The crowd lost their conscious minds. The band now hung in cohesive support of one another. Now, they are Art Motel.
However, Art Motel is not a dictatorship. Sometimes they still show up as a duo or a trio. Each member still maintains their solo and/or collaborative projects. They’re independent and yet they’re one organism. Far but close. Branched but treed. Rain but a river.
The self-titled, four-song Art Motel EP can be found exclusively on Bandcamp – with the assistance of Grant Eppley on song mastering. Their Music Video – “When I’m Gone” is on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok – shot by the hands of Joe Colby.
This is Art Motel.