Jade Shipman, the lead singer, songwriter and bass player of San Francisco’s Little Shrine, began taking violin lessons when she was four.  The band has an eclectic approach to music, with elements of folk, rock, R&B, country and pop combining to form their own unique sound. “I was in the youth orchestra and interested in classical music,” Shipman said. “Then I heard Camper Van Beethoven’s Key Lime Pie. They were playing violin in a rock setting. I said to my violin teacher, ‘I wanna do that!” My teacher said a pickup on violin would be offensive to the instrument.” Shipman stopped her lessons and switched to bass, which has the same four-string setup as a violin. “Then it was on to teaching myself drums and piano, and playing in bands,” she added. “I played in punk, ska and rock bands, in California and Connecticut. My folks had split up, so I went to school on both coasts.” After graduating from college, Shipman made her way to San Francisco. “I was visiting friends, sitting on the top of Twin Peaks, wrapped in blankets and eating food from Burma Superstar,” she said. “The lights of downtown were coming and going in the fog and it came to me: I’m supposed to live here.” When she settled in, Shipman began playing in bands. She’s currently a member of five local groups, including Secret Emchy Society, Sin-O-Matics and Check Please! In addition to playing bass and/or drums, she also contributes a song or two to some bands. “Sometimes the main writer of a band will ask me for a song,” Shipman said. “I’ll give them a couple of options, and they’ll choose the one they like best.” Over the years, Shipman also wrote for herself. A few years ago she put together Little Shrine to record her own compositions. “Wilderness, our first [album], was acoustic and downtempo. I was a pretty sad person at that point. I made it with my friends Tony [Schoenberg, guitar] and Ryan [Avery, violin]. It went well, so Little Shrine became a band and we began playing live,” she said.  “The Good Thing About Time was a full-band project, a bit busier, with a full electric lineup. It was more rock ’n’ roll, with everyone contributing ideas. We cut it live, with Ben Bernstein producing,” she added. For Heart Instruction, Shipman’s third Little Shrine outing, she changed her approach again. “I have a piano, acoustic bass and a home-recording setup, and a practice studio where I keep my electric bass, drum kit and things the neighbors don’t want to hear,” she said. “I wrote a bunch of songs by myself, with bass, piano, drums and singing. I presented them to Ryan and Tony to see what got them excited. Then I had some pre-recording meetings with [producer] Ben [Bernstein], to decide what should be on the record.” With a set list in mind, Shipman booked several three-day runs at San Francisco’s Different Fur studios. Her piano, bass and drums were all in separate rooms. She moved between them and the vocal booth to lay down the basic tracks for the album’s nine songs. “It was exhausting,” she said, “but I got to play exactly what I was hearing in my head when I was writing the songs. Once the basic tracks were done, I brought in Tony and Ryan to get their ideas about what’s working and what’s not, and see where the guitar and violin would elevate the songs. Ben also had suggestions about the arrangements.”  The album opens with “Take A Number,” a snarling rocker with a strong backbeat, sharp piano accents and Schoenberg’s guitar slowly building up to a metallic shriek. Shipman delivers a fervid warning to a beau who seems to be losing interest in their relationship. Shipman’s mournful crooning intensifies the hurt feelings at the root of “The Other Side.” It’s a slow country song, with Avery’s violin adding an extra level of heartache to Shipman’s restrained vocal. Avery’s violin plays long sustained notes on “Butterflies,” a moving piano-and-voice ballad with a touch of R&B in its arrangement. Shipman’s mournful vocal describes the heartache one feels realizing the person they care for has become indifferent. Shipman said the next step will be playing the songs live, working in the bands of her friends and continuing to make music. “Developing the mastery of my songwriting craft is my ultimate goal,” she said. “There’s something satisfying about music as a lifelong pursuit. True virtuoso status will always be out of reach, but it’s something to strive for. I can play music for the rest of my life, knowing there’s always more to explore, more ways to get better.” Little Shrine’s ‘Heart Instruction’ will be released Dec. 6. For more info visit jaderocker.com, littleshrine.com and littleshrine.bandcamp.com.