Most any concert regular will tell you that one of the reasons they keep going to shows is to obtain a dose of sustaining energy sparked by a magical night of live music. That buzz isn’t limited to the audience or the musicians. Leading indie concert promoter Peter Shapiro has always approached his job as a live music fan.

Shapiro says he’d much rather attend a live concert than write about it but when the opportunity arose to share his story, he saw it as a way to stay connected to live music during an extended period of silence.

With nothing but time on his hands during the pandemic when live shows weren’t possible, Shapiro took stock of his long strange trip to date by collaborating with writer, historian and professor Dean Budnick on the book “The Music Never Stops: What Putting on 10,000 Shows Has Taught Me About Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Magic” (Hachette Books).

Shapiro says he believes live music is needed now more than ever, and on a personal note, he needs several concerts per week just to feel normal.

“Live music empowers you but the energy I get from a live show only lasts about 72 hours then I need another one,” Shapiro said during an interview with The Maine Edge.

Shapiro’s book filters 50 of the more than 10,000 shows he’s presented to serve as touchstone moments that tell his story.

From his initial transformative live experiences with Phish and the Grateful Dead to later bringing those worlds together with the Dead’s 2015 golden anniversary Fare Thee Well shows, Shapiro’s love for the jam scene and its fans is a constant thread throughout the book.

His book also contains one-of-a-kind stories and encounters involving a variety of music legends and pop culture icons including U2, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, Blues Traveler, The Roots, Al Green, Ken Kesey, Marty Balin and Wavy Gravy.

Shapiro admits that conducting business during daylight hours isn’t as much fun as going to the shows but “The Music Never Stops” contains a number of the lessons he’s learned about the business of music.

As former owner of the Wetlands Preserve music nightclub in New York City, and the current owner of the Brooklyn Bowl in New York, Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas and the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, Shapiro zeroes in on some of the triumphs and challenges he’s faced as the guy who always gets the call if something goes wrong.

Shapiro’s name is attached to a lengthy list of music-related productions dating back to the mid-1990s.

He produced the IMAX concert films “U2 3D” and “All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live!” which brought Trey Anastasio of Phish together with B.B. King and The Roots.

In the 1990s, Shapiro produced the films “Tied Died: Rock and Roll’s Most Deadicated Fans,” devoted to the Grateful Dead’s nomadic tribe of fans, and “American Road,” chronicling his road trip through 48 states set to a score from Phish.

Shapiro is founder of the LOCKN’ festival, a four-day jam-band focused music festival in Arrington, Virginia. He’s also the publisher of jam-focused Relix Magazine and owner of the popular website JamBands.com.

The following interview highlights were excerpted from a lengthier discussion that aired in its entirety on the web-based jam-band station JEMPradio.com.