Legendary Shack Shakers
Legendary Shack Shakers | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Murray, Kentucky, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | |
Members |
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Past members |
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The Legendary Shack Shakers (originally Those or Th' ) are an
History
Formation
Singer and harmonica player
Breakthroughs
Legendary Shack Shakers' 2002 album, Cockadoodledon't, established their prominence in the alternative country scene.[3] After self-releasing their recordings, including Cockadoodledon't, the self-classified "insurgent country" record label Bloodshot Records reissued Cockadoodledon't in 2003.[3] After JoeBuck left the band to join Hank Williams III's band full time, David Lee became the Legendary Shack Shakers' new guitarist, and the band signed with Yep Roc Records.[3]
In 2005, Simmonz left the band and was replaced by Brett Whitacre.
In 2017, Wilkes released his first solo album, Fire Dream, and the Legendary Shack Shakers' line-up changed to Wilkes, Hamdallah and new rhythm section, bassist Fuller Condon and drummer Preston Corn, before the band recorded and released the album After You've Gone, a song cycle inspired by Wilkes' divorce.[3] In 2019, the band performed on the PBS television series Sun Studio Sessions, and released an album of this performance under the title Live from Sun Studio.[3] In 2020, the band planned to play in Aurora, Kentucky, but the performance was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently delayed until the following year.[2] With a new line-up consisting of Wilkes, guitarist Gary Siperko, upright bassist Fuller Condon and drummer Preston Corn, the band released Cockadoodledeux, an album of traditional country and Western songs which includes guest appearances by seven former members of the band, as well as Alternative Tentacles founder Jello Biafra.[3]
Musical style
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2023) |
Bass Frontiers wrote that Legendary Shack Shakers "have been billed as everything from
Wilkes publicly disavowed the psychobilly label the band is sometimes categorized under, considering the genre's performers "all pompadour and no substance", stating of the scene, "These new bands trying to sound like the Cramps or doing the ‘hellbilly’ thing — they only pick up on the clichés of it." Wilkes took issue with the genre's fans' lack of familiarity with rockabilly artists like Charlie Feathers and dismissed psychobilly performers as "mall punk with pompadours", calling psychobilly fans "pompadork".[4] Additionally, Wilkes "openly expressed disdain for alt-country and its musical carpetbaggers", according to The A.V. Club.[10]
Wilkes stated regarding the band's use of the term "Southern Gothic", "I don’t think we’re Goth in the sense of veils and black clothing, people in perpetual mourning, funereal mode. [...] It’s the traditional term, rather than the trendy, Americanized, fad version of it. [...] [Southern Gothic] takes an angle that there’s something grotesque and beautiful in the traditions of the South, the backdrop of Southern living."[1] Wilkes connects the many styles the band performs to the blues, saying that he considers rockabilly "the white man's version of blues" and klezmer to be "the Jew's blues".[1] He described the band's performance as being "like a Pentecostal church revival, whipping them into a frenzy and getting them involved in the moment."[1]
When Duane Denison joined the band, the Legendary Shack Shakers shifted their sound again, with Wilkes calling this new sound "agridustrial", explaining that it is "kind of chunky industrial patterns, but give it kind of a rustic feel [...] like the sounds of farm implements, that clanking cacophony of rural industry. Kind of like how Johnny Cash used a train rhythm."[4] Since 2015, the Legendary Shack Shakers have predominantly played country music.[2]
Wilkes cited as musical influences
Discography
- Studio albums
- J.D.'s Tasteless Chill Tonic (Conan Records, 1996)
- Hunkerdown (Spinout, 1998)
- Cockadoodledon't (Bloodshot, 2003)
- YepRoc, 2004)
- Pandelirium (YepRoc, 2006)
- Swampblood (YepRoc, 2007)
- AgriDustrial (Colonel Knowledge, 2010)
- The Southern Surreal (Alternative Tentacles Records, 2015)
- After You've Gone (Last Chance Records, 2017)
- Cockadoodledeux (Alternative Tentacles, 2021)
- Live albums
- Lower Broad Lo-Fi (Arkam Records, 2007)
- Live from Sun Studio (Chicken Ranch Records, 2020)
Filmography
- Seven Signs, shown at the Raindance Film Festival 2008[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e Oksenhorn, Stewart (February 21, 2006). "Shack*Shakers get back to the roots of Goth". The Aspen Times. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wright, John (August 20, 2021). "Returning to where it all started: Legendary Shack Shakers, founded at Murray State, came up with name 26 years ago at Kenlake". Murray Ledger and Times. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Legendary Shack Shakers Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Wedel, Mark (October 1, 2009). "In the name of the father, the son and ... Th' Legendary Shack Shakers". Kalamazoo Gazette. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ "Legendary Shack Shakers Album/Tour/Free Download on JamBase". Jambase.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
- ^ Vahle, Shane (October 20, 2011). "Interview: Mark Robertson". Bass Frontiers. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Subranni, Allison (June 1, 2009). "Legendary Shack Shakers "Billyrock" their way into Vail". Vail Daily. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
- ^ Klasek, Garyn (September 15, 2015). "Legendary Shack Shakers Have Impressed a Lot of Famous Musicians". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ a b Baker, Brian (May 24, 2017). "Sound Advice: Legendary Shack Shakers with Jesse Dayton (May 25)". City Beat. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ Ryan, Kyle (February 2006). "Pandemonium". The AV Club. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ "Th' Legendary Shack Shakers' J.D. Wilkes (March 30, 2009) : Interview". PlugInMusic.com. March 30, 2009. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
- ^ "Seven Signs | Raindance Film Festival 2008". Raindance.co.uk. October 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
External links
- Interviews and reviews