Live on KEXP, one-of-a-kind performances. Come on, let's go. Hey, this is Courtney Barnett. Hi, this is KBSP. Hello and welcome to Live on KEXP. I'm your host, Troy Nelson. On the show this time, it's the joy and heartbreak R&B of Shannon and the Clams. Shannon and the Clams formed when bassist Shannon Shaw met guitarist Cody Blanchard at the California College of the Arts.
The band is rounded out by Nate Mahan on drums, and Will Sprott on keys, and for this performance Victor Franco on percussion. They play unapologetically weird pop, a sometimes surfy blend of psych rock, doo-wop, and R&B. They released their seventh album in 2024, a vivid, intense tribute to and celebration of Joe Hainer, Shannon's fiancé, who died in a tragic car accident in 2022. The record is called The Moon. is in the wrong place and is available on Easy Eye Sound. Look me up.
Their second album Sleep Talk expanded on the garage rock palette Staying vintage, but going from full girl group, motorcycle gang, mean as Joan Jets, Crimson, and Clover, all the way to sweet California love songs ready for mamas and papas to croon. in your eyes, you got trouble in your eyes, I can see it. I keep running you straight, following the smell of your feet, like a cumber.
Breaking swings and breakdowns Got me shaken by the light of the moon But I'm too late On 2013's Dreams in the Rathouse, the band displays a cinematic understanding of storytelling and a consistency to their craft no matter which singer is featured. The sound got a lot bigger for 2015's Gone by the Dawn on Hardly Art, the breakup album you didn't know you needed.
For Onion in 2018, the band worked with Dan Auerbach at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. In the same way they have managed to do throwback styles in such a way that they avoid being corny or too niche, The sonics of this record feel familiar and nostalgic, but vibrantly refreshing. On 2021's Year of the Spider, the full-on conflation of eras of R&B together with some truly creative chord changes and recording techniques makes for a head-bobbing listen.
KEXP's Emily Fox for the podcast A Deeper Listen asked Shannon about opening the new record with The Vow. I caught up with Shannon Shaw to talk about her grief and this record. I first asked about opening the record with the song The Vow, which was a song she wrote for Hainer and was planning to sing it on their wedding day. I asked what it felt like to open the album with this track.
I feel like that was a bold move that we pulled. It's a statement. It's like, okay, you guys, just to make sure, we want you to be absolutely clear. that this album is about the loss of Joe, you know? So yeah, I wrote that song earlier in the summer, I believe. And I wrote it using chords on a guitar. I don't really play guitar. But Joe, back in 2020 or 2021, taught me some chords on the guitar.
and was insistent that I try to learn because he just knew that I would actually love it. He was right. So I wrote this song using the chords he taught me. And the song came out of this bitter, this extreme bitterness and rage, actually, that not only is Joe is gone, we don't get to have the wedding that like solidifies us to everyone. And he doesn't get to hear the song and no one gets to hear the song. And that just made me.
angry and uh i guess i decided to like torture everybody with how like sad it is and what a roller coaster it is
In the live interview, the band talked to KEXP's DJ Larry Mizell Jr. about Joe's particular way of listening to music. Shannon always talks about how he's like one of the only people I know who would... listening to a record was like a full activity by itself it wasn't like background it was like yeah sit on the couch and then put the record on and then put headphones on and just like sit and like look at the sleeve
I don't think I know anyone else that does that. And it's a tendency that's lessening all the time. Yeah. For sure. At his memorial, we were trying to figure out some way to really, like... bring what felt like Joe there because, you know, you're doing a lot of things to actually please a lot of people at a funeral, which I didn't realize until my beloved died. And we were trying to figure out a way.
to really bring Joe into it. And he was really, like, pretty well-known for the Canadian tuxedo, for, like, vintage Wrangler jacket and jeans. So everyone wore denim. And then we took our living room. and set it up out in this pasture at his family's property. And it has this little love seed that was like Joe's station. And the record player, we even put our plants that were right next to the love seat and made it a listening experience.
On the love seat, where his arm would be leaning while he's like holding the record and looking at it, it's completely worn to the wood. Like nothing else is but that spot. And I made his parents sit in there. And I felt like... Just his dad who worked with him every day, they're farmers. You know, I felt like he had this chance of actually...
getting to be closer to him or understanding him more by sitting there, even though they work together all the time. I think being in that space made everyone feel closer to him. For this performance, the band played four songs from The Moon Is In The Wrong Place. Here's Shannon and the Clams, live on KEXP. You just heard Shannon and the Clams with the songs The Hourglass and So Lucky. Now here's more of our live session with Shannon and the Clams.
And that was our live session with Shannon and the Clams. You heard the songs Big Wheel and Life is Unfair. We'd like to thank the band for stopping by. Shout out to our partner station, KVSC 88.1, your sound alternative since 1967 at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. If you enjoy Live on KEXP, check out El Cancionero de Kurt. Host Albina Cabrera explores some of the Nirvana frontman's favorite albums and their influence on a generation of Latin American artists.
Search for KEXP wherever you listen to podcasts. As always, be sure to check out the video of this session. You'll find that and all of our featured sessions at youtube.com slash KEXP. This show is produced by Julian Martleau and curated with support from Jackson Long and Isabel Khalili. I'm Troy Nelson. We'll see you next week. This is Live on KEXP. Live on KEXP is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.