Shannon and Heather Slaughter have had a lot to celebrate this year. Their debut album with County Clare, One More Road, was released in March and has spent much of the Spring and Summer riding the bluegrass charts. One of the songs, their version of the classic Carter/Cash duet on If I Was A Carpenter, is currently #2 on our Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay Chart, and #6 on our monthly chart for July.
But today, they really have something to crow about! Last night, they welcomed their first child, Rae Carroll into the world. She was born on Thursday evening (8/29) at 7:45 p.m. (CDT), weighing in at 7 lbs, 6 oz, and stretching out to 21” long.
Both parents are overjoyed with their new little family, and Heather is doing well. Shannon says that they will call the baby Rae Carroll, both family names. After all, good Southern girls need two names.
Shannon even missed the first football game of the season at the school where he teaches! They lost, but he is a bit more concerned with other details right now.
Congratulations to Heather and Shannon, and a big bluegrass welcome to little Rae Carroll.
We heard this week from Shannon Slaughter, with an update on his and Heather’s upcoming band project, and some major milestones in their personal lives.
Shannon tells us that the new album, from Shannon and Heather Slaughter & County Clare, will be titled One More Road, and is due from Elite Circuit Music in March. Of the 14 tracks, 8 are written or co-written by Slaughter. Other writers include Heather Slaughter, Shawn Lane, Dale Felts, Mike Bentley, Terry Foust, and Rodney Crowell.
On the home front, Shannon reports that he and Heather have moved into their new home in Pell City, AL where he continues to teach U.S. History and coach football at St. Clair County High School. Both of them have completed Masters degrees (Shannon in Gifted Education and Heather in Special Education), and they have recently found out that they are expecting.
Sounds like a busy year in the Slaughter household – a new CD in March and a new baby in September!
Here’s a taste of their second single, especially pertinent this year.
The debut single, The Lives Of The Innocents, is available to radio programmers now from Airplay Direct.
Since taking his leave from Lou Reid & Carolina in July of 2012, Shannon Slaughter has been hard at work on a new project with his wife, Heather. They are settled now in Alabama, and have been working with their band, County Clare, on an upcoming 6-track album, One More Road. The full CD won’t hit until March, but a debut single is released today to bluegrass radio.
The Lives Of The Innocents is one of Shannon’s compositions, and like several songs from his 2011 solo record, The Sideman Steps Out, tells a serious story from the annals of American history. Slaughter is currently completing a masters degree in that discipline, and he knows of what he writes.
This Civil War story is a sad one to ponder, touching on the horror of war on all sides. It is told from the perspective of a North Carolina teen who enlists in the Confederate army, only to lose his life paying “for a rich man’s deed, dying for the sins of greed.”
Powerful stuff.
One More Road is set for a March 15 release on Elite Circuit Records. Radio programmers can download the single now from Airplay Direct, where fans can also have a listen.
Recently, we reported that Alabama-based band Shannon and Heather Slaughter and County Clare would soon be heading into the studio to begin working on a new album. This past Friday evening (July 6), while performing at Bluegrass on Broad in Kingsport, TN (an outdoor, downtown weekly summer concert series featuring both national and local acts), the band treated their audience to two excellent sets, previewing several tracks from the upcoming album.
In addition to the new songs, the band performed several hits and fan favorites from Shannon and Heather’s solo albums such as The Working Man, I’ll Ramble On, and Those Memories, as well as some great bluegrass standards and country covers, like One Tear and Ramblin’ Fever. They were also joined by guitarist and longtime Clinch Mountain Boy James Alan Shelton for a lively rendition of Soldier’s Joy.
After the show, I was able to speak with Shannon about the new project. The group will be working with Wesley Easter and later recording vocals with Randy Kohrs. The album will consist of mostly originals, including one tune featuring Heather on lead vocals which he stated, “would bring a tear to a glass eye.” Another track to look for is a soulful version of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s If I Were A Carpenter, with Heather and Shannon sharing vocal duties.
This should be an exciting week for County Clare fans with the band recording in Galax, VA. Tracking began yesterday, July 7.
Fans can expect the album in Spring 2013, if not sooner.
