Shannon and Heather Slaughter have announced that Blake Bowen has joined their touring band, County Clare. He has worked previously as a member of Randy Waller & The Country Gentlemen, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, and the Tina Adair Band. He comes by his talents naturally, as the son of noted mandolinist and vocalist, Jimmy Bowen.
The move is in response to the departure of original mandolinist Ronald Inscore, who had joined the band when they were based in western North Carolina. With the Slaughters now living in north Alabama, the travel distance for Ronald became an obstacle, given his commitment to a full time career in nuclear medicine.
Heather is moving to mandolin, with Blake taking her bass spot. John Boulware remains on fiddle, Casey Murray on banjo and Shannon on guitar.
Blake tells us that he is delighted to come aboard.
“I am absolutely thrilled and honored at the opportunity to play with Shannon and Heather. They are all such stellar players and even better people. I greatly appreciate their unique and inspiring sound and look forward to being a part of it.”
And Shannon is happy to have him.
“While we are saddened that the logistics will no longer allow Ron to play with us full-time, we are thrilled that Blake has joined us in County Clare. He is a great person, a family-oriented man, and he really grooves on the upright bass!!
We are also excited to move Heather over to mandolin, as she is an outstanding player. She chose to learn how to play the bass four years ago, so we could play and sing with Ron, but now she is back on her main instrument. We are really excited about the new possibilities of the band!!”
The band’s debut album, One More Road, was released in March, 2013. You can follow their tour schedule online.
Most artist management and music business consultants will tell you that an identifiable vocal sound is the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd most important element in an artist or band sound. The ability to immediately recognize a vocalist is said to be key to success on the radio.
Likewise, having multiple lead vocalists in a band is said to be a bad move, resulting in confusion among consumers and radio listeners, something to be avoided at all costs. Bluegrass acts have honored this credo largely in the breach over recent years, however. Starting as early as Seldom Scene, we have embraced groups with more than one primary singer, with current examples like Lonesome River Band, Blue Highway and The Boxcars continuing the trend.
One More Road, the debut album from Shannon and Heather Slaughter & County Clare, is another example of doing this right. Their two voices couldn’t be more different; Shannon’s with a gravelly edge, Heather’s sweet and pure. But the husband/wife duo harmonize beautifully, and their distinct vocal styles offer the band the ability to mine more than one vein in the bluegrass world.
But you still need a good cast of backing musicians, and strong material, to make a stellar album.
Fortunately, Shannon is a first rate songwriter, something we have discussed here many times in the past, and works with a number of compatible co-writers. 7 of the 12 tracks on the new record come from this well, with help from Shawn Lane, Dale Felts, Mike Bentley, Terry Foust, and Heather Slaughter.
And County Clare provides all the support you would expect from a crack rhythm section. Ronald Inscore is on mandolin, Casey Murray on banjo, and John Boulware on fiddle, with Shannon on guitar and Heather on bass. Also assisting in the studio were Rob Ickes on resonator guitar, Tina Steffey on clawhammer banjo, and Mike Johnson on pedal steel guitar.
The songs fall into a number of categories. Shannon sings The Lives of the Innocent, Ballad of Johnse Hatfield and Daddy Killed The Calf, which all present as historical fiction, telling stories of hard times in an earlier age. Shannon really shines as a writer in this setting, combining his own study of American history with a vivid imagination and an obvious compassion for his subjects.
From Heather, I Might Be and You An’t Going Nowhere are both hopeful and upbeat, while the poignant They Never Got The Chance carries a strong pro-life message, minus the finger-pointing and recrimination you might find in a political debate.
Banjo players, and fans of Earl Scruggs (which is everyone reading this, yes?), will enjoy WhenScruggs Made Me A Star, a tribute to the late banjo man told from the perspective of the 5 string banjo he elevated to prominence.
For the most part, the Slaughters take their turns singing lead, but pair up for a a duet on Tom Hardin’s If I Was A Carpenter, a hit in 1970 for Johnny Cash and June Carter.
All the picking is superb, but special kudos go to Inscore whose mandolin sparkles throughout.
One More Road is a serious and effective launch for County Clare, and a sign that the Slaughters are likely to leave their mark on bluegrass music for many years to come.
The album via is available on CD or download from the band web site, or from iTunes and other popular download sites. Radio programmers can download the tracks now at Airplay Direct.
Shannon Slaughter has had a very good year so far. His solo project, The Sideman Steps Out, has been a hit with bluegrass radio, and spent most of the early part of 2012 on our Bluegrass TodayWeekly Airplay Chart.
He is also part of the powerful sound of Lou Reid & Carolina, playing guitar and singing harmony on their latest album, Calling Me Back Home.
Now we learn that Shannon is back in the studio this week with his own group, County Clare, which includes his wife, Heather, on bass. Heather’s voice was a prominent part of Shannon’s solo CD, and their duets generated a good bit of buzz in the biz.
Joining them, are Ronald Inscore on mandolin, Casey Murray on banjo, and John Boulware on fiddle.
They will be cutting rhythm tracks at Wes Easter’s studio in Cana, VA, and tracking vocals at Randy Kohrs’ Slack Key Studio in Nashville.
Shannon tells us that he wrote or co-wrote 9 of the 13 songs they will be recording.
“Heather and I wrote two together, and my long-time collaborator Dale Felts and I wrote three (including one with Heather). I wrote one each with Shawn Lane and Terry Foust, and three on my own.
Other writers on the project include Dennis Duff, Tommy Dutton, Rodney Crowell, and Tim Hardin.
Listeners can expect to hear a lot of Heather’s silky smooth vocals and some great harmonies.
We’re really looking forward to getting back in the studio and I’m so proud of the guys who work with us! I can’t wait for everyone to hear those guys!!”
County Clare, a side project for Shannon Slaughter when not traveling with Lou Reid & Carolina – a side project when Lou isn’t out with Seldom Scene – has announced some personnel changes.
Shannon has had some impressive chart success with his current solo project, The Sideman Steps Out, with tracks spending several weeks on our Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay Chart. The album features Shannon on guitar and lead vocals on a set comprised primarily of his original songs, with lead and harmony vocals (and bass) provided by his lovely and talented wife, Heather.
Shannon and Heather have formed the backbone of County Clare since its inception, and this week, they announced two new members who will join them in performances this year, along with long-time mandolinist Ronald Inscore. On banjo will be Casey Murray, with John Boulware on fiddle.
The Sideman Steps Out was among our very favorite records of 2011, with stellar contributions from Joey Cox and Trevor Watson on banjo, Inscore and Lou Reid on mandolin, Ron Stewart on fiddle and Rob Ickes on reso.
It’s great to see that Shannon has such a strong new band to tour in support of this fine recording.
Regular readers of Bluegrass Today will have surely noted my occasional musings on how few really outstanding new recordings come across my desk, as a percentage of total new projects. It has also been noted how often these exceptional albums are bypassed by awards nominations, the music media and even radio programmers in favor of lesser releases from more popular artists.
The Sideman Steps Out from Shannon Slaughter is one that I hope will get the attention it deserves. It doesn’t seek to bash established barriers or rewrite any rules. It merely sets out to present serious, soulful, modern bluegrass in a professional setting. And like any artistic endeavor, it deserves to be judged on how well it achieves its own goals.
I’ve known Shannon since he first moved to southwestern Virginia from his native north Florida in the early 1990s, and if you follow the jumps and starts of bluegrass band personnel changes, you may know his name as well. He’s worked for several of the top acts based in this part of the world, Lost and Found, Lonesome River Band, and Lou Reid & Carolina among them. Shannon also played with Larry Stephenson, and Nashville songstress Melanie Cannon, as well as his own group, County Clare.
He now lives in Alabama with his wife, Heather, where he teaches high school history while preparing to begin studies for a graduate degree. Oh… and he still travels the US playing bluegrass.
Slaughter is a strong rhythm/lead guitarist in the Tim Stafford mold, a muscular lead vocalist and – perhaps most importantly as far as this album is concerned – an original songwriting voice.
I first noticed his writing chops with Lonesome Wind, which served as the opening track of Knee Deep In Bluegrass, a 2000 Rebel release with a superstar lineup. Since them, Shannon has honed and refined his craft, putting 8 that he wrote or co-wrote front and center on The Sideman Steps Out.
He assembled a very strong group of sidemen of his own, primarily from musicians with whom he performs regularly. Several tracks were cut with members of County Clare: Joey Cox on banjo, Ronald Inscore on mandolin and Heather Slaughter on bass. Bandmates from his primary gig, Lou Reid & Carolina make several appearances, including Lou on mandolin and vocal, and Trevor Watson on banjo. Ron Stewart guests on fiddle throughout, and Rob Ickes drops in on reso guitar for one track.
All of the songs are strong, both Shannon’s and contributions from other noted writers like Tim Stafford, Craig Market, David Coffey and Darrel Mosely.
Perhaps the most appealing songs are the ones that Shannon and Heather sing together, including You’re My Music which they also co-wrote.
You’re My Music: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/youre_my_music.mp3]
It’s a lovely song, but don’t worry music fans, there’s plenty of gritty, grassy tunes on the record as well. My favorite is probably the opening track, which Shannon wrote about a man who takes care of himself.
The Working Man: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/working_man.mp3]
The Sideman Steps Out can be obtained from the County Clare web site, where you can hear audio samples from all 14 tracks, and either order a CD or purchase digital downloads.
Shannon Slaughter has been one of my favorite bluegrass guitarists since I first met him in the mid-1990s.
At the time, he had just finished a stint with Lost & Found, and had joined Larry Stephenson’s band. It was immediately obvious that he was a powerhouse rhythm man, but I soon also discovered that Shannon was a passionate, bluesy singer, and a terrific songwriter as well.
Before long he was working with Melonie Cannon, while also teaching high school history and coaching football in Wilkesboro, NC. That was followed by a gig with Lonesome River Band, and his current association with Lou Reid & Carolina.
All the while he was continuing to write songs, and helped form a second group called County Clare, which included former Quicksilver banjoist Joey Cox and former Kenny & Amanda Smith mandolinist Ronald Inscore, along with his recent bride Heather Slaughter on bass.
Using this core group, plus some of the heavy hitters he has worked with along the way, Shannon is set to release his first solo record, The Sideman Steps Out, in March. Eight of the album’s fourteen songs are ones he wrote or co-wrote, and he plays guitar and sings on them all. Heather shares lead vocals on a couple of tracks, with harmony singing from Lou Reid, Shawn Lane and Barry Berrier. Heather Slaughter also sings harmony on most of the songs.
The album is strong from the drop, and we’ll have a lot more to say about it as the release date draws near, but we did want to highlight the first single, which is available to bluegrass radio now. It’s called The Working Man, and tells a gritty tale of self-sufficiency and pride in taking care of your own needs.
Shannon is joined here by Cox on banjo, Inscore on mandolin, Heather on bass and harmony vocal, and Shawn lane on fiddle and harmony vocal.
The Working Man: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/working_man.mp3]
Tim Stafford, who also contributes a song to the CD, speaks quite highly of the finished project.
I’m sure there will be lots of great bluegrass recordings released this year, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better one than The Sideman Steps Out.”
The album will be released by Elite Circuit Music, and radio programmers interested in getting a copy of the single are urged to contact Shannon directly.
Shannon Slaughter, guitarist and vocalist with Lou Reid and Carolina, is working on a solo project that will showcase both his muscular vocal style, and his clever and thoughtful songwriting. He has been recording this month at Eastwood Studio in Cana, VA and tells us that he has completed 13 tracks with just one more to go.
Much of the new project was recorded with members of County Clare, a group that features Slaughter and his wife Heather, along with former Quicksilver banjo picker Joey Cox and ex-Kenny & Amanda Smith mandolinist Ronald Inscore. County Clare performs regionally in the western Virginia and North Carolina market, as Shannon’s schedule allows. In addition to his work with Carolina, he teaches history and coaches football at St. Stephens High School in Hickory, NC.
Slaughter has been something of a fixture in this part of the country, playing in a variety of bands since he moved to the Blue Ridge region from north Florida to attend college at Radford University in the early 1990s. He spent time with Virginia headliners Lost and Found and Lonesome River Band, and also toured for several years with Melonie Cannon.
Eight of Shannon’s original songs will be included on this CD, along with two from Tim Stafford. Lou Reid and Shawn Lane are singing some harmony, as are Jeff Parker and Barry Berrier. He is especially excited about featuring his wife Heather on one track, whose vocal prowess Shannon describes in especially glowing terms.
Also participating instrumentally are Trevor Watson, who plays banjo with Shannon in Lou’s band, Tracy Burcham on bass, Rob Ickes on resonator guitar and Ron Stewart on fiddle.
The current plan is to finish tracking in late July and set to mixing shortly thereafter. Hopefully this project will get some attention from the bluegrass labels. Shannon is a talented bluegrass artist, and I’m glad to hear that he is finally doing an album under his own name.
