Call Manley Slaughter was born this afternoon at 2:03 p.m. to Heather and Shannon Slaughter. Both mom and dad are bluegrass artists, though Heather has pulled back from touring since starting their family. Call is their third child, and he arrived at 8 lb, 13 oz, stretching out to 22.5” long.
Big sister Rae and big brother Jed seem delighted with their baby brother, and mother and child are doing well.
Congratulations to Shannon and Heather, and their growing bluegrass family!
Shannon and Heather Slaughter are celebrating this afternoon’s birth of their second child, Jedediah Smith Slaughter. Shannon says that they will call him Jed.
He came in at 2:57 p.m. (CST) weighing 7 lbs, 13 oz, and stretching to 20.5”. Shannon is probably already fitting him for a football helmet!
Mom and baby are reported to be doing well at the hospital in Birmingham, AL, and big sister, Rae, is delighted with her little brother.
Now with two little Slaughters at home, Heather will no longer be traveling with the band, now billed as Shannon Slaughter & County Clare. She will, however, guest on their new album with recording scheduled to begin in March.
Congratulations to Heather and Shannon, and a big Bluegrass Today welcome to Jed!
Shannon and Heather Slaughter have released a new single from their current album, Never Just A Song. It’s one they wanted to make sure people heard before the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Shannon shared a few words about this song, That’s What’s Good In America.
“At a time when politics are really dividing this country, America is still a great place to live! I got this idea driving to work one day when I saw a man working in his (very large) garden. I finished the song with the help of Gerald Ellenburg at his cabin in South Carolina. It’s about all the things I am involved with in my life – coaching football, being a husband, and a new father. The last verse is my favorite on the whole record.”
That’s What’s Good In America is available for single purchase from all the popular download sites, and from Shannon and Heather’s web site. Radio programmers are invited to download a copy from Airplay Direct.
Their previous single, Moonshiner, had spent eight straight weeks on our Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay chart. Let’s see how this one does.
Twice before we have raved about recordings from Shannon and Heather Slaughter. The first was actually for Shannon’s solo album, The Sideman Steps Out, on which she was prominently featured, and the second, One More Road, their first duet album with their band, County Clare.
Since then, the Slaughters have welcomed a baby daughter into their lives, and clearly matured as singing partners as evidenced by their latest offering, Never Just A Song. Once again, we’re prepared to rave about this powerful new CD.
Shannon is that rare bluegrass triple threat: a gifted and disciplined songwriter, a robust and evocative singer, and a substantial guitarist, on both rhythm and lead. Most of our readers will be able to think of a few others who fit this description, but there are very few who excel to this level at all three. He earned his stripes as a sideman, first with Larry Stephenson, and later with Melonie Cannon and Lou Reid, before he and Heather started their own group, County Clare.
The band has survived a move from North Carolina to Alabama, closer to Heather’s family, and her new gig as a mom. Shannon is once again teaching history and coaching football, as he had done before the move.
Heather is also a steady vocalist, appearing as both a strong lead singer and a capable duet partner. Both she and Shannon’s voices are pitched in the lower register, allowing them to harmonize effectively around his rumbly, growling delivery, and present a distinctive sound all their own.
More than half the songs chosen are Shannon and/or Heather’s co-writes, with the bulk coming from such stellar writers as Tim Stafford, Hank Williams Jr, Pam Tillis, and Nick Forster.
The album starts with their debut single, a bluesy up-tempo version of Moonshiner, with Heather on lead, accentuated by Randy Kohrs’ reso-guitar and Ron Stewart’s fiddle. It’s followed by the title track, Stafford and Tillis’ tribute to the late Harley Allen, which gets a nod in the small world department. Not only it is a beautiful remembrance of the great singer and songwriter – who when he wrote, it was Never Just A Song – but it reminds us that All The Things You Do, Shannon’s own Allen tribute, was included on the most recent Blue Highway project.
Much of the Slaughter’s original music runs to the country/pop side of bluegrass, which you’ll hear on Back To Birmingham and The Best Thing We Ever Did, a pair of ballads that showcase the range and agility of both of their voices. The first is a lovely waltz about home, and the latter is an autobiographical picture of their relationship, ending with the birth of their daughter, Rae, who gets a vocal credit at the end of the song.
You also hear it on Where Does The Love Go, a thoughtful contemporary bluegrass song of the sort that Kenny & Amanda Smith, another guitar/vocal power duo, are known for recording. It really showcases Heather’s ability to deliver an understated vocal where the lyrics are paramount.
Shannon also has a knack for writing gritty, working class songs with his and David Carroll’s Company Town fitting the bill here with a coal mining story. It’s what Adam Steffey would call a “mean song,” mid-tempo and played in a pentatonic/modal scale.
Hot Rize has been back in the news with their extended reunion tour, and the Slaughters pay their respects with Shadows In My Room, a straight ahead bluegrass number from Heather with deep shades of lonesome from their 1986 Untold Stories album. Another strong cover is Hank Jr.’s Feelin Better from 1977, where Shannon channels him some Hank, and blows out those low pipes.
Heather demonstrates a knack for honky tonk country on Shannon and Terry Foust’s Whiskey Colored Dreams, complete with triple fiddle from Tim Crouch and steel guitar from Doug Jernigan. And Shannon turns in a fine, straightforward bluegrass burner on Ridin’ The Lightnin’, Ropin’ The Storm, one he wrote with Dale Felts.
Never Just A Song features 14 tracks of dynamic and energetic bluegrass, supported by a crack band. Trevor Watson and Justin Jenkins provide banjo, with Cliff Bailey and Tracy Burcham on bass, Ron Inscore on mandolin, and Shannon on guitar.
It’s their version of the familiar mountain ballad, Moonshiner, but with a bluesy, pentatonic twist. Shannon says they heard it this way on a record by Harley Allen and Mike Lilly, favorites of both he and Heather.
Shannon is on guitar, with Ronald Inscore on mandolin, Trevor Watson on banjo, Cliff Bailey on bass, Ron Stewart on fiddle, and Randy Kohrs on reso-guitar.
The single is offered for sale now from CD Baby or iTunes, and is available for download by radio programmers at Airplay Direct.
Never Just A Song will be released on February 1, and the Slaughters will celebrate with an Album Release Concert at the Station Inn on January 24 in Nashville. Special guests will include Randy Kohrs, Melonie Cannon, Aubrey Haynie, Ron Inscore, Trevor Watson, Cliff Bailey, and more.
Shannon and Heather Slaughter have made the trek from Alabama to Virginia this week to start work on a new album. They are tracking at Eastwood Studios in Cana, and hope to have something ready for release this Fall.
This one is slated to fall somewhere between a band album, and a duo project. Several of the cuts are set to be recorded by the Slaughters’ touring band, County Clare, with others featuring support from musicians Shannon has or does work with in the bluegrass world.
And as always, the material is primarily Shannon’s. Eight of the fourteen songs they plan to record are ones he wrote or co-wrote. Two additional numbers were written by County Clare bandmates Alex Hibbitts and Cliff Bailey, one ones from Tim Stafford and Pam Tillis, and the three remaining are covers.
Shannon says that he co-wrote with his longtime songwriting partner Dale Felts, and also with Bill Castle, Shawn Lane, Gerald Ellenburg, Terry Foust, Dave Carroll, and Heather Slaughter.
“We’re real excited to get back in the studio and record some more of our style of music!! We think we’ve got some really good tunes that people are gonna love, including a duet Heather and I wrote about the beautiful new addition to our family — Rae Carroll.”
Guest performers include Ron Inscore on mandolin, Trevor Watson and Justin Jenkins on banjo, Tracy Burcham on bass, and Randy Kohrs on reso.
For a husband/wife performing duo, a young family presents unique logistical challenges where touring is concerned. In the Slaughters’ case, they don’t want to leave the baby at home when they go out on the road, so they have made a few changes to the band.
They have hired a full time mandolin player, Jesse Daniel, to free Heather from that role, but Shannon says she’ll still be there on their shows.
“Heather is stepping back with the birth of Rae, but we are looking at it as an opportunity to take Rae everywhere we go. Heather will still get up and play and sing since we’re gonna have an extra member in the band.
We are very committed to raising Rae around family, friends, and the bluegrass community, so this will allow us that option. We were concerned with taking Rae on the road and finding someone to watch her while Heather played on stage, but with the addition of Jesse, Heather can care for Rae and occasionally come on stage and sing the songs that County Clare has made recognizable.”
They are hoping that they will be able to find someone to help watch her at shows, but are looking into bringing the baby up on stage when necessary. Too bad Rae isn’t old enough yet to run the merch table!
In addition to Daniel, a veteran of both the Randy Kohrs Band and Volume Five, Cliff Bailey, a senior at Auburn University, is playing bass.
Other current members of the band include Casey Foster on banjo and Stephen Burwell on fiddle. They have been in rehearsal of late, and Shannon is overjoyed by the sound.
“We are very excited about these new members — they are GREAT people and GREAT musicians and singers! And they are really excited to be a part of the band and that is awesome news to us.”
Keep an eye out for Shannon & Heather Slaughter and County Clare this season.
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.
