In August 2022, Shannon Shaw’s world was turned inside out. With mere weeks to go until their wedding, the singer’s fiancé, Joe Haener, died in a horrific car accident in front of his family’s vegetable farm in Oregon. It was a devastating loss that hit Shannon & The Clams with cataclysmic force. Shaw’s bandmates, guitarist Cody Blanchard, keyboard player Will Sprott, and drummer Nate Mahan, had also grown close to Haener, a drummer and fixture of the Bay Area music scene. They cancelled shows and rallied around Shaw as fans reached out to show their support. Shaw spent her nights with Blanchard and his family or with the Haeners, finding comfort in community. She adopted a fluffy dog named Spanky-Joe. She moved out of the Portland apartment where she and Haener had been living. She fearlessly chronicled the whole experience online.
“Losing Joe made me unafraid of so many things,” Shaw says. “I have a lot less fear. It’s given me new perspective. Baring my soul is so much less scary than it would’ve been before.”
Amid this overwhelming sense of grief, melodies and lyrics began to flow out of Shaw. Instagram posts about her relationship with Haener became the building blocks of new compositions. Her Clams bandmates were also reeling and writing their own new songs. From the shock and trauma of that tragedy comes Shannon & The Clams’ latest album, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, a powerful exploration of loss, time, love, and resilience that stands as the beloved garage band’s most ambitious, emotionally searing recording to date.
The results show the group ascending to new creative highs, while still weaving in the classic garage-rock and girl-group sounds that have long been a hallmark of their work. This time around, they venture to deeper, farther out musical locations than before and bring a new sophistication and intricacy to their arrangements, plus they get an assist from pro wrestling great Mick Foley on handclaps. Meanwhile, Shaw’s powerful voice veers between sweetness and snarl — sometimes within the space of a single lyric.
While on tour down under, the band stop by PBS for an intimate Studio 5 Live performance on Firewater. Tune in on Tuesday January 28 from 5pm to hear an exclusive set and conversation with host Claire Stuchbery.
