This week, a Japanese Shinto garden took root in southwestern Virginia because of family connections spanning geography and generations. Also, in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a new mosaic uses recovered objects to honor the town’s people after the flood of 2022. And, the young adult novel Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire mixes historical fact with spooky Appalachian folklore.
Bringin' Blues to the Jewel City with The Shadowshaker Band
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In April 2015, they released their first full-length Snowflake Mandala. Less than a year later, they earned an entry into the 2016 International Blues Challenge with their second release U Can’t Bother Me. And now, Huntington rockers The Shadowshaker Band are back with a bigger band and a bluer sound.
We sat down with The Shadowshaker Band’s Eve Marcum-Atkinson and Michael Lyzenga in the #wvpublic studios to talk about the band’s new record Heart on the Line and their blues-y beginnings.
The Shadowshaker Band regularly performs at Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia.
On playing blues music:
Michael: People say it’s so easy, it’s just three chords and some attitude, but it’s so much more than that. It comes from the heart. Country music does in a way, if you write the right music. But the blues…
Eve: …will rip out your heart and make you happy you did.
On Eve’s musical beginnings:
Eve: I was all rock. Although I really liked one of the albums U2 did when they went more blues, and I liked that style. It wasn’t until the ‘90s that I really started appreciating that style with Nina Simone and Billie Holiday and those chanteuse-style singers. I was hiding under a rock for a very long time, and I did not sing in front of people… at all.
Michael: She’s got it good both ways though. She can not only sing The Shadowshaker Band music (the folk and blues and rock and Americana), but she’s also in a band called Under Surveillance where she can flat out rock. So she has the best of both worlds: she can come to my studio and record a little love ballad and go to their studio…
Eve: …and scream it out.
Credit The Shadowshaker Band
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The Shadowshaker Band’s Eve Marcum-Atkinson designed the band’s cover art.
On writing The Shadowshaker Band’s music:
Michael: You can ask me where the lyrics come from, but I have no idea. I could not tell you how I can wake up in the morning, pick up my guitar, strum a chord, and write and record the song by the end of the day. I don’t know how it works, and I don’t know where they come from.
Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:
The Shadowshaker Band- “Heart on the Line”
The Shadowshaker Band- “Collide”
The Shadowshaker Band- “Shadows”
The Shadowshaker Band- “Mr. Weather Man” (Live in the #WVPublic Studios)
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