DAMIAN BURFORD
Where is home for Shannon Shaw?
The bandleader for Shannon and the Clams is from the heart of Napa Valley. The Vintage High School graduate grew up in the Coombsville area. Her critically-acclaimed band operates out of Oakland and tours all over the world.
Shaw lived for a time outside Portland, Oregon with her fiancé Joe Haener. After his untimely passing, she has relocated to Los Angeles -- for now.
"I need to redefine what home is," Shaw explained from her Los Angeles apartment. "I don't know where I should be now, but I definitely miss Napa in a lot of ways. I can't see myself being in a big city like L.A. forever. It's a great place for me right now to be healing and pursuing creative endeavors."
Those creative endeavors will bring Shaw full-circle, back home to where her musical journey began. Shannon and the Clams will headline this year's New Year's Eve showcase at the JaM Cellars Ballroom. Joining them will be Seattle's La Luz and Napa's own DJ Rotten Robbie opening.
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The music of Shannon and the Clams is a throwback to the heyday of 1950's and 1960's doo-wop, rock 'n' roll, but with a heavy dose of garage rock influence. Think The Ronettes meets The Beach Boys, but with the style of The Ramones. That sound is 100% Napa grown.
"I grew up Mormon and my parents were very strict about what we listened to. I wasn't allowed to listen to any modern pop. We listened to the oldies station, KFRC," Shaw recalled.
When Shaw received her driver's license, she discovered more than just the oldies station.
"There used to be this amazing Mexican oldies station that played a lot of cover songs," she said. "I loved that station, and it was only around for a little bit, but I listened to it a lot."
Getting her license allowed Shaw to discover more of the town.
"Do they still call it the J?" Shaw asks in reference to Jefferson Street in Napa. "Kids didn't have much to do in Napa. People would 'Cruise the J,' park and hang out in Taco Bell or the frigging Big O Tires!"
It was there off the "J" that Shaw would purchase her first album, a copy of Primus -- "Frizzle Fry" from Looney Tunes Records. A high school boyfriend would later buy Shaw her first bass guitar from All Star Guitar. Her adventures cruising in Napa were so important to her, she immortalized the "J" in her song, "Rip Van Winkle" from the band's 2013 record "Dreams in the Rat House."
The cult film selection at Hollywood Video was also a major influence.
"When I was a teenager, my friends and I would pick movies that looked as weird as possible," she said. "I found this tape called 'Desperate Teenage Lovedolls' about girls in a band. It's very low-budget. It was just teenagers making their own movie, which is what I'd been doing with my friends for a long time. I felt really inspired by this random film I found in the cult classic section."
Those early cult discoveries led Shaw to focus on more art.
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"I'm horrible at math. I'm horrible at history. I'm bad at everything," the musician exclaimed. "But art is somewhere I felt like I actually knew who I was."
Shaw still thinks fondly of those teachers who encouraged her to pursue art.
"I had a teacher at Vintage, Christine Golik. I went to college because of her," Shaw said. "She retired a couple of years ago. She really inspired me to work way harder and take my art more seriously. I kept pursuing art because of her, and I wouldn't have the band if I had not gone to college."
She encountered other teachers such as Christine's husband, Jay Golik and Eric Shearer at Napa Valley College, then called Napa Junior College. They continued to push and encourage her enough that she was able to get a full scholarship to California College of the Arts in Oakland. It was there at college she would rediscover her bass guitar collecting dust in her dorm room.
"I'm a late bloomer; I didn't start playing till I was about 25," she said. "When I moved to Oakland, I was in a really dark, lonely place. And the way I've gotten through everything my whole life is by creating art. I picked up the bass out of nowhere, and I immediately started writing songs."
Shaw would return to Napa to find the courage and inspiration to perform for others.
"I played at this open mic at Café Cicero on First Street. I made my little debut there in front of my five friends, and they were very encouraging," she recalled.
Shaw was off and running.
The band would attract the attention of The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who discovered the band when a Nashville record store played their music over the PA. Auerbach would sign the band to his own label, Easy Eye Sound and produce four records for Shaw, including her solo album, "Shannon in Nashville." They're newest collaboration is 2024's "The Moon is in the Wrong Place."
Writing the acclaimed record, Shaw would once again find solace in creating art. In 2022, her fiancé Joe Haener died in a car crash just outside his family farm in Oregon. At the time of Heaner's passing, Shaw was in Napa preparing for the wedding, which was scheduled to take place in the city two weeks later.
Shannon and her band did what they do best. They created art from their pain. "The Moon is In The Wrong Place" -- a title coined by Heaner -- is an exploration of the magic of love, the pain of loss and the art of healing. It's not as depressing as it sounds. It's a fun, bouncy celebration of a record. It somehow makes you feel happy to be alive. The record has received rave reviews and has taken the band to even further heights.
Shaw is ending the biggest and best year of her career in Napa, but she wasn't sure she was going to take the gig.
"It feels nice to be invited to play in my hometown. It's ending where it was beginning. That's an honor to me. It was a tough decision because Jan. 1 is Joe's birthday," Shaw said. "After thinking about it a lot, I know that Joe wants me to play. He wants me to keep going. He was my biggest fan. He loves Napa. He had this fantasy of helping buy my mom's house and fixing it up and settling in Napa. He loved it here."
She continues, "I think that something I've gotten from all this grief is that creation is the most productive way for me to keep moving forward. Celebrating is such an important thing to do as a human. I want to be part of that midnight moment with people that are all going through that same death and rebirth in 60 seconds. I think it reminds us of what's really important."
So where is home for Shannon Shaw?
One day the performer may return to the valley for good. Until then, she has dreams and goals for her hometown.
"I have a lot of hope for Napa," she said. "I want it to keep diversifying, keep fostering creative youths and making spaces for people that are not normally welcomed. I am seeing more of a creative, open-minded force in Napa that I don't remember when I was growing up there. It keeps me really hopeful."
Upcoming events Monday, Dec. 30, Shannon and the Clams will stop by Folklore at 1226 Third St. in Napa for a special Meet & Greet celebration where Shannon Shaw is expected to DJ, sign records and participate in a moderated Q&A.Tuesday, Dec. 31: The Blue Note Napa Presents: New Year's Eve with Shannon and the Clams and special guests La Luz and Dj Rotten Robbie. Tickets range from $68.92 to $150.81. Doors for the event start at 9 p.m. Info: jamcellarsballroom.com. Stay up-to-date on what's happening
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