Shannon and the Clams return to the region

CALIFORNIA garage-rock band Shannon and the Clams is returning to Australia and dropping into Bangalow at a special Eltham Hotel off-site show.

Known for their vintage-infused, garage-psych sound, and described as veering between sweetness and snarl, the group is touring its seventh album, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place.

Six albums previously, the band’s trajectory was going well. In 2022, lead singer Shannon Shaw’s long-time partner and fiancé, musician Joe Haener, died suddenly in an accident on the family farm at 41, just weeks before their wedding.

The artist fearlessly continued to chronicle her experience in the online world and in her music. The grief and trauma spawned the group’s latest album – an ambitious and profoundly emotional record exploring loss, love and the nature of time.

“Losing Joe made me unafraid of so many things,” Shaw said.

“I have a lot less fear. It’s given me a new perspective. Baring my soul is so much less scary than it would’ve been before.”

The Moon Is In The Wrong Place opens with The Vow, a track Shaw wrote as a surprise for their upcoming wedding – a peek at of love and possibility, that was quickly and inexplicably cut short. With a steely reserve and processing her grief, Shaw chose to launch the new project with the song.

“I hated the idea of him never getting to hear it,” she said.

The title came from a conversation between Haener and Shaw not long before the accident. In a chat about astrology, Haener had prophetically asked, ‘What is it you say? The moon is in the wrong place?’.

“He turned out to be right.

The moon IS in the wrong place,” Shaw said.

“And in a weird way, my new lack of fear goes with a feeling of being galvanized and feeling like I have a new armour.

“I’ve played a lot of shows since Joe passed, and those are some of the best shows we’ve ever played.

“I’m very open now, and I always feel like Joe is supporting me through it.”

Shannon and the Clams play the Bangalow A&I Hall on January 21. For tickets via the Eltham Hotel, visit elthampub.com.au/music