...Shivaree
Wedding band: Three disparate souls from west of the Mississippi, Shivaree have been around since 1999, when their debut album, I Oughta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump, got a bit of media attention, not least for its title. Their singer, Ambrosia Parsley (above), is also every bit as interesting as her name; the native West Virginian with the quirky singing style has been compared to everybody from Cowboy Junkie Margo Tinley to the great Billie Holiday. Even the band's name is interesting: derived from the French charivari, a shivaree is what happens when a bunch of people gather together spontaneously at a wedding, armed with various instruments, and serenade the bride and groom with a merry, tuneless cacophony. Shivaree's own music is certainly no tuneless cacophony, though it is a sometimes confusing concoction of twisted torch songs, gnarly alt.country and weirdo waltz.
Grandma plays the banjo: Shivaree's story begins in the San Fernando valley, when a seven-year-old Ambrosia was singing in her grandma's 99-piece banjo orchestra at the local pizzeria. A hard act to follow, you'll agree, but that didn't stop Ambrosia from striking out on her own at age 13 and travelling around the country in search of good times and great music. Fast forward to adulthood, and Ambrosia is recording music at a friend's studio in San Diego when guitarist Duke McVinnie shows up and starts tinkering with the tapes, adding some of his own ideas. Ambrosia has to admit that Duke, who previously worked with JJ Cale, Johnny Otis and Exene Cervenka from X, may have something to offer. When keyboard player Danny McGough introduces himself to Ambrosia at a party, the trio is complete.
Goddess on a highway: Shivaree recorded their debut in their producer's backyard. I Oughta... was greeted with ecstatic reviews and sold respectable numbers in such odd places in Moscow, Lisbon, Paris and Rome, where their dark-hearted Ameri-cabaret found a ready and willing audience. Vanity Fair compared Ambrosia's voice to "a goddess from a faraway land", but Ambrosia was more like a trembling debutante trying to overcome her stage fright while touring with the band.
Top billing: Label problems prevented Shivaree's second album, Rough Dreams (2002), from getting a proper US release or the promotion it deserved. The tours ground to a halt and the members drifted off into their own separate projects. Then Quentin Tarantino put Shivaree's Goodnight Moon on the soundtrack of Kill Bill Vol 2, it was just what the trio needed to get off the backburner and back into the studio. Their third album, Who's Got Trouble, is out now, and Shivaree are back on the road, stopping off in Dublin's Sugar Club on April 19th.
