Shannon and the Clams’ Shannon Shaw on Turning Tragedy into Art

Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams joins Beyond the Boys Club, the latest addition to the Consequence Podcast Network. Beyond the Boys Club is hosted by journalist, musician, and radio host Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio and the music outfit Upon Wings, spinning off from the interview column of the same name. The series highlights women and non-binary musicians as they offer their perspectives on the industry and discuss their personal experiences. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Shannon and the Clams — a Bay Area band that combines garage punk with doo-wop and R&B — have a new album on the way, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place, out May 10 via Easy Eye Sound, the label of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach.

The album is a special, yet heartbreaking, one. In August 2022, vocalist and frontwoman Shannon Shaw lost her fiancé, Joe Haener, in a tragic car accident just weeks before their wedding date. The entire band was close with Haener, and it was a devastating loss to their entire family.

The name of the LP, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place, came from a phrase Haener said just weeks before his passing. Many of the moments and stories on the album were inspired by him.

“It’s a bittersweet title, because he said that to me like a week before he passed away, and he was calling it that because he was like, ‘Nothing’s right. Everything’s off. Things are wrong.’ Like, ‘Everything’s breaking at work. Nothing’s making sense anymore,” Shaw says. “He was specifically talking about his job and technology. Like, his computer and phone were all messed up or something. But, when he passed away, I just could not stop thinking about that.”

During this episode of the Beyond the Boys Club podcast, Shaw discusses this deeply personal new album, as well as her journey in the music industry, the challenges she has faced as a woman in music, and more.

Get Shannon and the Clams Tickets Here

Shannon and the Clams will kick off a US tour that runs from late May through mid June, followed by a run of North American dates in October. Pick up tickets to their upcoming shows here.

Listen to the entire Beyond the Boys Club podcast episode via the media player and watch a video clip below (or via YouTube). Make sure to like, review, and subscribe to BTBC wherever you get your podcasts to keep up with each new episode, and pick up a “Beyond the Boys Club” T-shirt via the Consequence Shop or by clicking below.