From Fall '05 through Spring '06 The Sacred Shakers hosted the Country Gospel Brunch at a few area clubs on Sunday afternoons. Jason Beek, Shakers' drummer, assembled the group after hearing about a similar series from a friend in New Mexico. The idea was to find like-minded musicians who share a passion for a sort of niche gospel music and not the typical R&B gospel sound of today...gospel music that was performed by the likes of country legends Hank Willams Sr. and the Carter Family. Other influences included hill-country bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell and the She-Wolf, Jessie Mae Hemphill as well as gospel greats like Rev. Charlie Jackson, Rev. Louis Overstreet, The Staple Singers and many more.
Beek assembled a fine group of Boston area roots musicians for the gig: Americana gem Eilen Jewell, Bluegrass cat Daniel Fram, America's Bass player Johnny Sciascia and veteran violinist Daniel Kellar. In addition, the brunch series featured a special weekly guest. Among the many great guests were WC Handy Award winners Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, Signature Sounds recording artist Mark Erelli, Mr. Airplane Man's Margaret Garrett, Alastair Moock and many more (see the link below for more). Johnny icasi
From Fall '06 through Spring '07, the Shakers landed at their favorite home for the brunch, the historic Plough and Stars in Cambridge. Due to size and other logistical constraints, the Shakers only featured guests occasionally. At the Plough, all the pieces fell into place and Beek's idea for the brunch finally blossomed. From the week one at the Plough, there was a cue to get in to see the Sacred Shakers' brand of Country and Blues influenced Gospel music.
Summer '07 brought a shake-up in the shakers scene. Daniel Fram moved down to Mississippi to begin a masters program and scour for the blues greats. Eilen Jewell's personal music career took a big leap forward thanks to being signed by the great Signature Sounds Recordings. She hit the road all summer-long (along with Jason and Johnny) to support the release of Letters From Sinners and Strangers.
Meet the Sacred Shakers Press Special guests from our previous brunch series Contact
NEW GIGS:
On August 22nd at 7pm, the Shakers will reunite for a special show in Whately, MA: Tthe Watermelon Wednesday music series. Follow the link for details. The great Eric Royer will be subbing for Daniel Fram..
On September 9th from noon-3pm, the Shakers will reunite for one Country Gospel Brunch show at the Plough. Jerry Miller will sub for Daniel Kellar and Eric Royer will sub for Daniel Fram.
The Shakers hope to perform at the Plough once per month through thte Fall...Stay tuned for details
912 Massachusetts Avenue - Cambridge, MA