Sarah Shook & the Disarmers center their songs on Shook’s searching lyrics and gritty, evocative voice. It’s the type of vocal emission that convincingly relays the trials and tribulations of a person who has struggled with identity — Shook recently changed their pronouns to they/them and first name to River — and a past informed by religious constrictions. They used music as a way out. Shook started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager in Garner, N.C., eventually self-releasing an EP in 2013 — songs based in country music but injected with a dose of rock and roll and even punk, both in spirit and sound.
Flash-forward more than a decade and Shook’s fourth release with the Disarmers, this year’s Revelations (via Thirsty Tigers), is the culmination of a creative and personal evolution (they recently got sober after years of substance-abuse issues). The opening track, “Revelations,” sets the tone, as reverberating guitars intertwine with Shook’s modestly delivered but expressive voice, a classic high-lonesome sound that transports the listener to a particular corner of the world. In this case, the world of Shook’s reliance on music as salvation and security: “Hey, baby, I’m barely gettin’ through each day/Breakin’ my back for a pittance paid/No slack in the line/Sick of standin’ in my own way.”
Shook took the production reins for the first time on Revelations for a simple reason — they wanted to keep things as “real” as possible.
“I didn’t start writing songs with the intention of being a great singer or even a great guitarist,” Shook said in a recent interview with The Nashville Scene. “My voice is just simply a catalyst for the writing, and to me, the writing is everything. When I’m listening to vocal takes and choosing what’s going to be on the record, I’m not looking for perfection. I’m listening for the thing that makes my heart feel something. If I had a production signature, it would be finding beauty in the flaws.”
Mission accomplished, River.
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers play Southgate House Revival on Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. More info: southgatehouse.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat's Aug. 7 print edition.
