Formed in 1986, The Shakers grew out of a desire to do a quickie side project based on the Tennessee legend of the Bell Witch. Oscar Rice and Robert Logue were members of rapidly rising Nashville rock group The Royal Court of China at the time, playing maximum volume shows in Nashville's rock clubs. But after the two met vocalist Rebecca Stout in a small club (at one of the Georgia Satellites' earliest Nashville shows), plans for the quieter Bell Witch project began to take shape. Debuting on Nashville's club scene in the summer of 1986, the trio quickly gained a following and things began to grow beyond the original parameters of a Bell Witch project. By 1987 the Royal Court of China had signed with A&M Records, but the Shakers were also filling clubs and drawing media attention in town. In early 1988 with tensions flaring inside the Royal Court, Rice and Logue left the band and the deal to concentrate on the Shakers full-time. Later that year the original Bell Witch project finally came to fruition with the release on indie label Carlyle Records of "Living In the Shadow of a Spirit", a four-song EP of songs dealing with the macabre legend. In 1990 Carlyle Records released the full-length acoustic CD "Songs From Beneath the Lake". During this time the Shakers added Nashville drum ace Ken Coomer to the line-up and began playing as an electric/acoustic band. Later that year the Shakers signed a demo deal with Epic Records, but a full-fledged deal fell apart at the 11th hour. In 1993, an old-time music avatar named Greg Garing joined the band and remained throughout most of 1994. The Shakers played to a large and enthusiastic regional cult following but never released another record before going separate ways in late 1994. There is a good deal of unreleased material in the vaults, some of which you can hear on this page. Vocalist Rebecca Stout, who now lives in Los Angeles, embarked on a long and varied solo career, beginning with her eclectic ensemble the Circus Inebrius and later with the hip-hop/rap-oriented Baby Stout. In 2006, she and Shakers guitarist Oscar Rice collaborated for the first time in over a decade as the Hendersonville Song Company and released a record called "On the Road Alone". (Rice also played for a short time with singer Jennifer Nicely.) Robert Logue has pursued a number of projects, both musical and non-musical, performing with Jet Black Factory, Greg Garing, and Wilco side-band Courtesy Move, and currently sells his artwork and pin-up photography through his poster company Cypocryphy.com. Most recently he and Rice have been collaborating again on moody acoustic music as 'The Harmonial Society'. Greg Garing has gone on to pursue a solo career in Nashville, New York, Austin, TX and, most recently, Los Angeles; Ken Coomer served as drummer for alt-country legends Uncle Tupelo and Wilco and is now a producer in Nashville. Special thanks to the photographers whose work appears on this page: Ross Smith, Liz Tormes, Patrick McGuinn, David Lampley, Bill Thorup. This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5
The Shakers
Oscar Rice and Robert Logue were members of Royal Court of China, but when that band drifted towards becoming a nerf-metal caricature, the two split for the greener creative pastures of their side project, the Shakers. In Rebecca Stout they found a kindred soul and a unique voice that complimented the duo’s original folk-rock leanings. Truth is, professionally and musically, the Shakers were playing on an entirely different field than most other local bands, and they would have fit just as easily with ‘60s-era British bands like the Strawbs or the Incredible String Band as they did in late-80s Nashville. -- Rev. Keith Gordon
