Shivaree was an Americana and alternative country band from the US founded in 1997, consisting of Ambrosia Parsley (vocals), Danny McGough (keyboard), and Duke McVinnie (guitar). The band took its name from the Cajun term “shivaree”, which means, roughly, a noisy mock serenade for newlyweds. It is most commonly used along and to the west of the Mississippi River. The group credits many other musicians in its work and is usually joined by two or three collaborators when performing live. They has mentioned its use of primarily Southern American ideas and themes, citing William Faulkner as an influence.
Shivaree’s best known song, “Goodnight Moon”, was released in 1999, and was featured in Seasons 3 and 6 of the television series Dawson’s Creek, in the 2012 American film Silver Linings Playbook, in the closing credits of the Quentin Tarantino 2004 film Kill Bill: Volume 2, in the closing scenes and end credits of the French comedy-drama film Ni reprise ni échangée (English title: Monique), and in a commercial for the Norwegian clothing shop Cubus. Another of their songs, “Little Black Mess”, was featured in the Weeds tv series episode Only Judy Can Judge.
Their second album, Rough Dreams, was intended to be issued in 2002, but was not released in North America due to contract disagreements with their record label, and for that reason the group then appeared about to split up; however, another EP and another two albums followed. Ambrosia Sings the News debuted on Air America Radio the first Friday of April ’04 and quickly became one of the young network’s most popular segments, an ideal vehicle for Parsley’s devilish wit and indelible voice. Summer saw her accompany Uma Thurman’s victory lap at the close of Kill Bill 2, and deliver, with Cat Power and Blood Ulmer, one of the real spellbinders at Willner’s “Neil Young Project” in Brooklyn.
Now, five years after the I Oughtta release, Parsley and Shivaree return with a question first sung in a fantasy nightclub, circa 1942: Who’s Got Trouble? (Zoe). Michael Curtiz’s timeless Casablanca is the inspiration for the album’s title and lead track, and the answer, sadly, is all too familiar. (Studies show that while it may accurately describe their politics, registered Republicans typically shun movies in black & white.) The track’s evil siren has an appetite for lust and a lust for world destruction; recognizing a willing patsy on Pennsylvania Avenue, she preys. Little surprise then, that the next 40 minutes are raked by excess, deceit, escape and wrenching loss.
The group disbanded in 2007, after a ten-years musical career where they produced four full-length albums, some of which included unreleased songs, two EPs, and eight singles. The band had approximately 500,000 sales in total.
