Country outlaw River Shook returns to West Columbia following divergent 2022 LPs

Posted 3/8/23

River Shook’s two 2022 albums chronicle a period of change and upheaval, both for the North Carolina singer and songwriter and the world around them.

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Country outlaw River Shook returns to West Columbia following divergent 2022 LPs

Posted

River Shook’s two 2022 albums chronicle a period of change and upheaval, both for the North Carolina singer and songwriter and the world around them.

The two albums, “Nightroamer” (released by their punk-spiked outlaw country band the Disarmers) and “Cruel Liars” (released by their doom-y new indie rock and pop project Mightmare), spring from different moments in the artist’s life.

“Nightroamer” pulls together songs written in the leadup to and immediate aftermath of Shook getting sober, while “Cruel Liars” — instigated by the Disarmers’ long, COVID-19-induced pause — pushes the songwriter’s candid explorations of depression and anxiety into broader, but still incredibly thoughtful, directions.

The Chronicle caught up with Shook ahead of the Disarmers’ upcoming West Columbia concert.

The Chronicle: It sounds like “Nightroamer” and “Cruel Liars” represent two very different times in your life.

River Shook: I feel like “Nightroamer” came from a place of early recovery and sobriety. Some of the songs on it are really old. I think “No Mistakes” I wrote in 2009 or 2010. But some of the newer songs on “Nightroamer” are definitely coming from this place of “OK, I’m, I’m kind of throwing away all of my coping mechanisms and starting from scratch,” which is scary, but it’s also inspiring and kind of exhilarating. And I feel like Mightmare. I was not even in that headspace of worrying about sobriety or recovery. I was just in full on like, ‘Let’s talk about real stuff.’ And I feel like I took myself out of the equation a lot when it came to writing the songs for Mightmare.

How do you mean you took yourself out of the equation?

I feel like I explored bigger themes. Writing country songs, if you listen to country music, it’s all very situational in a personal way. It’s about the things that you’re going through and the struggles you’re having and how you’re responding. Which is very much in keeping with my Disarmers writing. And I feel like Mightmare had this more expansive feel when I was writing the songs. 

Some of them are about relationships. That’s, you know, 98% of what people make art about, especially when it comes to music. But I feel like even in expressing these ideas of reactions to things that I was going through, there was this really palpable sense that this is something that’s so much bigger than me and this is something that we all go through.

Getting back out on the road with the Disarmers, what’s it like revisiting some of your older songs now?

It’s good for me. I know that a lot of artists who get sober have a hard time revisiting older songs, especially songs that specifically explore themes of substance abuse and addiction. I feel really fortunate that I still feel really connected to those songs.

In my mind, those songs were the tools that I had at the time to deal with the things I was dealing with. So I’m not ashamed of that part of my life at all. I’m grateful for it. It brought me to where I am.

You’re going by River these days, but the band is still Sarah Shook & the Disarmers. Do you think you’ll keep it that way? What goes into that decision for you?

Pursuing a legal name change is such a pain in the ass. I’m a person that’s very pro-“people have the power to change their minds”. But for now, it’s like, my friends call me River and people that are in the know call me River, and Sarah Shook is just what I’m professionally known as. And for now, I’m fine with that. I’m sure that will change at some point, but for now, I’m cool with it.

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