NEWS!
November 5, 2021 - We're doing an unplanned early release of NOVEMBER WALTZ! This song was recorded in February, 2019 just before the pandemic closed everything down. The intention was to add mandolin and fiddle, which may still happen, but here's the song as it was that day in February. Musicians include Frank Shaw (banjo, lead vocals), Barbara Shaw (guitar, harmony vocals), Rick Brodsky (bass). Have some fun with this #11 in the Waltz for Each Month Series, and have a large grain of salt ready.
April 8, 2021 - Our first book is published on Amazon! The pandemic kept us away from the studio but Barbara put together the notation for her 12 original waltzes and published a book titled "A Waltz for Each Month" on Amazon. This "fake book" includes illustrations, photos, lyrics and guitar chords in addition to the melody lines for the music. Check it out here: A Waltz for Each Month on Amazon. Let us know what you think!
April 8, 2020 - We are excited to announce the planned release of our single May Waltz on the first day of May! This is one of the 12 original waltzes which will be part of an upcoming album tentatively titled "A Waltz For Every Month." December Waltz is already available on our GOING HOME album, and the other 10 are in progress.
January 2020 - Launching a brand new website with Bandzoogle! Feedback and suggestions welcome. We're also in the middle of two separate recording projects that are most unusual and VERY exciting. Some of the tracks might be released as singles, but some will definitely go on a compilation that you will definitely want to hear. Stay tuned!
January 2014 - Hummingbird CD is Here!
The album came in just in time for Christmas, although the official release date was 1/1/2014. See details on the CD and Book page.
Winter 2013
We've begun rehearsals for a new CD of ALL ORIGINAL music. Yes, said this before, but this time we've already paid for some of the studio time and have started settling the arguments over arrangements and harmony parts! No guarantee, but look for something this summer. Any suggestions for a title? Sign our GUEST BOOK and let us know!
Fall 2011
We've begun the move to a new webserver where we will add a few new features and drop a few unnecessary things. First the move to get everything over to the new host, then hopefully some time to tweak and play. We plan to begin our recording project again very soon, some of which was underway during the Great New Computer Plague, and some of which will finally begin. Stay tuned to where we are, where we have been and where we're going next on our schedule page!
Summer 2010
We've started working on a new project! Look for something most unusual next winter... In the meantime, we're playing music a lot, both at gigs and at jams with friends and strangers. Barbara & Frank took a trip this past Spring through the Shenandoah Valley, along the Blue Ridge Parkway of NC, down through Georgia and Alabama to the Gulf of Mexico and across the Florida panhandle. They got to Panama City Beach right before the oil got there. Then they traveled up the east coast stopping in Savannah, Jeckyll Island, Myrtle Beach, Gettysburg and home to Connecticut. Went to Merlefest on the way down and Gettysburg Festival on the way home. The trip inspired two brand new songs and many bluegrass memories, some of which will come out in the new project.
Spring 2009
You can now find us on Facebook and YouTube and most digital distribution sites! We try not to get sucked into spending our days there, so wish us luck!
Winter 2008
Our new CD Going Home is reviewed by Sing Out! magazine in the Winter 2008 edition!
SHOREGRASS Going Home, Shaw Family Publishing
There was a time when bluegrass wasn't big business. Emphasis was placed on the true nature of the music, not the spit and polish available in the modern recording studio. Shoregrass is a throwback to those lazy Sunday afternoons at the music park with a picnic lunch and friends all around enjoying sincere and talented players providing the sweet music of the mountains.
Banjoist Frank Shaw and his wife, guitarist Barbara, are the core of Shoregrass. They hail from Connecticut and are joined by their son Jonathan on bass, Paul Pozzi on mandolin, and Stacey Phillips on Dobro and fiddle. Barbara and Frank both sing and between them have composed twelve of the sixteen selections on Going Home.
The CD opens with "The Letter" by Barbara, written after a songwriting workshop conducted by Bob Franke at the Old Songs Festival. The assignment was to write a song in the form of a letter. The subject is a familiar one to those of us who have moved far away, not able to visit the home place as often as in the past. The title track, which follows, was also written by Barbara. Its subject once again is universal – the everlasting searching for a home.
Further on in the CD, Stacey Phillips contributed the holiness hymn "Ruth and Naomi," another tune about restlessness and wandering. "I'm On My Way Back to the Old Home" is a tribute to Bill Monroe and, although many have recorded this classic, Frank and Barbara more than do it justice. The CD concludes with the ultimate question – Barbara's "When Will There Be Peace" with the hope of an end to the cycle of never-ending war.
Shoregrass is a refreshing reminder of what bluegrass music is really all about: a talented, family-based band that seem to truly relish playing and singing together. - TD
November 2007
Our new CD Going Home is reviewed by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine!
June 2007
Our new CD Going Home is here! We're really proud of this new recording and invite you to check it out at www.CDBaby.com, where you can hear 2-minute samples of every song. You can order a copy from them or from us directly (below). All the details about the recording are there. But you'll have to see the liner notes to see the special photos and read about where they came from! Note: CDBaby will take a couple of weeks to set up and should be ready by early July. Check out our myspace page (link above) to hear some samples.
November 2006
A new tunebook called The Connecticut Sound - a Conntra Collection, Reels, Marches, Hornpipes, Rags, Jigs & Waltzes comprised of 91 tunes by 20 CT composers, has just been published and is now available online. This book was edited by Mickey Koth with assistance from Dan Hocott. There are tunes by several local musicians, including 5 by ShoreGrass's own Barbara Shaw. Check it out: http://biteyourownelbow.com/conntune.htm. Yay, Connecticut!