Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray

Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray are a duo who multi-task on guitars, kick drum, banjo, mandolin, lap steel and harmonica. Their influences include Motown, 60s AM radio country and western movies. In February they packed up and left Chicago to live on the road in their Honda Element for all of 2011, playing about 20 shows a month all over the country.

Their new EP is called Snake Oil Songs, and is available on iTunes.

So far so good.

However, what this doesn’t tell you is just how damn good that EP is…from the twangy, irrepressible, under-your-skin guitar lick of Baby Blue to the low-key mournful country of Fadin’ On You, each of the five songs on this record stands out in one way or another. Highly recommended – if you can catch them on their countrywide tour in 2011, we reckon it’ll be a treat. - The Mad Mackerel Blog

All words and photos: Mindy Barrett

Rare is the show that arouses no complaints from me at all. I'm naturally a bit of a "glass-half-empty (and also the liquid inside the glass is poison)" type of gal, to the extent that I have retroactively ruined shows for friends with even my most benign criticisms. I've torn apart shows that I've genuinely loved...perhaps because I've never learned to express my emotions properly. But that's a whole 'nother bag of beans.

I think I've already declared two other shows the best of 2011, so far. But deal with it, because now I'm saying this one was.Opening act Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray are honest-to-goodness some of the most charming and alarmingly great musicians I've seen live. Their lyrics told the stories of young hillbillies paralyzed by the notion of success, ladies in loveless relationships with cities, and older hillbillies seeking safety from soothsayers. These topics could have come across as forced cliches of country music delivered by attractive hepcats riding the current wave of banjo enthusiasm. But instead they came across as clever, well-crafted, haunting little stories.Miss Shevaughn has one of the most beautiful and powerful voices I've heard from a female vocalist. Nowadays every lady sounds like either Chan Marshall (indifferent and ethereal) or Joanna Newsom (maniacal and alien). No one assaults you with strength, loveliness, and the ability to sing in key. Miss Shevaughn did. I'm groping for the right comparisons, but I'll go with Patsy Cline and Chrissy Hynde. Yuma Wray's no slouch either, sounding a bit like an American Eugene Kelly.Musically, they're pretty darned skillful: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass drum, banjo, keyboard, harmonica, and finger chimes. All split between two people. The result is something a little like Blanche, a little like the Cowboy Junkies, and little like the dearly departed White Stripes (score one for Meg White if she was actually an influence on someone). They'd be a great compliment to These United States if the two ever toured together. - Brightest Young Things

Chi-Tunes: Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray

Andy Downing

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Erin Frisby and Chris Stelloh of Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray answered our Chi-Tunes questionnaire. Do the same and your band could appear in RedEye and Metromix!

Listen: "The River Made Me Do It"

What makes your live show great?


Onstage there is an organ, a lap steel guitar, a 12-string, a couple of 6-strings, a kick drum, a mandolin, a banjo and sometimes a harmonium or hand percussion. Then there's a guy with a huge beard and a girl with a voice that travels between a lullaby whisper and a wild animal howl. It all combines to create a dynamic, full-band sound that stirs the Americana pot and includes blues, a little rockabilly, a little mountain music, some Southern Gothic, Western movie soundtracks, AM radio country and a little rock & roll.

Describe your sound in five words or less.

trains
familiar
storyteller
lonesome
wanderlust

Tell us something random about the band, and why that's significant.

We met about 11 years ago in D.C. and enjoyed a brief fling, during which we each discussed the lack of committed band members to be found and joked about playing together. Fast forward two moves to Chicago, one divorce, one bout of pneumonia and several harsh winters later when I went to see Chris play a show at Subterranean. Afterward, we were standing there and he had his arm around me and it felt totally natural.

Who would you want to work with, and who would you never work with? Why?

Jack White. He's got an amazing grasp on crafting music without massaging all of the life and rawness out of it, and he does a great job with female vocals in general. We'd never work with anyone who would auto-tune our voices.

If the band was a cartoon character, who would it be and why?

We're both really partial to The Venture Brothers, but really, all of the characters are so inept and bad at their jobs and lives that I hope we're not like any of them.

What's the best album you've heard recently?

Both: "Wilderness Heart" by Black Mountain
Chris:I'm really into the Chicago band Disappears, they have a raw sound you don't really hear much these days.
Erin: Chris gave me two of the Cherrystone's psych compilations--rare one hit wonders from the 60s and 70s from all over the world. I can't get enough of it.

What song do you never want to hear again?

Chris: "The Day the Music Died" by Don McLean
Erin: "Sweet Caroline." We all know her name is Caroline. You don't all have to shout it. Or do the "da da da" part.

What is Chicago's best music venue and why?

Chris: Lincoln Hall has some of the best sound I've ever heard.
Erin: I finally got to play at Schuba's and loved it.

Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec.16
Where: Fitzgerald's, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn
Price: $TBD (21+); 708-788-2118


Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chi-tunes/#ixzz17kIdvRzu - Red Eye/ Metromix

Classic sound of romance in a song, in a voice and in a lyric. These two are so charming personably and in their music. Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray bring you that simple country sound with a modern feel. There is a story behind everything these two do and judging from their love story- you can’t help to think this is the way it should always be. After a short romance in their early 20's back in Washington D.C. 10 years later these two found themselves in Chicago and the flame never blew out. “Fading on You” was Yuma’s first song written for Miss Shevaughn. With the doubts of love and the factor of time, “Fading On You” was his way to prepare for inevitable rejection. But life had something different in store for these two united and with their music. If you don’t fall in love with the cry in Yuma’s guitar, you will when Miss Shevaughn serenades you with her sincere and soothing voice. This song is just a beautiful listen, enjoy. - The Running Man

"Following a short intermission, the Chi-town couple made their way on the stage for a folk-filled set. Miss Shavaughn and her husband (and partner in crime), Yuma Wray twanged through their performance which included a Tom Petty’s “Yer So Bad” (no “Free Falling” – sorry kids). Keeping things lighthearted, they joked around throughout the set. This duo was a real powerhouse – Miss Shavaughn rocked on the gee-tar and hit the high notes in near-perfect fashion while Yuma Wray strummed along and kept a steady beat on a little bass drum."
-Brightest Young Things


http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/livedc-all-our-noise-showcase-velvet-lounge/ - Brightest Young Things