Shivering Denizens

Many people ask us, “What in the hell is a Shivering Denizen?” If you listen to the lyrics of this band, it won’t take long to figure out. A combination of Roots /Outlaw Country & Rockabilly help paint the picture of misery and despair in the troubled past of The Shivering Denizen. There is some heavy influence from the likes of Hank Sr., David Allen Coe, Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck, and George Jones.

The Denizens started out in 2007 with Ron E. Banner and Daryl Whalen’s idea of starting a straight edge honky tonk band. They recruited stand up bass player, Jeff Davies; drummer, Bob Borasa and guitar player, Ken Wilford. However, this lineup would not stay intact very long. Ken Wilford moved to Australia and Jeff Davies was pretty busy with his other 12 bands that he played in. Daryl decided to split too. Ronnie and Bob kept the fire lit and kept rehearsing with just the acoustic, some drums and a couple microphones. Ronnie recruited guitar sensation, Fred Speakman, to join the band with standup bass player, Hank Leinonin.
We finally went in to record a full length disc in December of 2008. We started working with Brian Nelson (engineer for Nirvana’s Lithium release) at Elliot Bay Recording Studio on Capital Hill. I’ve worked with Brian before with Zero Down and knew he would be the go 2 guy to bring this project to life. We banged out 10 songs in 2 days and finished up all the mixing and mastering a few days after that. We believe the recording is fantastic and Fred laid down some sensational guitar tracks. He also added some piano in our ballad, Humptulips. After recording, we then added Lee Harvey Hartwood to play guitar and banjo. He adds a lot of contrast to what Fred is playing and gives The Denizens a more authentic sound.

The Shivering Denizens have shared the stage with David Allen Coe, The Hickoids, Bob Wayne, James Hunicutt, Knut Bell, The Devil Makes Three and many others. Where ever the Denizens play, no matter if it’s in a small tavern or on a big stage, people rise out of their chairs to Shiver and Shake.