Album Notes

The Shaker Sisters' story is like a free-spirited summer road trip: starting in the beautiful wheat fields of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, heading south through Nashville, on to New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, then making their way back north to Chicago before settling in Los Angeles .

It began when Jenniphre Zias and Robyn Monks met in college at Penn State University. Known as “the girls that could sing”, they were frequently cast together in shows. While Jen was planning a career in script-writing and acting, Robyn was busy cementing her future in musical theatre and commercial work. Backstage at a show one night, they started singing together to pass the time. With Robyn’s bluesy alto and Jen’s crystal-precision harmonies, they immediately clicked vocally and began writing songs and singing together as much as possible.

A post-graduation trip led them to New Orleans where they fell in love with the city and its wonderful music. Finding work as bartenders, the gals joked that all they did was “shaker hurricanes”, and The Shaker Sisters were born!

After two years shaking their way through the Big Easy, Robyn and Jen were ready to explore their musical opportunities back up north and made their way to Chicago. The jazz community lured Jen to stay, but Robyn longed to be in the sun again and headed west to Los Angeles. Their friendship and songwriting continued, however, and soon they were looking for the right opportunity to make a record that would reflect what they were really about – living a fun and empowered life through music!

That opportunity came when Jenniphre reconnected with friend and fellow musician, Linda Good (The Twigs, Jane’s Addiction, Lisa Marie Presley, The Mars Volta) . Years before Linda made her name playing keyboards with well-known modern-rock bands, she was a folkie playing Neil Young and Patsy Cline covers on her acoustic guitar in coffeeshops around the Midwest. She and the Sisters immediately clicked in music and spirit! Working with the Shaker Sisters gave Linda the chance to reconnect with her acoustic roots and produce the country record she'd always dreamed of making. With the addition of a top-notch LA and Chicago-based band - Joe Berardi-drums, Marc Doten-bass, Paul Laques-electric guitar/dobro, Marc Indictor-fiddle, and Kraig McCreary-acoustic guitar) the songs came to life. Additional 3 part-harmony, piano, B3 organ and acoustic guitar by Linda added to the Sisters' own beautiful harmonies and completed their sound. After months of hard work their dream was realized in the completion of their debut record, All Night Through.

Drawing on country, folk, pop, blues, and gospel styles, the songs are the stories the Shaker Sisters have lived on their journey across America and life so far. Whether it’s the high-energy, honky-tonk stomper of the title track, the haunting harmonies of a not-so-distant past in “Leavin’ On The Last Train,” the bluegrass swagger of “Easyship," or the swamp-funk of “Hard Way Tonight," the Sisters hope everyone can find just a little of themselves within these notes, somewhere.