Missouri hard rockers Shaman’s Harvest have been releasing music since 1996, and have shared stages with the likes of AC/DC, Alice In Chains and Cheap Trick along the way. Colin Palmer chats to frontman Nathan Hunt before the band’s debut UK tour, which includes dates in Swansea and Buckley.
Rebelator, released in 2022 and the most recent studio album by Shaman’s Harvest, wasn’t recorded in the easiest of situations. “Every record has its struggles,” says Nathan Hunt, singer for the Jefferson City, MO hard rock quintet. “There were a few more than we were prepared for. But all of the universe trying to tell us not to make the record definitely lent itself to our will to fight through it, and I think it probably made itself known in the actual music.”
Shaman’s Harvest comprises vocalist Hunt, guitarists Josh Hamler and Derrick Shipp, and drummer Adam Zemanek. “We’re a five-piece band now. Our bass player [Matt Fisher] we’ve had since inception – that’s 20-plus years – went ahead and quit and went on to greener pastures, so we have a new bass player now. His name is Cord Bishop. That’s his real name, it’s not made up,” says Hunt with a wry smile. “He’s a singer with another band called T.R.O.Y, and he’s able to bring in melodic harmonies and stuff that we haven’t done in a long time. That’s nice to have in our arsenal.”
This will be the band’s first European tour since forming in 1996. “We’ve not crossed the pond at all. Normally, how you do it is you go over with a band that’s already established, like Black Stone Cherry or Rival Sons or somebody who’s doing well over there, and grab their coat tails,” explains Hunt. “We’ve had a few opportunities to do that, and the tours have always fallen through before they get going. So, finally, we’ve got with another band – Blacktop Mojo – and we’re pulling our resources together and find our way over there.
“We’ve toured with Black Stone Cherry extensively here in the States – we’re all from the same area and know the same people, and we’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage many times and all of the shenanigans that go along with it.”
Employing an uncompromising amalgam of post-grunge, hard rock, and heavy metal, Shaman’s Harvest released three albums before properly garnering attention across the Atlantic in 2009 with Shine, their fourth. The band became fixtures on the rock charts after signing to Mascot Records and releasing 2014’s Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns, and continued to make headway on 2017’s Red Hands Black Deeds and the aforementioned Rebelator.
“With Red Hands Black Deeds, we did everything vintage, recorded everything analogue, and the songs themselves were a pretty big throwback. And because we’re not really interested in making the same record, we wanted to go the opposite way. So we made a much more modern-sounding record with Rebelator – it was just an artistic experiment, as every record is for us,” Hunt says.
“I’ve had an ankle replacement that set me down for about a year to recover and for my body to accept the parts and all that stuff. I was going for an amputation, just to deal with the pain I was going through, but the doctors said, ‘Let’s try this – you’ll be walking around for another six or seven years, and then either go and get another one or not.’ And it’s given me another lease on being active. I’ve got a three-year-old daughter and it’s allowed me to appreciate mobility.”
Shaman’s Harvest + Blacktop Mojo, Sin City, Swansea, Sun 23 Mar; Tivoli, Buckley, Wed 26.
Tickets: £25 Swansea/£20 Buckley. Info: Swansea / Buckley
words COLIN PALMER
