Matt and Shannon Heaton

Dirty Linen

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #130 June/July 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Traditional Bones

by Kerry Dexter

Modern Irish music, neo-traditional, Americana, Celtic. "It's interesting trying to describe your own music," said Shannon Heaton, whose work in a duo with her husband, Matt, has been called each of those things. "Ours really has traditional bones, always starting with a traditional melody or including a new melody that has some basis in tradition."

"I think it's incredibly important to know where the song comes from, to seek out different versions. But then when the time comes to do the song, you have to be authentic to yourself," Matt said. "And I think our audiences accept that." Matt plays guitar and bouzouki, Shannon plays flutes and whistles, and both sing. They both also write songs and tunes.

"Tradition is really where it all starts for us," Shannon said, "but we can't help bringing in our other musical inspirations and desires and influences." Those arise from the confluence of being musicians living in 21st-century America -- musicians who have immersed themselves in Irish music and who are also a part of contemporary American life.

[cover #130]