Ryan Adams & the Shining

The Shining
Clapham Common, Calling Festival, London - 4 July 2015
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, USA
Genres	Alternative country, rock, jam rock
Years active	2014–2016
Associated acts	Ryan Adams, Mike Viola
Past members	Ryan Adams Mike Viola Charlie Stavish Daniel Clarke Freddie Bokkenheuser

The Shining were an American rock band that were formed in 2014 by singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. Although the band had played a few shows together previously, they made their first performance under the Shining moniker on August 13, 2014 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The Shining also performed as one of the final musical acts on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Adams started the band after he and guitarist Mike Viola co-produced his self-titled record Ryan Adams record together. Adams had known bassist Charlie Stavish since 2006 as an engineer who had worked on many of his records. He first met Viola and keyboardist Daniel Clarke when touring with his ex wife Mandy Moore. Drummer Freddie Bokkenheuser completed the band after an audition.

Compared to his previous band, The Cardinals, Adams expressed a preference for going into the "exploration zone" with the Shining on his older songs and that rehearsals with the new band were a "very beautiful process". In a 2014 concert review, the Village Voice noted that "the Shining bring a slightly garage-ier take on early '80s classic rock, like Springsteen or Tom Petty, with that reliable Adams reference of a bit of Paul Westerberg raggedness". In a 2016 review of the Shining, Ben Kaye from Consequence of Sound marvelled at "...how in sync they all are. Not only do they provide glorious harmonies and ripping solos of their own, but they give Adams every bit of the platform a true bandleader needs." In reflecting further on the chemistry of the band, Fred Schruers from Billboard Magazine wrote in another review: "When the band took off on disciplined-if-deeply committed jams, Adams was just as likely to start trading phrases with keyboardist Daniel Clarke as with guitarist Viola, and the rhythm section of bassist Charlie Stavish and drummer Freddy Bokkenheuser (the latter with a woodchopper's hammering energy) seemed to enjoy the musical interplay, and their bandleader's japes, as much as anyone on the entire hillside."