Nepo baby? Nope.
Born in Kentucky in 1974 to an accounting professor at DePaul University and a lawyer, Michael Shannon has had a long history in both acting and musical pursuits. Since his first role in “Groundhog Day” (1993), he has acted in dozens of roles, receiving multiple Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Frequently collaborating with director Jeff Nichols, he acted in “Shotgun Stories” (2007), “Take Shelter” (2011), “Mud” (2012), “Midnight Special” and “Loving” (both 2016) and “The Bikeriders” (2023). He made his Broadway debut in the 2012 play “Grace” and returned to Broadway in 2016 in Eugene O’Neill‘s “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” where he earned a Tony Award nomination. He also played Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series “Boardwalk Empire” (2010–2014), where he was nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards and Showtime‘s “George & Tammy” (2022), where he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His first on-screen role was as the main character in the music video for Every Mother’s Nightmare’s “House of Pain” in 1993. But Shannon began his music career back when he was 15, with his band called The Jehovah’s Suspects, made up of a few of his friends, who mainly played in front of “10 to 15 teenagers with Dixie cups filled with some incorrect amount of alcohol and soda pop.” They performed covers of songs from Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd. During his time with this band, he wrote his first song, called “The Armadillo Song,” which he recently performed live for the first time on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” He also appeared in “Long Way Back Home,” which was an extended film clip for the song by the band Lucero, from their album “Among The Ghosts.” Ben Nichols, the lead singer of the band, is the older brother of Jeff Nichols.
When Shannon moved to Brooklyn, he formed the band Corporal with a friend, Ray Rizzo, and played local bars. They met their third member, Rob Beitzel, when they were all in Adam Rapp’s “Finer Noble Gases” off Broadway. Shannon sings, plays guitar and writes lyrics, Rizzo plays drums, bass, harmonica and does vocals, and Beitzel plays guitar and does vocals. They have received additional support over time from Matt Scobee, Dave Wnorowski, Patrick Eckart, Corn Mo, Jonathan Mastro, JD Green, Roadie Rodahaffer, John Woodland, Paul Sparks, Brian Henry Schreck and Jeff Tweedy.
The indie rock trio recorded, mixed and mastered their eponymous debut album in 10 days over 18 months with Moose Lamp Records. The album was released in 2010. One of the songs on the album, “Obama,” was written to endorse President Obama’s run for reelection. Shannon said that
the song “was the result of me trying to imagine the incredible pressure that the candidate would have to endure to succeed, the angst of his position and the knowledge that even if he won the election, he was inheriting one hell of a bleak mess that is hard to fathom how to ever begin fixing any of it. The absurdity of his pursuit…as beautiful and inspiring as it was, it was in equal measure absurd, at least to me. Keep in mind, I wrote it during the first election, now he’s gearing up for round two. I guess it’s prophetic we recorded the song twice in two different ways. I think this election will be a little more nerve-wracking, so maybe the up-tempo version is appropriate.”
The band has not released any new music since 2010, but each of the members has been pursuing solo careers. Shannon has been collaborating with guitarist Jason Narducy, who has played with Bob Mould, Liz Phair and Superchunk, along with his solo work with Split Single, after they were both recruited to perform a show at the Hideout in Chicago. In July 2023, they performed R.E.M.’s “Murmur” at Chicago’s Metro for the 40th anniversary of the club, and were joined by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills. Rizzo has played various instruments with other artists and bands, as well as with his own band, Motherlodge. Beitzel has also released in own EP for his band, Abandon Station.
Essential Listens: “Glory,” “Obama 2,” “Cat in the Closet”
