Serafima and The Shakedowns
Seattle, WA
In 2022, Serafima started a new band as an excuse to hang out with her friends Sam and Joe. This trio, now dubbed Serafima and The Shakedowns, became a place where Serafima could build out and explore her songs about life as a young woman in modern America.
Serafima finds influence in the likes of Johnny and June Carter Cash, Kimya Dawson, Joni Mitchell, Lily Allen, Dan Reeder, and Cake – somewhere in there among the honest and the groovy. Her lyrics hit you in the heart and stick in your head – wry, time-twisting verses as deceptively complex as her protagonists and their experiences. She won’t lie to you, but she just might tell you a story … so keep up, folks, and let’s ride along.
If Serafima’s lyrics are so honest, they burn, The Shakedowns distribute the heat, electrifying classic elements from the Golden Age of Radio, honky tonk, and Russian folk. With drummer Jules Tennyson (Biblioteka) joining in 2023, and the arrival in 2025 of trumpet player Finn O’Hea, The Shakedowns rounded out to a fivesome, with founding guitarist Sam Burrows and bassist Joe McPhee, and Serafima on vocals and rhythm guitar. Onstage, they’re a party.
“I like to say it’s hunky tonk,” Serafima says. “Because my bandmates are all hunks”.
Their debut album, Ride Easy, will be out May 1st this year on BWGiBWGAN Records. Their previous release was a lathe-cut single, “Modern Girl Blues”, backed with “Rock Show”, the latter a slow number about those nights you just don’t feel like making it out – and an ode to the person who makes sure you do, anyway.
While tasty drums and steady-chickin’ rhythm guitar hold each song to the silver thread at its core, the other players spin, swell, and rise up in the mix in turn – melodic bass, country-fried guitar leads, hook-laden trumpet, gossamer pedal steel, and sparkly honky-tonk keys. It feels like a circus, a carnival, a house party.
What’s clear is that this music is a celebration – of people, their friendships, and all their flaws. Serafima sings for everyone who works hard for their sparkle. With raw and heartfelt lyrics and a timeless sound, these songs find humor in life’s struggle, where we laugh along with the bad times and celebrate the good. So pack a bag, get down to the street, and stick out your thumb – they’re on their way. And they’re coming to pick you up.
Serafima finds influence in the likes of Johnny and June Carter Cash, Kimya Dawson, Joni Mitchell, Lily Allen, Dan Reeder, and Cake – somewhere in there among the honest and the groovy. Her lyrics hit you in the heart and stick in your head – wry, time-twisting verses as deceptively complex as her protagonists and their experiences. She won’t lie to you, but she just might tell you a story … so keep up, folks, and let’s ride along.
If Serafima’s lyrics are so honest, they burn, The Shakedowns distribute the heat, electrifying classic elements from the Golden Age of Radio, honky tonk, and Russian folk. With drummer Jules Tennyson (Biblioteka) joining in 2023, and the arrival in 2025 of trumpet player Finn O’Hea, The Shakedowns rounded out to a fivesome, with founding guitarist Sam Burrows and bassist Joe McPhee, and Serafima on vocals and rhythm guitar. Onstage, they’re a party.
“I like to say it’s hunky tonk,” Serafima says. “Because my bandmates are all hunks”.
Their debut album, Ride Easy, will be out May 1st this year on BWGiBWGAN Records. Their previous release was a lathe-cut single, “Modern Girl Blues”, backed with “Rock Show”, the latter a slow number about those nights you just don’t feel like making it out – and an ode to the person who makes sure you do, anyway.
While tasty drums and steady-chickin’ rhythm guitar hold each song to the silver thread at its core, the other players spin, swell, and rise up in the mix in turn – melodic bass, country-fried guitar leads, hook-laden trumpet, gossamer pedal steel, and sparkly honky-tonk keys. It feels like a circus, a carnival, a house party.
What’s clear is that this music is a celebration – of people, their friendships, and all their flaws. Serafima sings for everyone who works hard for their sparkle. With raw and heartfelt lyrics and a timeless sound, these songs find humor in life’s struggle, where we laugh along with the bad times and celebrate the good. So pack a bag, get down to the street, and stick out your thumb – they’re on their way. And they’re coming to pick you up.
