SPOTLIGHT: River Shook on 'The Superpower We Share' [ESSAY]

Editor's Note: River Shook, whose new, self-titled LP arrived June 26 via Blackberry River, is No Depression's Spotlight Artist for June 2026. Read more about the debut solo venture from the Sarah Shook and The Disarmers frontperson here and check out an exclusive, acoustic performance from the new record here.

When I called my mom in 2008 to tell her I booked my first real gig, I thought she hung up on me. The news rendered her speechless. Her kid did not get on stage in front of a crowd to perform original songs. Her kid threw up every time a “big” social event popped up. Grandparents taking me to the mall for new shoes? Throw up. Homeschool group field trip to the zoo? Throw up. Family reunion? Hide the Capri-Suns.

At 22, I had enough life experience to be past my barf-every-other-day phase, but my social anxiety had simply changed shape over time; it was far from tamed. Everyday activities most people don’t think twice about were frequently out of reach for me — grocery shopping, standing in line at the post office, any event involving crowds and noise. I can’t tell you how many times I sat outside Food Lion in my beat-up 1997 Mazda Protegé, trying to work up the courage to cross off a small grocery list, only to head home empty-handed. I hated being looked at. Errands were my personal hell. I’d drive home feeling like a total failure, having no earthly idea that in a few years’ time, I’d be putting out records and fronting an internationally touring country rock band.

I had zero intention of pursuing music as a career when I dumbfounded my mom with a phone call; it just sort of happened. I started a few bands before Sarah Shook & The Disarmers finally stuck. I was terrified of being on stage, but I felt immense internal pressure to share the songs I was writing; and having a band behind me (and a few whiskeys in me) helped keep the panic attacks at bay. I was still in play-for-free-drinks mode, and for a while, my bandmates were, too. It wasn’t merely a lack of ambition or a disinterest in commercial success on my part. I actively did not want a career in the music industry.