Snakes of Shake were a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

band formed in 1984, whose indie pop sound incorporated cajun and folk influences. They released two albums before splitting up in 1987, with some members subsequently forming

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia * Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney *Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

History

The band was formed in Glasgow in 1983 by Seori Burnette. The group at the time of the recording of the first album consisted of the following members: Seori (vocals, guitar, harp), Tzen Vermillion (guitar), Sandy Brown (piano, accordion), Robert Renfrew (bass guitar), and Rhod "Lefty" Burnette (drums).Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, , p. 394-5Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 509-510 In February 1984, the band were filmed performing "We Have Got That Feeling" for the Channel 4 television programme, '' The Tube'', on the building site at Queen's Dock, Glasgow of the future SECC, thus becoming the first act to play the venue. Their debut release was the ''Southern Cross'' mini-LP in March 1985, the title track also released as a twelve-inch single. Vermillion and Rhod Burnette left to be replaced by Neil Scott (guitar) and

Iain Shedden Iain Shedden (6 January 1957 – 16 October 2017) was a Scottish-born Australian musician and journalist. Shedden was born in Lanark, Scotland. He worked for the local newspaper in his home town of Wishaw in North Lanarkshire while playing with ...

(drums, formerly of punk rock band Jolt and The Saints), the band now moving to the Making Waves label. Another release of "Southern Cross" followed in August 1986, the song also appearing on their second album, ''Gracelands and the Natural Wood'', released in July 1987. When Making Waves went into receivership, the band split up, although Seori Burnette, Scott and Shedden formed

and signed to Polydor Records. Shedden later returned to The Saints and drummed for

Giant Sand Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later s ...

.Ogg, Alex (2006) ''No More Heroes'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 309-310 A version of the Snakes reformed in 2017 for one-off performance at the Griffin Bar in Glasgow supporting Summerhill, featuring Seori and Rhod, as well as Jason McSwan (bass) and Oisean Burnette (lead guitar).

Discography

Albums

*''Southern Cross'' mini-LP (1985), Tense But Confident *''Gracelands and the Natural Wood'' (1987), Making Waves

Singles

*"Southern Cross" 12-inch (1985), Tense But Confident *"Southern Cross" (1986), Making Waves

References

Scottish indie rock groups Scottish folk music groups Scottish indie pop groups Cajun musicians {{Scotland-band-stub