Is there anyone better to tell it like it is than one’s kid? In January 2008, when Uncle Kracker began to write the songs that appear on his new album, Happy Hour, it was his 8-year-old daughter who suggested that he try writing something a little less downbeat than usual.
“She said to me, ‘I can’t really dance to any of your songs,’” the father of three said with a laugh. “Not that I needed to make a dance record, but it dawned on me that I tend to write a lot of acoustic ballads and mid-tempo type tunes. And I thought, ‘It’s pretty bad when your own kids won’t listen to your records. Your own kids!’ At the end of the day, people want to have fun more than they want to cry. I realized that it was time for something a little more upbeat and positive and that’s what I ended up with on Happy Hour.”
Produced by multiple Grammy-Award winner Rob Cavallo, Happy Hour is a breezy blend of country-flavored pop and rock and roll that showcases not only the Detroit native’s natural appeal as a likeable Everyman, but also his considerable gifts as a songwriter. Though many know him from his early years as the DJ in Kid Rock’s Twisted Brown Trucker Band, Uncle Kracker (whose real name is Matt Shafer) has had impressive success as a songwriter, racking up co-writing credits on some of Kid Rock’s blockbuster hits, as well as his own Adult Top 40 No. 1 “Follow Me” (from his 2001 double-platinum debut Double Wide).
Happy Hour is Uncle Kracker’s first album in five years because after he finished two years of touring behind his previous release, 2004’s Seventy Two & Sunny, he wrote and recorded an entire album that he wound up scrapping.
“I just decided it wasn’t the right record,” Uncle Kracker said. “It didn’t feel relevant. So I shitcanned all the songs.”
Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock have been best friends since meeting in 1987, at a club in Clawson, MI, where Rock was spinning in an all-ages DJ contest. With similar taste in hip-hop and classic rock, the two became fast friends. What’s little known is that Uncle Kracker actually signed his first record deal at age 15 with a Detroit indie label.
“I started writing rap songs when I was 11, after the first Fat Boys record came out in the mid ‘80s,” Uncle Kracker said. “I met Kid Rock when I was 13 and got my deal a couple of years later. I was still legally too young to sign a contract for myself. But people always think it was just like Kid Rock spit me out of his womb and that was it,” he said with a laugh.
Uncle Kracker wound up contributing to Rock’s 1996 two late ‘90s releases before busting out on his own with Double Wide in 2000. The album peaked at number seven on the Billboard Top 200, spawned the smash single “Follow Me” (undoubtedly paving the way for the chart success of acoustic troubadours Jason Mraz and John Mayer), and went on double-platinum success the following year.
Uncle Kracker’s gold-selling second album, No Stranger To Shame, followed in 2002, spawning a hit cover version of Dobie Gray’s classic “Drift Away.”
In 2004, Uncle Kracker released Seventy Two and Sunny, which showcased his melodic songwriting and unique stylistic synthesis of pop, rock, country, soul, blues, and even doo-wop. Country superstar Kenny Chesney was featured on one of the album’s tracks, “Last Night Again,” so that same year, Uncle Kracker returned the favor by singing on Chesney’s “When The Sun Goes Down,” which topped the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for five consecutive weeks. It also marked the first time in more than 20 years that an artist without a previous country history, like Uncle Kracker, was featured on a number-one country single. Uncle Kracker hit the road with Chesney for an arena tour that found Chesney’s fans singing along with “Follow Me” and “Drift Away.”
“I’ve learned a lot from Kenny Chesney, like how to have a more positive outlook on things,” Uncle Kracker said. “He taught me how to care a little less and not sweat the small stuff.”
