This week on Good News on The Current, This week on Good News we are going to hear from none other than Shannon Shaw from Shannon and the Clams, who shares with us the song that made her feel like she could write songs and embark on this musical journey. And we are so glad she did.

“I'm Shannon from Shannon and the Clams. And a song that influenced me is ‘Dressed in Black’ by the Shangri-Las. I heard that song quite young. And it's really dramatic. And it has lots of twists and turns, even though they were like a very popular girl group, and I heard all their hit songs on oldies radio all the time growing up.

“When I finally heard that song, it kind of showed me that it's not traditional songwriting; this is not exactly what you would hear on the radio. And the girls are lovely and wonderful, but it's not like perfect singing, and that song doesn't need that, because it has soul. And I feel like that was one of the first songs where I was like, 'Oh, you don't have to be, like, perfect in all these other ways to like really get an emotion across and be communicating via feelings.'

“You know, I feel like that was just kind of really inspiring to me, made me feel like I could write songs, and they don't have to fit in this box or follow a regular order. They give you more out there.”

Here’s Shannon Shaw’s Good News track — it’s the Shangri-Las with “Dressed in Black.”

If you have a story to tell about music making a positive impact in the world, a moment or a memory associated with a song or an artist, or maybe sparked by something you hear here, share your good news at ajaffer@mpr.org.