Embracing Unique Voices: The Shaggs (The Unique Voices Club #35)

Celebrating the Unconventional in Music

Every Friday, I write a post about singers with unique voices not commonly heard in mainstream music. My goal? To educate emerging artists and music lovers while inspiring them to embrace their own quirks. This week, I'm diving into the fascinating world of The Shaggs.

Photo from the Music Museum of New England

Before I jump into this week's artist who’s bucking the status quo, I heavily implore you to share these posts with anyone who could be inspired by these artists (or entertained by my anecdotes). Because, as I say every week, there's power in the unconventional. It's often the unconventional ones in the arts world that get overlooked. But when you're a creative, being different is what makes you stand out and be special in the long run. So here's your weekly dose of confidence and education.

The Shaggs: A Musical Journey

I first learned about The Shaggs in a college class on the psychology of music. To be nerdy for a moment, the band was used to illustrate Juslin and Vastfjall's theory that music can induce emotions through six mechanisms: brain stem reflexes, evaluative conditioning, emotional contagion, visual imagery, episodic memory, and musical expectancy. The Shaggs exemplify the musical expectancy component perfectly. You have expectations of how a song will sound. If it meets those expectations, you enjoy it. If it violates them, well, you might not.

This explains why my choir-trained father once got on my case for playing The Shaggs on college radio. You see, their 1969 Philosophy of the World album (recorded not far from me!) was a bit lackadaisical about rhythm and melody. It can shake you up unless you're used to jazz with weird time signatures that change every other bar. Even then, it's like the drums are following one beat, the (untuned) guitars are on another, and the singers are singing a mush of random melodies behind both. Of course, it can drive you mad! In fact, the album is often described as the worst of all time. The band, however, was blissfully unaware of their unusual sound and didn't understand why people cringed at it. But not me! I've listened to all sorts of stuff at this point in my life, and in the Unique Voices Club, so nothing really surprises me much anymore. 😅

The Reluctant Rock Stars

The Shaggs were made up of the reluctant Wiggin sisters, who were pushed into the music scene by their father. He had a prediction that they would become famous, and he wanted to see it come true. After recording and releasing that first (and only) album, The Shaggs disbanded following their father's death in 1975.

Interestingly, like Van Gogh, their music only gained fame after they broke up. They attracted fans like Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. In the 1990s, interest grew in "outsider music," which is unadulterated music with childlike qualities created by musicians with little to no traditional musical experience. Lo-fi music probably falls under this category, as do some artists who record their songs in their bedrooms. The Shaggs saw another surge of popularity, releasing a compilation of unreleased songs and re-recordings in 1982. Most recently, Dot, one of the sisters, released a more in-tune album in 2013 that echoes the rock music of the '50s. Even though one of the sisters has passed away, they've had about two reunions in the 21st century.

The Power of Uniqueness

I write about The Shaggs this week not to suggest that you don’t need vocal training or a music teacher. That can be helpful to avoid wrecking your vocal cords or damaging your instrument (trust me, as a self-taught guitarist, I’ve wrecked quite a few strings and bridges until I learned better). But it’s essential to remember that you can be the most inexperienced artist, singer, guitarist, or whatever, and still create something beautiful that someone will love.

I wrote my first song when I was 11, unassumingly titled "Lyrics," about random stuff like dust blowing and cats mewing. My friends thought it was the best thing ever! They practiced it every recess for a month. Dot Wiggin's voice sounds like she’s talking but trying to make it melodic. You can hear the untrained qualities in her voice. But guess what? A theatre company performed a play about her and her band at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and they received rave reviews from The Guardian.

Even Billie Eilish, who doesn’t have the biggest vocal range, records her music in her bedroom. So, you never know who will appreciate whatever you create!

Conclusion: Keep Creating

And that’s it for this week, firebirds! If you know of some unique voices that should be shared with the wider world, sign up for my Patreon. This will ensure you have a stake in what I write about next, and you’ll know when I post! And don’t forget to share this post!

Stay educated,

Alexia