Our friend and collaborator Doug Shaw has passed away.

Whether you knew Doug from Gang Gang Dance, White Magic, Highlife or by his “Sleepy” nom-du-profession, he was a dude of incredible energies, as capable of bubbling over effervescently as getting deep down inside. We recognized him as a deep-thinker, a real freak and a picker unto himself. When he played the guitar, one felt in the presence of the absolute latest in the name of the real folk blues, a mirage of history conjured, rolling over the hills and the ocean beyond, far away…

And good company -- always! -- high and mighty times with Doug. We first worked with him in the mid-aughts, when he joined White Magic, then returned again in 2024, when Brian “Geologist” Weitz brought us A Shaw Deal, his modular synthesis mash-up of performances from Doug’s Instagram during COVID. It was a ‘thanks-and-happy birthday’ present for his old friend who liked to talk and smoke and listen and drink and laugh, all at the same time, if that’s what was happening. It could get metaphysical. The stories he told could only have come from his own magically bewitched existence, and his music was all caught up in the social tradition as he knew it. 

When we saw Doug at the Sound & Gravity festival in Chicago last fall, he used an acoustic guitar, vocal mic and a couple pedals and amps to deliver the kind of ‘best set ever’ that one wait years (or decades) to witness again. Despite (or perhaps because of) long stretches of stage time spent honing his fingernails for some kind of hard-to-maintain action on the guitar, he thoroughly transformed the room (and some of the outdoors too) with his tradition of social music, entertainment gently blurred and altered in his elusive/allusive way. It was a lovely night.

We’re fans of all the words and music Doug had in him. Listened to today, White Magic’s “Dark Stars” and Highlife’s “Best Bless” delight, confound and kick ass again here in the future, even as we feel the loss. Along with his friends and family, we look for solace beyond his spirit in the music, which we know will continue to create great thoughts and feelings in this world.

We wish you peace Doug, and thanks for everything.