“I’ve only seen a few artists bring a room to a hush, only to have their audience hooping and hollering moments later, and these four talented Yankees have joyfully mastered their ability to do so. By the end of the first song, we were out of our seats and upfront. Strangers instantly became neighbors as the entire venue was swept up in the action.” – The Blue Indian
Directly supporting acts like The Lumineers, Delta Rae, American Authors, G. Love and Special Sauce, ZZ Ward, and Greensky Bluegrass, Swear and Shake has gone from city to city connecting people in the same way: by taking listeners on a ride through heart-wrenching ballads, only to pick it up on the next song with something people can dance to and lose themselves in completely.
Though both Kari Spieler (guitar, vocals) and Adam McHeffey (guitar, banjo, vocals) performed regularly around the campus of SUNY Purchase College, it wasn't until the final weeks of their senior year in 2010 that they met and recorded "Johnnie," a song Swear and Shake performs to this day. The bedroom demo of "Johnnie" began to circulate, finding its way to Shaun Savage, who played bass with McHeffey all through high school, and Benny Goldstein, a fellow student at SUNY Purchase, who would later produce Maple Ridge, and ultimately come to be the full-time drummer for the band. In August of 2014 the band released its third set of recordings, Ain't That Lovin'.