Mat and Savanna Shaw

Mathew Shaw (born July 26, 1980[lower-alpha 1]) and his daughter Savanna Shaw (born 2004[lower-alpha 2]) are an American musical duo based in Utah. They started releasing music videos at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The New York Times's music critic Jon Caramanica said the father and daughter duo "became a quarantine-era YouTube success story for their acoustic duets of religious-esque songs that were pinpoint precise, verging on stern".[5]

"Mathew Shaw" redirects here. For the English association footballer, see Matthew Shaw. For the Australian rules footballer, see Matt Shaw.
Mat and Savanna Shaw
Savanna and Mat Shaw performed in a livestream Christmas concert hosted by the United States Army Field Band in 2020
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSingers
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2020–present
Genre
Singing
Subscribers559,000
Total views45 million
100,000 subscribers 2020
Updated: 3 January 2021

At the beginning of the pandemic, Savanna's choir practices were canceled. To remain connected with her friends, she created her first social media account, an Instagram account. For her first post on the account, she asked Mat, her father, to sing "The Prayer" with her since she was too shy to sing by herself. After recording it, they published it on Instagram in late February 2020 and then Facebook, where it went viral. They created a YouTube account on March 6, 2020. The Shaws were interviewed by Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and a show in Japan.

On October 23, 2020, they released an 13-song album titled Picture This, which had an eponymous original song that told the story of how they shot to fame. After selling 12,000 copies, the album was ranked number one on Billboard's Emerging Artists and Classical Albums charts and 54th on the Billboard 200. On November 20, 2020, they released a seven-song extended play titled Merry Little Christmas. In his review of the album, The New York Times' Caramanica found that Mat "booms like a drill sergeant" and Savanna "sings with airy sweep".[5]

Personal life and music career

Mat Shaw, whose full name is Mathew Shaw,[6] was born on July 26, 1980.[lower-alpha 1] In his youth, Mat Shaw was passionate about singing and had aspirations to become a Broadway performer and create music. After Shaw's father died when Shaw was 14, the family experienced monetary difficulties and he moved with his family from Los Angeles to Kaysville, Utah. During his high school years, Shaw was a choir member and musical theater performer.[4] Shaw was a student at Farmington Junior High School, where he performed in a play adaptation of the novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in 1994.[7] He attended Davis High School, where in 1996 he played the banker Bobby Childs in the musical Crazy for You and in 1997 he played the factory superintendent Sid Scrokin in the musical The Pajama Game.[6][8] Shaw served as a missionary for two years beginning in 2000 in Cebu in the Philippines.[2] With funding from a vocal performance scholarship, he studied at Weber State University, where he graduated with an accounting degree.[4] Shaw was a member for eight years of the Army National Guard.[9] He runs a real estate business with a partner.[10] Shaw concentrated on building up his real estate firm and spending time with his new family. He devoted less of his energy on music, saying in an interview, "My priority was to make sure that my family was secure and taken care of, and I knew music wasn't going to do that for my family."[4] At home, Shaw continued to sing and his voice sparked his daughter, Savanna Shaw, to start singing.[4] He is married to Brooke Shaw, whom he lives with in Kaysville, Utah, with their four children, Savanna, Easton, Eric, and Pennie Jean.[4][11][12]

Savanna Shaw was in 2004[lower-alpha 2] and is the oldest of her three siblings.[4][13] Shaw enrolled in a choir for children organized by the Hale Center Theatre.[4] The shy Savanna became friends with the choir members.[4] Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rehearsals were discontinued at the start of March.[4][14] Shaw created an Instagram account to remain connected with friends from her choir.[15] The account was her inaugural foray into social media. As her initial post on the account, she wanted to record a cover of the Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli song "The Prayer".[15] But she didn't want to sing by herself.[16] Savanna approached Mat Shaw, her father, while he was doing yard work to ask him to sing the song with her. Savanna wanted Mat to become more presentable as he had on a Brigham Young University hat and a family reunion T-shirt but he brushed her off, saying, "Savanna, your choir friends aren't going to care what I’m wearing. It’s not a big deal."[4] They recorded a cover of "The Prayer" at the end of February 2020.[1] The first platform they chose to upload the four-minute video to was Instagram.[1][16] Mat uploaded the video to Facebook next to allow family members who lacked Instagram accounts to view it.[16] They received a substantial amount of attention on Facebook and then started their "Mat and Savanna Shaw" YouTube account on March 6, 2020.[16][17] As they had little technical experience, they spent multiple hours to complete the YouTube upload. By a few days later, it had 2,700 views and 60 shares and by three months later, it had received more than six million views.[4] After the video had received one million views, the father and daughter uploaded their cover of a second song, "A Million Dreams".[14] By May 2020, they had over 400,000 YouTube subscribers.[18] According to Deseret News journalist Lottie Elizabeth Johnson, the Shaws' cover of "The Prayer" acquired them "a massive following" and that "[w]ith one video, they've achieved more success than many people who go on shows like America's Got Talent and The Voice".[10]

The duo use a closet as their recording studio and practice location. They enlist a small mic connected to an iPad and supported by some pajama pants to record their singing.  While playing the audio recording of their closet performance, they sit at their kitchen table to videotape themselves singing to it.[4] In May 2020, Ken Davenport, an executive producer for Andrew Lloyd Webber, interviewed the Shaws. He introduced them to the Broadway actress Sierra Boggess, who has played Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera and whom Savanna greatly admires. When Mat was a youth, he watched The Phantom of the Opera as his initial live performance. His mother required him to read the book before he could watch the show. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Savanna regularly viewed performances of the musical while sheltering at her house. Davenport offered to pay for the father and daughter to travel to New York and watch the musical live after Broadway shutdown ended. Davenport said to them, "You have put such love and such joy and such positivity in the world. You've done obviously such good for so many millions … of people that this is just a little small something to say thank you from all of us on Broadway."[19]

In a July 2020 livestream video, Mat Shaw said the duo were "intentionally vague" regarding the topics of religion and politics.[20] He said, "We want people to come to our music and have it be a safe place where you can feel what you want to feel without us pushing our beliefs or agenda."[20] In August 2020, they created the website The Shaw Fam backed by Patreon that lets their fans send them money to receive membership benefits such as recommending the songs they should sing next and the ability to view videos before non-members can see them.[11][21] They decided against signing with a label because they wanted to have full power over what music they could make and what events they could attend. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Mat noted that he had friends signed to labels who had planned to perform at charity events but were blocked by their labels.[11] The Shaws organized a food drive on November 24, 2020, in Sandy, Utah, and Kaysville, Utah, after they discovered that the Utah Food Bank was having difficulty in meeting the strong need for food caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]

The Shaws have received substantial media attention including on Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and a show in Japan.[4] The New York Times's Jon Caramanica said the duo "became a quarantine-era YouTube success story for their acoustic duets of religious-esque songs that were pinpoint precise, verging on stern".[5] They have been recognized during trips in public such as to Costco.[10] Mat put in less time on his real estate firm, which had had its business diminished at the beginning of COVID-19, opting to devote his time to singing practices, recording, and encasing their albums. His colleague at the practice picked up the slack.[10] Savanna transferred from her high school to virtual school to give her the ability to spend her energies on making music. Although she was very bashful before going viral in "The Prayer", she gained certitude and became more sociable in the months afterwards.[10]

Albums

Picture This

The Shaws initially wanted to write an original song to share more information about themselves. Instead of just releasing a single song, they decided to create an album since they had wanted to make one.[16] When recording their first album, Picture This, they used a "professional" recording studio instead of the home closet studio they had been using for their videos. For the album, they chose songs that had been proposed by their audience, that they liked, or by Stephen Nelson, who arranged the music.[20][23] They released their first album on October 23, 2020, containing 13 songs.[23] The Shaws enlisted the assistance of their extended family to load and send 10,000 CDs of the album.[24] Initially expecting it to take about half a year for the 10,000 CDs to sell out, they received a large number of pre-orders and ran out before their album's release date, which was two weeks after they had placed the order.[10] The duo placed a second order for 10,000 additional CDs.[10] Their house turned into a repository for CDs, and they worked in the living room and kitchen to prepare the albums.[10] The Shaw children assisted and received pocket money. Pennie Jean Shaw, Mat's six-year-old daughter, joined in by contributing to the label by writing her initials and penciling in a small heart. The album was ranked first on the iTunes pop and classical charts, ranked third on the iTunes chart that included all song genres, and ranked third on Amazon.[25][26] After it sold "12,000 equivalent album units" based on MRC Data, it was ranked first on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart on November 7, first on its Classical Albums chart, and 54th on the Billboard 200.[27]

The first song is a mashup of the songs "Fly Me to the Moon" and "Come Fly with Me". Savanna selected the song, calling herself an "old soul".[23] The second song is "I Hope You Dance" and was recommended by Nelson, their arranger.[23] The third song is "Picture This", an original song that the father and daughter began composing in July 2020 to describe how they suddenly became famous. They published a music video for the song on the same day they released their album. Mat said, "This song is about just being brave, and what if all it takes is a moment believing, a single moment of courage, putting yourself out there, and you just never know what will happen, what kinds of opportunities, what kinds of dreams will come true."[23] The fourth song is "You Raise Me Up", which they first published the cover for in August 2020 and was the song that their audience most asked for.[23] The fifth song was suggested by their audience and is "What the World Needs Now Is Love", which they published a cover for in September 2020.[23] The sixth song is the Colbie Caillat song "Try" and the seventh is "Only Hope", which had been sung by Mandy Moore, whom Savanna admired.[23] The eighth song is the Coco song "Remember Me". The ninth song is the Beatles' "Let It Be". They published their cover of it as a single in July 2020 and it was the initial song they made in "professional" recording studio.[23] The tenth song is Phillip Phillips's "Gone, Gone, Gone" and was proposed for inclusion by Nelson. Although they were reluctant to perform it initially, they grew to like it.[23] The eleventh song is "Hallelujah" with Nelson participating as a singer. Around 2009, the father and daughter were audience members at a recital where Nelson was playing the piano and singing "Hallelujah". Mat was "spellbound" by the performance. Mat and Savanna have another version of "Hallelujah" that they made with Peter Hollens.[23] The twelfth song is "Tonight You Belong to Me" and the thirteenth song is "The Prayer", which has a different arrangement from the cover they released in February 2020.[23]

Merry Little Christmas

The duo released an extended play on November 20, 2020, titled Merry Little Christmas that had seven songs.[16] By November 27, they had sold over 12,000 copies of the album.[10] For their debut album, the Shaws had worked on preparing the albums in their living room and kitchen. For their Christmas EP, they relocated the packaging work to their basement where they labored at night to encase the CDs.[10] The first song is "O Come, All Ye Faithful", which has music from a guitar, drums, a cello, and a piano accompanying their singing. The second song is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and has their arranger Stephen Nelson playing the piano. The third song is "Mary, Did You Know?" and was the most asked for by their audience. The fourth song is a jazz arrangement and mashup of "Let It Snow" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland". The fifth song is "O Holy Night" and was the second most asked for by their audience. The Shaws chose to include the song in their album very late into its production. The same week that they were preparing to mail out CDs of their first album, they practiced how to sing the song and record it. The sixth and seventh songs are "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and Josh Groban's "Thankful" from his album Noël.[24] In its first week and for the week of December 4, the album was ranked first on Billboard's "Classical Crossover Albums" chart.[28][29]

In The New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica's review of the album, he said that their cover of "Mary, Did You Know?" is "poignant and elegantly spacious, almost nervy in its conviction", their performance of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" has surprising parallels to the Extreme song "More Than Words", and their cover of "Thankful" has the two "harmoniz[ing] into billowy bliss". Caramanica noted that in their album Mat "booms like a drill sergeant" and Savanna "sings with airy sweep".[5] In an AllMusic review, critic Marcy Donelson gave the album 3.5 stars out of five, and praised the duo for their "graceful, stage musical-friendly singing deliveries". She said that they "fare best here with their piano-accompanied arrangements of the more tender selections" such as a "string-embellished" "Mary, Did You Know?", "Thankful", and "a well-harmonized" "O Holy Night".[29]

Shows

On November 28, 2020, the duo performed at a live virtual concert titled "What The World Needs Now: An Evening of Music and Inspiration with Mat and Savanna Shaw". Sierra Boggess was the director of the concert. They sang Broadway and holiday songs, sang their original song "Picture This", and relayed narratives about their lives.[30] On December 1, 2020, the Shaws were the first performers in the Temple Square Christmas concert "Celebrating the Light of the World" during which they sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful".[31]

On December 5, 2020, the Shaws performed at two shows at the Maverik Center alongside Gentri, a trio of tenors, for a concert titled "’Tis the Season — A Christmas Concert with Gentri and Friends".[32][33] On December 20, 2020, they participated in a livestream Christmas concert hosted by the United States Army Field Band.[33]

Footnotes
  1. An article in The Daily Signal published on March 26, 2020, said Mat Shaw was 39 years old.[1] An article in Bombo Radyo Philippines published on August 19, 2020, said Mat Shaw was 40 years old.[2] The combination of the two sources verifies that Mat Shaw turned 40 in 2020, which means he was born in 1980. On July 24, 2020, Mat Shaw said on Twitter that his birthday was on July 26.[3] The combination of the three sources verifies that Mat Shaw was born on July 26, 1980.
  2. An article in Deseret News published on May 15, 2020, said Savanna Shaw was 15 years old.[4] An article in Bombo Radyo Philippines published on August 19, 2020, said Savanna Shaw was 16 years old.[2] The combination of the two sources verifies that Savanna Shaw turned 16 in 2020, which means she was born in 2004.

References
  1. Allen, Virginia (2020-03-26). "'Daddy-Daughter' Viral Duets Aim to Bring Hope, Joy Amid COVID-19 Despair". The Daily Signal. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. DJ Gabby (2020-08-19). "Viral father-daughter duo Mat and Savanna Shaw wishes to collaborate with Filipino Broadway star Lea Salonga". Bombo Radyo Philippines. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  3. Shaw, Mat [@matandsavanna] (2020-07-24). "An album? With my daughter? This is what dreams are made of, and it's happening. It's going to take a lot of hard work, but it's work we absolutely love! This Sunday, July 26th (my birthday), we're going to show you a song that will be in our upcoming album. We CAN'T wait!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03 – via Twitter.
  4. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-05-15). "The story behind Utah's viral daddy-daughter singing duo". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  5. Caramanica, Jon (2020-12-10). "20 Albums That Put a New Spin on the Holidays. Mat and Savanna Shaw, 'Merry Little Christmas'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  6. "'Crazy for You' to be presented at DHS". Davis County Clipper. 1996-11-22. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Junior high thespians stage 'Best Pageant Ever'". Lakeside Review. 1994-12-06. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "'The Pajama Game' coming to Davis High". Davis County Clipper. 1997-11-06. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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  13. Guillemí, Rubén (2020-05-02). "Coronavirus: un padre y su hija de 15 años en EE.UU. se hacen virales cantando desde su casa en cuarentena" [Coronavirus: a father and his 15-year-old daughter in the US go viral singing from their quarantined home]. La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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  17. Beahm, Anna (2020-03-22). "Here's 10 reasons you should have hope as we fight coronavirus together". Al.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  18. Weaver, Jennifer (2020-05-19). "Utah daddy-daughter singing duo touch hearts, go viral amid coronavirus pandemic". KUTV. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  19. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-05-29). "Watch: Utah's viral daddy-daughter duo just got a free trip to Broadway". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  20. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-07-23). "Why Utah's viral daddy-daughter singing duo has been quiet the last few weeks". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  21. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-08-07). "Utah's viral daddy-daughter singing duo hoping to turn music into career". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  22. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-11-24). "This viral daddy-daughter singing duo is running a massive food drive in Utah. Here's how you can help". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  23. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-10-12). "Utah's viral father-daughter duo is releasing a debut album. Here are the 13 songs". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  24. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-11-11). "Utah's viral father-daughter duo is releasing a Christmas album. Here are the 7 songs". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  25. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-10-28). "Utah's viral father-daughter duo hit No. 1 on iTunes. Listen to their new song here". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  26. Eaton, Nate (2020-11-16). "7 Questions with Emmy: Mat and Savanna Shaw". East Idaho News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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  28. "Classical Crossover Albums the week of December 5, 2020". Billboard. 2020-12-04. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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  30. "See Mat and Savanna Shaw in WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW Live Virtual Concert". BroadwayWorld. 2020-10-26. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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  32. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-10-21). "They became an online sensation. Now, this father-daughter duo has a gig in Utah. After several months of performing from their kitchen table, Mat and Savanna Shaw will soon be taking a significantly larger stage: the Maverik Center in West Valley City". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  33. Johnson, Lottie Elizabeth (2020-12-18). "Utah's viral daddy-daughter duo goes on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show,' sings from Temple Square". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
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