b. Matthew Shafer, 6 June 1974, Mount Clemens, Michigan, USA. Shafer’s association with multi-platinum selling rap artist Kid Rock undoubtedly helped sales of his debut album, but 2000’s Double Wide proved to be of equal artistic merit to the best work of his more illustrious mentor. The 13-year-old Shafer first met up with Kid Rock in 1987 at a DJ competition in Clawson, Michigan, where his brother was competing against the young rapper. The two became close friends, and when Rock released his 1990 debut he invited Shafer to join his Twisted Brown Trucker Band as DJ. Learning as he played, the newly named Kracker soon became an integral part of Kid Rock’s band, co-writing and performing on all his albums. The runaway commercial success of Kid Rock’s 1998 set Devil Without A Cause gave Kracker the opportunity to start work on his solo debut. The album was recorded on Kid Rock’s tour bus as it travelled America, with the aid of Rock and the Twisted Brown Trucker Band. The first non-Kid Rock release on the rapper’s Top Dog imprint, Kracker was forced to add the Uncle prefix to his moniker for legal reasons. Double Wide mined a similar rock/hip-hop groove to Devil Without A Cause, albeit with a more radio-friendly slant. ‘Follow Me’ climbed into the US Top 10 the following May, shortly after the album achieved platinum status.
Uncle Kracker returned to the studio to complete work on his follow-up recording, No Stranger To Shame. The album featured two radio hits in the form of ‘In A Little While’ and a ‘partial’ duet with Dobie Gray on ‘Drift Away’, but was a lesser effort than Double Wide. A third collection, Seventy Two & Sunny, was released in summer 2004. The album followed the career path of Kid Rock by concentrating solely on country rock and blues material. Indeed, Shafer had already graced the top of the country charts earlier in the year when he duetted with Kenny Chesney on ‘When The Sun Goes Down’.
