Effective period / Period of releases: 1991 - 1993

Members: Sue Garner, Amanda Uprichard, Amy McMahon Rigby

The Shams were an all-female New York folk pop trio in the 1980s and early 1990s, featuring Amy McMahon Rigby, Sue Garner, and Amanda Uprichard. Some critics have credited the band with pioneering elements of what would later become known as the Americana and No Depression movements in American music. Others have described them as "queens of urban folkdom" or "riot grrrls unplugged." Punk rock musician Richard Hell has labeled their music "beauty parlor soul."