Uncle Kracker

About

Also known as: Matt Shafer, Matthew Shafer, Uncle Cracker

Uncle Kracker, the stage name of Matt Shafer from Mount Clemens, Michigan, built his reputation spinning turntables for Kid Rock's band Twisted Brown Trucker before stepping out front with his own sound. His debut album Double Wide hit number 7 on the Billboard 200, and the single "Follow Me" climbed to number 5 on the Hot 100, setting the tone for a career that kept crossing genre lines. His cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" on 2002's No Stranger to Shame became a marathon chart run, sitting at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for 28 nonconsecutive weeks, a record at the time. By the time Happy Hour arrived in 2009, he had traded rap rock for country pop, and "Smile" became a crossover hit that peaked at number 6 on Hot Country Songs. His fifth album, Midnight Special, leaned even further into country territory, produced by Keith Stegall and released through Sugar Hill and Vanguard Records.