The home of fiction author Val Gryphin…

Recently I attended a Shawn Mullins concert with my daughter. Mullins came to my attention pretty much when he came to everyone else’s, when his song “Lullaby” became a hit smash. (Click on the link to go to Amazon to hear a clip if you don’t remember it.) I purchased that album, Soul’s Core, and fell in love with both his style and his songwriting. “Lullaby” became something of a personal anthem for me during a time when life was really hard, and it has carried me through several more since then.

So at the concert he played a set of 19, which included a three-song encore. The whole show was acoustic, just him and his guitars. Not a lot of chatter between songs, but he became a bit more loquacious as the set went on. He’s not quite folk, not quite blues, not quite rock, not quite country, I’ve heard the term “Americana” in reference to him, but several songs he did, particularly off his new album “honeydew,” were very political. He also talked about one of his own idols, Kris Kristofferson, who is an amazing and prolific songwriter, as well as some of the things that inspired some of his songs, and where he got some of his inspiration from.

His inspirations sounded a lot like the kind that I have as a fiction writer, but he goes a very different direction than I do. I have always had a lot of respect for songwriters. I’ve known people who thought that writing songs must be an “easy” thing to do, but those people have no idea. I’ve penned some lyrics, and really, it is a whole ‘nother aspect to writing. The way that the words work is different from even spoken written word, the flow is different than most poetry, and the words and the rhythm and the music all has to go together. Word choice is critical in lyrics, and badly worded language glares. I would never dismiss songwriters in any shape or fashion, and I’ve studied song lyrics for the way the imagery is created.

It was just Mullins and his guitars for almost 2 hours straight, and his songs were amazing. There is a lot of passion behind what he writes, and watching him perform it was just wonderful. It was so low key, but it was easily one of the best concerts I have ever been to, and lyrically, some of the best written songs I have discovered in a while. Set list with links to lyrics and albums below.

The album honeydew doesn’t have lyrics up online anywhere yet, but some of those were the best songs. Political, strong, and great musically as well as lyrically.

For America (honeydew)

Twin Rocks, Oregon (Soul’s Core)

Ballad of Kathryn Johnston (honeydew)

All In My Head (honeydew)

Cabbagetown (honeydew)

Home (honeydew)

Fraction Of A Man (honeydew)

Ballad Of Billy Jo McKay (Soul’s Core)

Blue As You (9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor)

Friday Night Fight at Al’s Place (I think that’s the title of it - I can’t find it anywhere)

Lonesome, I Know You Too Well (Beneath the Velvet Sun)

Somethin’ To Believe In (Beneath the Velvet Sun)

Where’s Johnny (Eggshells)

Shimmer (Soul’s Core)

Beautiful Wreck (9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor)

Lullaby (Soul’s Core)

Encore:

Rake - by Townes Van Zandt

Sunday Morning Coming Down - by Kris Kristofferson (Soul’s Core)

House Of The Rising Sun (9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor)