Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Shawn Mullins' interest in music stemmed from his time in high school, where he made the acquaintance of Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. Pursuing his music with increased finesse, Mullin’s enrolled at the North Georgia College and State University on a military scholaship, where he performed as a solo musician and joined the military marching band. After serving a short inactive term as an infantry officer, the musician honourably resigned from his post and began playing alongside drummer Mickey Hendrix and bassist Carlton Brown.
In 1991 the singer-songwriter released his official debut “Everchanging World” before forming his own label, SMG, and issuing a pair of albums “Better Days” and “Big Blue Sky”. Whilst still hunting for record label, Mullins attempted the capture his candid and intense live show on disc, later releasing the live album’s “Jeff’s Last Dance, Vol.1” and “Vol. 2”, recorded alongside Matthew Kahler. The solo full-length “Eggshells” followed in 1996, after which Mullins’ signed with Sony Records and enjoyed his greatest success to date. Released in July 1998, the singer issued the full-length “Soul’s Core”, which rose to No. 54 on the Billboard 200 and earned a string of positive reviews. It was the album’s lead single however, “Lullaby” that garnered the most attention, topping the Adult Contemporary Chart and peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. A subsequent single “Shimmer” was released from the album before Mullins issued the compilation “The First Ten Yeas” in 1999.
The recognition this success afforded the singer led to a successful run of albums in the new millennium including 2000’s “Beneath the Velvet Sun”, 2006’s “9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor”, and 2008’s “Honeydew”. After collaborating with the Zac Brown Band on their No. 1 hit “Toes”, Mullins issued the live album “Live at the Variety Playhouse” in 2008, followed by his 11th studio album “Light You Up” in 2010.
Lullaby, I’m sure along with many other people, is my absolute Shawn Mullins song. Mullins has been performing since back in high school, and seeing him perform live, it became evident that he’d had a lot of experience working the crowd, interacting with new people, and sharing his music confidently and enthusiastically.
The set was really nicely varied, with a selection of Mullins’ new and older work . When he played Shimmer, he drew it out nicely by adding an extra chorus, and drawing out some of the high notes, which was a really nice touch, as it’s a favourite of a lot of people. He also let us in the audience sing along to the choruses and held out the microphone to encourage it. In the first section of the concert, the majority of the tracks were ones that I didn’t know, but he played then with such conviction and they were really great and catchy, so it didn’t matter.
One thing I loved that I’ve never experienced in a concert before was that Shawn talked the audience through the backgrounds of the songs and how they came about. It was comedic and touching at the same time, a lovely touch to a wonderful evening.
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