Damn Y'all

I have to preface this post by saying that I still do NOT like country music. This is NOT country music. I've been using the label "southern folk rock" when trying to explain him to people up here. Those of you that know me know that there isn't much about the south that I'm fond of; Shawn Mullins doesn't fall into that category. He's from Atlanta, which I think has a lot to do with why I like him (Atlanta being this bubble of the south that "feels" okay to me), and he's an amazing singer/songwriter with a beautiful voice and so much emotion and energy when he plays. Now that I've said that I can say this:
I saw Shawn Mullins for the second time Tuesday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston. It was phenomenal as expected. I will say that it wasn't as good as the time Scott and I saw him in Asheville at the Grey Eagle. There was just something about that first show, some sort of energy, that wasn't there at Hard Rock. Not really that surprising since Shawn isn't a corporate boy in any which way and I bet he feels a lot more at home in a less obnoxious atmosphere than a restaurant that charges you $15 for a burger. His new album comes out March 11th and I can't wait. There are two of his new songs up on his MySpace page if you want to go take a listen. Some radio stations are playing "All in my Head" which is wicked good. He played quite a few songs from it and they all sound great. He's a wonderful story teller. I found this clip on You Tube of one of my favorite songs off of his last album "9th Ward Pickin' Parlor". Yes, it's twangy, but dude, listen to the story, it's great. The mandolin player really gets into it and is a blast to watch. I really want to see him play with his buddies next, I've only just seen him solo.