Early on Sunday
I stated in that last blogger posting that I was going to write again Sunday evening. It's Sunday morning. I have some time to kill and I've decided to write about the concert that I attended on Friday and how I came to find out about it.
The Friday before last, I was on my way home from work listening to 97.7 WEXT when a familiar song called All in My Head came on. I smiled a little because I had just bought the CD that the song came from a few days earlier and I had been listening to it incessantly. The CD is by Shawn Mullins -- who had some national fame in the 90s due to the song Lullaby -- and is excellent (although, I still prefer his previous release 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor because of the song Blue as You, which has the most excellent acoustic guitar tone I have ever heard in a recording -- Tom Petty's Wild Flowers is a close second).
I sang along with All in My Head (because it's an awesome song) as I pulled up to a stop light, putting my turn signal on. The song ended and I drummed on the steering wheel. Chris Weink (spelling?), the DJ on 97.7, starting talking about the songs that he had played. I started to think about the time that I went to SPAC to see Shawn Mullins open for Hootie and the Blowfish. Shawn played with a full band and my brother and I sang along with most of the songs he played. We knew his songs because we loved his CD Soul's Core. His style of writing is awesome. It's simple, but his lyrics are deep and introspective. He tells stories in his songs and they are emotional (but not emo). After his set at SPAC, my brother and I quickly stood up while we clapped. There weren't many others who did and that made us sad. Simple, introspective story songs are not for everyone, I guess.
The light turned green and I thought I heard Chris Weink (spelling?) say something along the lines of "playing at the Linda next Friday in Albany" before an advertisement for the radio station began.
As I stepped on the gas my mind further developed what I thought I overheard. Did he say Shawn Mullins is playing at the Linda next Friday? How did I not know about this sooner? What if I can't get tickets? What if Stephanie can't go? What do I need to cancel, quit, and/or kill in order to have Friday night free? GET OUT OF THE WAY GRANDMA! I NEED TO GET HOME AND BUY TICKETS!
I rushed home, without getting in any accidents, and checked the Internet.
True. Shawn Mullins, April 4th, 8pm, the Linda. Tickets Available. YES!
Fast forward to April 4th.
Stephanie and I parked in the parking lot next to the Linda. The Linda (by the way) is a relatively tall, but not wide, cement building that used to be a bank. It was purchased by WAMC and turned into a performance venue. I had never been to the Linda, but I had been hearing about it for some time.
Across the street is a little Chinese/Japanese restaurant called Ichiban. We ate there. We had sushi. At one point, I dropped my sushi (a mistake caused by over-confidence in my chopstick dexterity) into the soy sauce dish, which made a mess.
Stephanie laughed at me for it, which was kind of mean, but about thirty seconds after that, she did the same thing. But, I didn't take a picture.
After eating, we walked back to the Linda. I wanted to stop at my car and grab a Shawn Mullins CD. If we had a chance to meet him, I'd like to have something to sign. While at the car, Stephanie noticed a little dog that disappeared around a corner behind the Linda. We went to investigate.
As we walked around the corner to the back of the Linda, I noticed three things: a medium sized RV was parked closed to the back entrance of the building; a little beagle was milling about attached to a leash; and Shawn Mullins was standing there holding the leash.
Shawn! I said.
And the rest is a bit of a blur.
I believe we exchanged pleasantries. We were thanked for coming to the show. I thanked Shawn (a few times, at least) for coming to Albany. We were introduced to Jack, the beagle puppy. Shawn leaned against the back of the building and talked about how he rescued Jack from an abusive situation. Jack was skittish and Shawn said the puppy was still getting used to seeing new places every day. He also said that Jack felt most comfortable in the RV, so he often peed there. We shared a little laugh at that. After a while Jack came over to me and I pet him. Stephanie pet him too. Shawn talked a little about the dog that had traveled with him before Jack. He had been his companion for 16 or 18 years and I noticed a note of sadness in Shawn's voice and in his eyes when he said it.
The conversation moved to the RV and traveling and I told Shawn that I wondered if it was going to be a solo show or a band show. He said that he mostly toured solo because the band was a great band and they were expensive. He said that he shared a guitarist with Sheryl Crow -- who could afford to pay more.
Stephanie said that we were into the local songwriter scene and that we liked solo acoustic music quite a lot. I wanted to say, "I've got some songs." I had a demo in my car; I could have given it to him. I didn't. There are a lot of pretentious songwriters who would have used the meeting as a marketing opportunity. I am not that guy. I do regret not talking about songwriting, though. He is, after all, my songwriting hero*. Sometimes I forget how much his first CD fueled my own songwriting. Not to mention, how much I am influenced by his low voice and his playing style.
He signed my CD. He shook my hand. I thanked him (again) for coming to Albany.
Stephanie took this picture of a James Frederick with an incredibly goofy I-just-met-Shawn-Mullins grin.
I am quite impressed with Shawn. His demeanor was subtle. His voice was quiet. There was sincerity in everything that he said. He travels with a beagle named Jack in a medium sized RV and he gets to sing songs that he wrote to appreciative audiences.
And then we got to see him perform.
*Due to the circus that is American Idol, I prefer the term hero
The Friday before last, I was on my way home from work listening to 97.7 WEXT when a familiar song called All in My Head came on. I smiled a little because I had just bought the CD that the song came from a few days earlier and I had been listening to it incessantly. The CD is by Shawn Mullins -- who had some national fame in the 90s due to the song Lullaby -- and is excellent (although, I still prefer his previous release 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor because of the song Blue as You, which has the most excellent acoustic guitar tone I have ever heard in a recording -- Tom Petty's Wild Flowers is a close second).
I sang along with All in My Head (because it's an awesome song) as I pulled up to a stop light, putting my turn signal on. The song ended and I drummed on the steering wheel. Chris Weink (spelling?), the DJ on 97.7, starting talking about the songs that he had played. I started to think about the time that I went to SPAC to see Shawn Mullins open for Hootie and the Blowfish. Shawn played with a full band and my brother and I sang along with most of the songs he played. We knew his songs because we loved his CD Soul's Core. His style of writing is awesome. It's simple, but his lyrics are deep and introspective. He tells stories in his songs and they are emotional (but not emo). After his set at SPAC, my brother and I quickly stood up while we clapped. There weren't many others who did and that made us sad. Simple, introspective story songs are not for everyone, I guess.
The light turned green and I thought I heard Chris Weink (spelling?) say something along the lines of "playing at the Linda next Friday in Albany" before an advertisement for the radio station began.
As I stepped on the gas my mind further developed what I thought I overheard. Did he say Shawn Mullins is playing at the Linda next Friday? How did I not know about this sooner? What if I can't get tickets? What if Stephanie can't go? What do I need to cancel, quit, and/or kill in order to have Friday night free? GET OUT OF THE WAY GRANDMA! I NEED TO GET HOME AND BUY TICKETS!
I rushed home, without getting in any accidents, and checked the Internet.
True. Shawn Mullins, April 4th, 8pm, the Linda. Tickets Available. YES!
Fast forward to April 4th.
Stephanie and I parked in the parking lot next to the Linda. The Linda (by the way) is a relatively tall, but not wide, cement building that used to be a bank. It was purchased by WAMC and turned into a performance venue. I had never been to the Linda, but I had been hearing about it for some time.
Across the street is a little Chinese/Japanese restaurant called Ichiban. We ate there. We had sushi. At one point, I dropped my sushi (a mistake caused by over-confidence in my chopstick dexterity) into the soy sauce dish, which made a mess.
Stephanie laughed at me for it, which was kind of mean, but about thirty seconds after that, she did the same thing. But, I didn't take a picture.
After eating, we walked back to the Linda. I wanted to stop at my car and grab a Shawn Mullins CD. If we had a chance to meet him, I'd like to have something to sign. While at the car, Stephanie noticed a little dog that disappeared around a corner behind the Linda. We went to investigate.
As we walked around the corner to the back of the Linda, I noticed three things: a medium sized RV was parked closed to the back entrance of the building; a little beagle was milling about attached to a leash; and Shawn Mullins was standing there holding the leash.
Shawn! I said.
And the rest is a bit of a blur.
I believe we exchanged pleasantries. We were thanked for coming to the show. I thanked Shawn (a few times, at least) for coming to Albany. We were introduced to Jack, the beagle puppy. Shawn leaned against the back of the building and talked about how he rescued Jack from an abusive situation. Jack was skittish and Shawn said the puppy was still getting used to seeing new places every day. He also said that Jack felt most comfortable in the RV, so he often peed there. We shared a little laugh at that. After a while Jack came over to me and I pet him. Stephanie pet him too. Shawn talked a little about the dog that had traveled with him before Jack. He had been his companion for 16 or 18 years and I noticed a note of sadness in Shawn's voice and in his eyes when he said it.
The conversation moved to the RV and traveling and I told Shawn that I wondered if it was going to be a solo show or a band show. He said that he mostly toured solo because the band was a great band and they were expensive. He said that he shared a guitarist with Sheryl Crow -- who could afford to pay more.
Stephanie said that we were into the local songwriter scene and that we liked solo acoustic music quite a lot. I wanted to say, "I've got some songs." I had a demo in my car; I could have given it to him. I didn't. There are a lot of pretentious songwriters who would have used the meeting as a marketing opportunity. I am not that guy. I do regret not talking about songwriting, though. He is, after all, my songwriting hero*. Sometimes I forget how much his first CD fueled my own songwriting. Not to mention, how much I am influenced by his low voice and his playing style.
He signed my CD. He shook my hand. I thanked him (again) for coming to Albany.
Stephanie took this picture of a James Frederick with an incredibly goofy I-just-met-Shawn-Mullins grin.
I am quite impressed with Shawn. His demeanor was subtle. His voice was quiet. There was sincerity in everything that he said. He travels with a beagle named Jack in a medium sized RV and he gets to sing songs that he wrote to appreciative audiences.
And then we got to see him perform.
*Due to the circus that is American Idol, I prefer the term hero