Shawn Mullins Rockabyes My World and So Does Kip!

Last night Shawn Mullins opened up for Dar Williams. Ok, before I go any further, I can see some of you scratching your heads and hear you saying, "Annie, who the heck is Shawn Mullins?" I promise, you know him. He's the guy who hit it big with his song Rockabye, err, I mean Lullabye back in the late 90's (Video below for your listening enjoyment....when he starts to sing, you'll find yourself saying out loud, "Oh yeah, I know that song. Great song. I thought some other guy sang that song.")

In my humble opinion, he should've been the headliner, but what do I know?! And in no way is this an insult/diss Dar Williams - she was great too. But truth be told, I'm a bit biased. All right, a lot biased. I've been following Mullins now for about a decade. He truly is prolific songwriter. When (not if) you listen to his music - - and I encourage you do so quickly, I mean right now (http://www.shawnmullins.com/) - - you can actually see the story he's singing about like a movie trailer moving through your brain. And to boot, when you go see him live (or for people like my mom who rarely leave the radius of her hometown, the live DVD will be out soon! So you'll be able to watch it on your flat screen from your fave chair, naked, if that's your thing!) Yeah, I'll have a DVD release party at my pad and to get some friends to come, yes, I'll promise copious amounts of alcohol to all who humor me in attending this red carpet suarre. Anyway, I digress, back to the point: when you see him live, you'll agree with me in that he's also a phenomenal story teller and comedian, sharing the inspirations behind each song's birth. In this day and age of "musicians" being manufactured, churned out like butter and over-produced, it's a great relief to experience a real artist like Shawn perform and connect with his audience. (And, I'm not just kissing his ass with this praise; it comes from the heart and has nothing to do with the fact that I'll be contacting him one day to score my movie when I'm done writing the script... so Shawn if you're reading...a-hem...hee hee.)

I know, I know, I'm very much aware that I'm gushing (what the hell else is new? When I like something, I gush.) It'd be so wrong for me to overshadow the very talented headliner so I do have to give Dar some props. She's a Westchester County native and has one helluva a voice. (think Sarah Mclachlan meets Shawn Colvin) She's been singing at least for a couple of decades; at times has opened up for Joan Baez; and she's my kinda chick, a multi-tasker to the core, penning two books along the way. Most impressive is her connection to her fans, talking to them at the show as if they're all good friends hanging in her living room, referencing jokes from past shows.

As I mentioned before, Shawn's been on my radar screen for some time now and in the last year, I've been fortunate enough to get to know the man behind the man, Kip (on left circa 2008; below circa sometime in his childhood.) He's Shawn's sound engineer and well, jack of all trades extraordinaire. For the last 12 years or so, he's been the guy that gets Shawn too and fro with all equipment in tact. Don't fool yourselves either, life on the road, although I'm sure extremely liberating, is not always glamorous with some nights sleeping in buses, the RV and even who really knows where else! But it's these kinds of journeys that shape people and are a true testament to the power of commitment and having a passion about what you choose to do in this lifetime. What I've really enjoyed the past few months in between the thousands of miles Kip travels is when there I am on one end of my cell phone beeping or my lap top yelping "You've got mail" and on the other end, a fabulous, witty, and sarcastic message from Kip from some corner of this country. It's been a real trip for me and I don't know about him and Shawn, but I'm looking forward to the next leg of the tour to get some more good laughs and reads like, "Near Milwaukee, am sick, can't hold anything down, haven't eaten for days and Shawn is hiding from me." I know it's not funny when someone's sick, but I laughed my ass off at the visual; or how about this one: "...am snuggled up nicely in the bus sleeping somewhere in Buffalo." Kip's well over 6 feet tall, so the visual had me in stitches once again. I hope (and as a good Catholic gal, pray) more of these messages come to my way when the tour starts up again. T - 10 days and counting!

So, again, thanks to Shawn for delivering another amazing performance! And, like clockwork, another fan has been converted - my pal Cath; and Dad, you're next! And, Kip - I'm not worthy! Thanks for the great dinner and convo in the midst of your busy day and travel - it was great to see ya and hope you and Shawn are back at The Turning Point Cafe soon!

Take a listen below...

Shawn's video below of him singing Lullabye - a song he wrote about a gal he met in California at a place on Fairfax after playing a sold out show of about 25. Rumor says this song is about Drew Barrymore, but it's NOT. All I can tell you is all I know... the gal he wrote is about is on his My Space top friend list.

And, here's the song he wrote about me...

and, the song he wrote about my brother Billy...