Shawn Mullins

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Mullins writes solo but also collaborates with songwriters from the country sphere (notably Chuck Cannon, who suggested the "colors of the lie" line), and sometimes the latter group of songs has the feel of a humorous release from the task of working toward the lowest common denominator. The title track "Light You Up" has a completely ordinary sung refrain--"I just want to light you up, light you up like a fire"--but the spoken verses parody seduction lyrics with drawled, just slightly improbable rhymes: "Everybody wants a puff of your pipe dream / Everybody wants a lick of your ice cream."

This underrated Southern songwriter comes to The Ark on November 1.   

[Originally published in October, 2010.]