91 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
91 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
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ooooo ooooo .oooooo. oooooooooooo HOE E'ZINE RELEASE #626
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`888' `888' d8P' `Y8b `888' `8
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888 888 888 888 888 "What I Know About Shawn Mullins"
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888ooooo888 888 888 888oooo8
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888 888 888 888 888 " by Daisy
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888 888 `88b d88' 888 o 5/9/99
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o888o o888o `Y8bood8P' o888ooooood8
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I've spent countless hours filling my head with enough information
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on Shawn Mullins that it would make his own fiance, Kelly Hobbs sick. I've
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visited every website possible related to Shawn Mullins, read articles, and
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even started this file over half a dozen unsuccessful times. But here it
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is, my very own personal thoughts on him, the one and only, Shawn Mullins.
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A bit of "before-fame" history. Shawn Mullins grew up in Atlanta,
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Georgia, and has been writing songs for over ten years. He went to North
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Georgia College and was already interested in the military because his
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father was in the Army and his brother in the Navy. Mullins got into the
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Colleges military program and was even an officer for the Army for a short
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time. While stationed at Fort Benning, two of his albums were done while
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he played at numerous Atlanta bars and clubs. Finally, a "new rock" format
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radio station picked up on "Lullaby" and before he knew it, nine years
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after he began calling himself a musician, he was getting calls from major
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record companies, totaling over 26 calls in less than eight days. Columbia
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Records finally signed Mullins and re-released his latest, "Souls Core" and
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of course, launched a video for his song that really made it happen.
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Nine years full of touring coffeehouses, living out of his van with
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his dog, Roadie, and attempting to sell what CDs he could move was his
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life. He listened to stories from his audience and even produced a few
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songs based on them. "Lullaby" for instance was not a life story of his
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own or anyone close to him, it was a story inspired by a gig he played in
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a small Chinese restaurant. There were only about five members in the
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audience and after his performance he was approached by a woman who sparked
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lines like, "she grew up with the children of the stars". A week later he
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thought up the chorus, "Everything's gonna be all right, rockabye". He
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wanted to give the woman hope, something to believe in. Yet, "Shimmer" was
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a little bit different. Mullins says, "Unlike Lullaby, it came a lot
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quicker. The melody came right after the words. It was like a gift. It
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was right after a point in my life when I first met Kelly, in 1994. The
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relationship and life helped me write that song. I never get tired of
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playing it.
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"Gulf of Mexico," my personal favorite, is similar to another song
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off of Souls Core, "Twin Rocks". "Gulf of Mexico" was written about a
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woman who was married to a Marine guy stationed in Pensacola and about her
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life as a bar maid at Flora Bama Sar, a bar on the border of Florida and
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Alabama. A few lines were made up though, such as there is no Ocean Avenue
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and who knows if w\she ever drove her brother to the liquor store? "Gulf
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of Mexico" does hold the most precious and touching line on the whole album
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though and it says, "And I hear a voice from my souls core saying freedoms
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just a metaphor and you got no where to go," it explains that freedom is
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just a joke, you are never really free, it is just a myth.
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Currently it is hard to find any of Mullins old albums from back in
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the day, but after searching all over Northwest Indiana, before finally
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finding one, his 1994 Big Blue Sky. But one sure fire way to get them
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though is off of the website of SMG, his label before Columbia House, web
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address being <HTTP://WWW.SMGRECORDS.COM>. I must admit my favorite song is
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on this album, called "Evolution Man," but I am also five albums shy of
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hearing every song ever released so I've got a while before I can voter on
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Shawn Mullins number one song. "Evolution Man" reminds me of myself yet
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I would be an Evolution "Woman," but that is besides the point, you know
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what I mean.
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"This world is a lonely place
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but shes always been there for him
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shes his steady ground
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and he'll never ever own her
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its the other way around
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cause shes the one sure way out
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shes the needle in his vein
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and he knows shes the only thing
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that will ever stop the pain."
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It describes my life, just switch the he's and the shes. It is very
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moving and I connect with it very well.
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With Shawn Mullins unique, musical ways, and his acoustic talent, he
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brings a whole new meaning to good music. If you want to hear some wicked
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good guitar though, check out "Pandora" on his album Big Blue Sky,
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wonderful acoustic talent, I promise. From "living out of his van from
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town to town" and realizing "its hard to get rich on a tour of coffeehouse
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gigs," Mullins has taught us that "its a blessing to do what you wanna do"
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and that it is okay to be a "dreamer".
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[ (c) !LA HOE REVOLUCION PRESS! HOE #626 - WRITTEN BY: DAISY - 5/9/99 ]
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