By Melissa Moody
Artist: Shawn Mullins
Album: 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor
Release date: In stores
Shawn Mullins is an honest singer-songwriter with a strong and ancient-sounding voice.
His latest album, “9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor” is named after the shotgun house in New Orleans where the album was recorded last year. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Pickin’ Parlor Recording Studio just four months later. In the peaceful lament of this album, one can almost hear the sighs of the 100-year-old building accepting its own mortality.
Mullins dedicates his 11th solo album to the spirit of New Orleans and the Gulf region. Many of the tracks are sparse acoustic melodies with a haunting feel. Steel guitars and pianos create the melody upon which Mullins hangs his gritty voice. In a few poignant moments the instrumentation explodes with an international flair. Straight from the 9th Ward, this album is the raw, unpolished testimony of a man who discovers the redemptive powers of music tucked even in the darkest corners of life.
