Shawn Mullins – 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor

In 1998, Shawn Mullins emerged from the same Atlanta folk club scene that spawned the Indigo Girls (and current hitmakers Sugarland) with a platinum album, Soul’s Core, and a chart-topping pop single, “Lullaby”. Later, he joined with Pete Droge and Mathew Sweet in the Thorns, a group that released an album of sunny harmonies that drew sharp comparisons to Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Mullins’ new disc (his first since leaving Sony and signing with Vanguard) finds him turning the production down several notches and returning to the acoustic and small-ensemble sounds of his earliest days as a do-it-yourself singer-songwriter. In his live performances, Mullins always features songs by some of his friends and heroes, including Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and James McMurtry. Their influence can be heard among the well-crafted compositions on 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor (named for the New Orleans home studio where many of the tracks were recorded).

Mullins’ resonant baritone rings through country-tinged tunes colored with mandolin, banjo, lap steel and piano. “Blue As You” (written with Sweet and Droge) is a bittersweet love song with lilting dobro over whispers of organ. “Beautiful Wreck” brings on the bass and drums, and the chiming electric guitar and mandolin of Peter Stroud. “Cold Black Heart” is a murder ballad made more sinister by incessant layers of exotic percussion.

Mullins also offers up a pair of “protest” songs, “All Fall Down” and “Lay Down Your Swords, Boys”, that wisely rely more on subtle imagery than bombast. His closing cover of “House Of The Rising Sun” is a surprisingly fresh take on a classic, and a bluesy showcase for his gravel-to-falsetto vocals. Overall, 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor ends up feeling like the kind of unfussy but assured recording Mullins has needed to make for a long time now.