#Michelle Shocked #contemporary folk #folk rock #alternative folk #alternative rock #folk punk #bluegrass #folk blues #Americana #country rock #singer-songwriter
This isn't so much an exploration of traditional American musical styles as it is an attempt to add a modern touch to those styles. For the most part, thanks to some excellent guests, it works. My favorite cut is a lovely pop tune “Come A Long Way” which offers a nice breezy tour of L.A. by bike. The special guests offer nice touches, especially Allison Krause on the pro-choice themed "Prodigal Daughter" and Uncle Toopelo on "Soldiers Joy", which kicks some pretty solid ass. Doc Watson and fiddle man Mark O'Connor assist on "Strawberry Jam", and "Blackberry Blossom" is a lovely piece. Unfortunately, tribute is paid to the "Coon Song" genre, on "Jump Jim Crow/Zip A Dee Doo Dah" and even the great Taj Mahal can't save this one. I think Shocked's intentions are good, but when white people sing songs like this, it comes off as kind of insulting. Still in all, this one ranks with her best, falling just behind "Short Sharp Shocked".
Michelle Shocked really branched out style-wise in the three years between Captain Swing and 1992’s Arkansas Traveler. In the liner notes, Shocked says this album was inspired by blackface minstrelsy. I know next to nothing about blackface minstrelsy, but I hear rockabilly, blues, folk, bluegrass, and more on this album. It’s not just her style that got diversified either - the quality has as well. The instrumentation on here is fantastic. There’s a tin whistle in “Over The Waterfall” that winds up to a ripping line that will change the way you think about tin whistles. (You do think about tin whistles, don’t you?) “Jump Jim Crow/Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” has a background hum throughout that is an interesting mix of disconcerting and warmly amusing. More traditionally, “Blackberry Blossom” and other tunes make a fabulous use of rich, string-heavy orchestration. The only thing more striking than the wild instrumentation are the guests. You’ve got Alison Kraus and Union Station on “Prodigal Daughter,” Hothouse Flowers helping out on “Over The Waterfall,” and Uncle Tupelo recording “Shaking Hands (Solider’s Joy)” aboard the Spirit of St. Charles in St. Charles, MO. When Farrar (or maybe it’s Tweedy) sings “Pierce McGee from the great state of Missouri/To the Show-Me-State militia I belong/And to judge by the pride on the Confederate side/I’d say 500,000 rebels can’t be wrong,” it’s spoken with such a passion and border-state authenticity that it makes me want to take up arms for the Confederacy.
From: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/michelle-shocked/arkansas-traveler/
Michelle Shocked is the chosen name of singer-songwriter Karen Michelle Johnson, known for her iconoclastic bent, both musically and politically. Throughout her career Shocked has used her music to deliver stinging social commentary. She has also explored a wide range of musical interests in folk, western swing, gospel, and blues with Texas roots. From: https://musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004750/Michelle-Shocked.html
