Friday, March 16   9:00 p.m.
Molotov Lounge   (719 W 6th St)

Add this to your SXSW Calendar

  Michelle Shocked - Hardcore Hornography
Download   |   Stream

MICHELLE SHOCKED

Michelle Shocked is a traveler and a troubadour; a ‘picker-poet,’ as they say in Texas.

As a young feminist, Shocked left Texas to travel, Kerouac-style, a musical vagabond caught up in Reagan-era grassroots politics. Her musical career was ignited by a bootleg recording made around a Kerrville Folk Festival campfire on a Sony Walkman. Released as The Texas Campfire Tapes in England without Shocked’s authority, its success abroad enticed Mercury Records to offer Shocked a recording contract.

For Mercury, Shocked recorded a trilogy of albums that stand as a captivating primer on American music. Short Sharp Shocked’s spirited folk-rock progressed into Captain Swing’s energetic jump blues, expanding to Arkansas Traveler’s travelogue of minstrel-era country.

While songs like "Anchorage", "Come A Long Way", and "On The Greener Side" achieved popular success, her stylistic iconoclasm frustrated Mercury, particularly since she retained ownership of her masters. Shocked spent several years battling the label before, citing the 13th Amendment, finally liberating herself.

She released Kind Hearted Woman in 1996 on the Private/BMG label. Shocked launched her own label, Mighty Sound, in 2001. A gospel-tinged debut, Deep Natural in 2002 was followed by reissues of her Mercury albums in 2003-2004. 2005 saw her simultaneously releasing another trilogy: the roots-rocking ‘divorce album’ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a Disneyfied western swing set Got No Strings and the Latin/blues blast Mexican Standoff. Shocked’s bold creativity and adventurous musical style mark her as a true American original

In January, Shocked’s entire catalog will be released exclusively on iTunes.