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Mem Shannon
I’M FROM PHUNKVILLE
Northernblues
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Shannon is in fact from New Orleans, but phunkville’s as good a name for the Crescent City as any, and it signals this songwriter’s taste for a big R&B bottom on his blues. Shannon made his transition from cab driver to full-time musician in the mid ’90s when his clever lyrics caught the ear of producer Joe Boyd. The love song "I’ll Kiss a Pit Bull," the plea for faith "No Religion," and the satirical "Ignant Stick" show off his skewed mix of humor and insight. "Sweet Potato" is a love song for foodies, with lines like "She’s my sweet potato and I’m her chocolate pie" sounding just right from a chunky guy from New Orleans, where food is sex and God and drugs. Swinging horns, another staple of Shannon’s home town, and the famed second-line parade beat make their way into the mix as well. But he’s also a ripping guitarist, as he proves with intense strings of single notes in the middle of the title track and in "Ignant Stick." And "In a Perfect World" is a wistful, poignant piano ballad. "In a perfect world," he sings, "there would be no you/There would be no me." Mem Shannon | July 4 | Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Avenue, Boston | 617.254.9743
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