SATURDAY, JANUARY 17
Buskirk-Chumley Theater
presents
MICHELLE SHOCKED
8:00pm
$18 advance
$20 day of show

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In the 1980s, Michelle Shocked was thrust into an inadvertent recording career when a bootleg cassette of her performing original material around a campfire in Texas was released in England. She awoke one morning to discover she was a pop star. Shocked recalls, "They told me I had a hit album, I said, ‘What album?' I'd never made an album!" Success at the top of the independent album charts came to the attention of the major labels. In the ensuing bidding war following the phenomena of The Texas Campfire Tapes, Mercury Records signed her and she produced a trilogy of Grammy-nominated Billboard and MTV hits over the next five years, launched by her signature song, "Anchorage." Shocked now runs her own independent label, Mighty Sound. A savvy contract with PolyGram made ownership of  Short Sharp Shocked," "Captain Swing," and "Arkansas Traveler" the centerpiece of her catalog, which includes Deep Natural, Kind Hearted Woman, the Threesome trilogy, ToHeavenURide and the soon-to-be-released Soul of My Soul.

The self-described 'picker-poet' has a singular style all her own and is almost impossible to categorize. She's a pioneering influence on both contemporary singer-songwriters and the Americana music scene. Michelle draws freely from various strands of American music - folk, rock, jump blues, swing, bluegrass, gospel and soul - defying  conventional marketing and audience expectations alike. She explains, "I call it 'Shocked Music,' but you can call it whatever you like. Just don't call it predictable."
Michelle continues her tradition of constantly re-inventing herself with her incredibly moving and soulful new release, “ToHeavenURide”, recorded live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and featuring a full Gospel Choir and band with several original songs and a selection of covers.

HeART

HeART is a live performance art form, which combines the talents of singer/songwriter Michelle Shocked and the Pep Art of renowned artist David Willardson.  “We've found that we've both been able to take our self expression to another level by performing together onstage that which we both used to do solo.” Michelle explains that her music is "an evolving journey along American routes "; currently she's following the trail of early rhythm & blues leading into doo-wop. David Willardson has pioneered a whole new style of pop art, which he calls “Pep Art, a mix of pop culture meets energy art”.

This one of a kind concert has Michelle Shocked singing original songs inspired by Indelible Women of recent history while David Willardson is painting live onstage. This amazing performance is about celebrating these women who have made cultural, spiritual and historic change throughout the world. This series will be the first of many collaborations between these two artists. The unique staging of this performance invites the audience to join an emotional artistic journey.

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