“Life is good today”—that’s a line from “Toes,” the chart-topping single Shawn Mullins co-wrote for the Zac Brown Band, and it seems an apt description of how things have been going for Shawn lately. Since his hit single “Lullaby” earned a Grammy nomination in 1999, he has produced an outstanding body of work, featuring his accomplished guitar playing and trademark baritone, which somehow manages to be gritty and tender at once, on intricately crafted songs like “Shimmer” and “Beautiful Wreck.” On his 18th and latest album, Light You Up, he has changed his approach to songwriting and embraced collaboration, penning nine of the 11 songs with folks like Nashville pro Chuck Cannon and Glen Phillips, leader of Toad the Wet Sprocket. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Shawn’s affinity for collaboration coincided with the birth of his first child. “Even in the hospital with our new son, something changed for me,” Mullins says. “It was almost like nothing else mattered. It feels that different now. And at the same time, co-writing has become a sort of community for me.”

Shawn has toured with the Indigo Girls—Amy Ray was a high school friend—recorded with Elton John, and co-founded The Thorns with Matthew Sweet and Pete Droge. He grew up in Clarkston, Georgia and is still based in Atlanta, but his songs often tell stories of hopeful souls in Southern California getting lost and trying to find themselves. “They fell in love on the 101,” he sings of the star-crossed couple in “California.” The world in a Shawn Mullins song may be full of glitter, but “the neon burns just a little too bright.” If you like incisive lyrics, swooping guitar lines, and an unforgettable voice, don’t miss Shawn at the Freight.

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Photo by Michael Wilson