Search - Mem Shannon :: Cab Driver's Blues

Shannon really was a New Orleans cabbie when this CD was made, and his concept of interspersing conversational snippets from some of his fares between his autobiographical blues vignettes is inspired. Fortunately, he also has the talent to take it beyond novelty status. Combining unhurried guitar picking with a burly, dialectically southern voice that's just right for his beleaguered everyman persona, Shannon's abiding strength is his funny, incisive compositions. His lyrics carry the gift of gab, from the woman who "bought Cadillac hubcaps for earrings/and a dress lit up like a Christmas tree" on "My Baby's Been Watching TV," to the conversational father-son rapport that resonates through "Play the Guitar Son." Shannon's offhand poetry deepens what would otherwise be a competent arsenal of blues skills. He's the sort of character who drives around with the weight of the world on his shoulders that he can temporarily get rid of with a single shrug. --Britt Robson