An Evening With Michelle Shocked

Dallas-born Michelle Shocked vents her anger as well as her passion on Soul of My Soul, a CD consisting of 10 originals that she released in May. The record is certainly fueled by her love for artist David Willardson, who painted the disc’s cover portrait and is clearly the inspiration for tracks such as “Love’s Song,” “Heart to Heart” and “True Story.” Shocked is basking in enamored bliss, and she unabashedly expresses her sentiments on tunes that rock soulfully and sometimes quietly.
But then we have the flip side. Shocked tucks no emotions during cuts such as “Giant Killer,” “Pompeii” and the brilliantly titled, “Ballad of the Battle of the Ballot and the Bullet Part 1: Ugly Americans.” Her ranting diatribes against the Bush administration are indeed vitriolic. “Shoot yourself in the head — vote for a war president,” she sings in “Ballad.”
Shocked, always controversial during a recording career that has spanned more than two decades and is dotted by years of political activism, can also give us a bit of spiritual salvation. “Liquid Prayer” finds her turning to God for meditation. And on “Other People,” she’s most clever. What seems to be a brooding bye-bye ballad to a philandering lover is actually a song from “citizen to country, not woman to man.”