Live at the Station Innby Anonymous

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November 01, 2004: Time – 46:22 -- Shawn Camp is an extraordinary singer, solid picker, and creative songwriter whose guitar and vocals are on the leading edge of what some might consider an urban/folk dimension of current bluegrass. About forty years earlier, back in the mid-60s, it was guys like Peter Rowan, Lamar Grier, Richard Greene and Gene Lowinger who showed another side of bluegrass. Some called them citybillies. While Shawn Camp is from Arkansas, he’s following in the footsteps of others who have infused bluegrass with folk, new acoustic, blues, honky tonk or even roots rock inspirations. Respect for Shawn and his songs have led to covers of them by Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, and many others. Live at the Station Inn is an exciting journey through twelve songs co-written by Camp. Many are sung solo without vocal harmonies, but fiddler Stuart Duncan and mandolinist Mike Compton add vocal parts on a few of them like “Forever Ain’t No Trouble Now.” On the introduction to “Travelin’ Teardrop Blues,” you’ll hear the murmurs of the audience talking in the background. On the last measure of “Redbird,” you’ll hear Dave Talbot’s banjo string bust. A few cuts (like “Dear Departed”) don’t have the mandolin quite loud enough in the mix. All in all, these idiosyncracies that come with a live recording just add to the magic of the moment. “Sis Draper” and “My Love will not Change” receive particularly enthusiastic responses from the audience. Other musicians assisting at the two Nashville shows from which the album’s tracks were captured include Dave Roe (bass), Buck Baxter (high strung guitar), Scott Vestal (banjo), and Dennis Crouch (bass). Shawn Camp is a regular at the Station Inn, a small club where he hung out nearly every night to pick or listen during his first eight years in Nashville. There he made many connections and launched a successful career in music. Camp still has a deep appreciation for traditional music, but he’s also appealing to a wide, young demographic audience. Three cuts co-authored with Guy Clark are based on old fiddle tunes. “Sis Draper,” tells the story of a female Arkansawyer with her fiddle and special touch on the instrument. “Magnolia Wind” is a lyrical and heartfelt love song for a fiddler, while “Soldier’s Joy 1864,” is a tale of being shot and calling for some of that soldier’s joy for comfort. Camp doesn’t race through his songs, but rather he soulfully renders evocative numbers like “The Guilt Was Gone” (written with Paul Craft) and one of his favorites, “The Tune of a Twenty Dollar Bill” (written with Mark D. Sanders). I wish that this live set would’ve included another of Shawn’s own personal favorites, “The Grandpa That I Know.” Shawn Camp once said that he always has songs in his head, whether he’s awake or asleep. Because of his constant engagement in writing songs, he’s been called an “organic” songwriter. Camp is also not afraid to take a few risks with his music, an important lesson that he learned from legendary music producer Cowboy Jack Clement. Future projects from Camp may surprise us because he seems equally comfortable with bluegrass or electric music. (Joe Ross, staff...