The Lizard Lounge sound system is one of the best in town, created step by step by engineers like Tom Dube, Dan Cardinal, Matt Malikowski and currently maintained by Joe Stewart. Time to set up the stage for the 247th LLOMC. The cool air-conditioning of the Lizard Lounge was as welcome on this night as the familiar deep dark red lighting in this basement club that I’ve grown accustomed to after more than four years of working here on Mondays. I left for the gig without an umbrella was happy to get mostly sunshine for my 20 minute walk. It’s been one of those dog-days of August filled with random spurts of torrential rain and sunshine, but always accompanied by heat and humidity. Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge, August 8th, 2011, Show #247 "Lizard Lounge Open Mike Challenge, Aug 8, 2011, show #247" to get an overview of lives in free-fall. Spiritual chariots get sidelined in Shawn Taylor’s renamed cover, “Swing Low Sweet Liberty”, envisioning the song as flying over Washington, D.C. Shawn brings in the band for a cover of Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”, giving the song lonesome pedal steel wails and a folk rock backing. Shawn Taylor uses words as weapons on Home, showing that his pen beats the sword for cutting through the crap as it seeks the truth of contemporary life. The songs crackle with the guitar work, the intensity supporting the anger of lost dreams (“Blackwater”), the life questions about just how far we fall (“Where’s the Bottom?”) and hard times that course through the lives of family and friends (“The Bottom Line”). It is Americana stripped of its outer skin. Home is the third disc from Shawn Taylor. Shawn Taylor has mellowness to his voice that works well against the frenetic flash of finger-picking that is the foundation of his songs. "The Alternate Root - "Home" - CD Review"
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