Hangin' with Shawn Mullins

We had a private listener concert on January 31 with Shawn Mullins at the Hard Rock Café downtown. It was 10:30 p.m., and we decided to go get something to eat. He was with Kip, his road manager, who is the tallest white guy on the planet who is not playing basketball. He and Mullins were squashed into the backseat of a Toyota Rav 4 with two guitars and equipment. They had to sit, uh, very close to each other.

We went over to Mary Jane’s, on the bottom floor of the new Hard Rock Hotel, but it wasn’t open. We walk around downtown, and we see all these lights on at Petco Park. We go over, and they are taping a Sports Center commercial. They had a huge balloon that was keeping the place lit. We talked to security, and they ended up giving us a behind-the-scenes tour. It was great seeing the ballpark this way.

Mullins told a few great stories… In 1998, his song “Lullaby” hit big.... He was on TV and a huge celebrity back in Atlanta. Up to that point the only car he drove was his touring van... It had duct tape holding mirrors up, and one of the fenders. It needed a paint job; a real white-trash car. He had purchased a new Volvo, but it was in the shop. His wife asked him to drive to the store, so he just drove his old tour van. He gets out in the parking lot, and a guy was staring at him for the longest time. The guy finally said, “You’re Shawn Mullins, ain’t you? What the fuck is up with that van? I’m one of your biggest fans... You can’t be driving that van...you should be ashamed driving that thing around. You’re a big celebrity.”

DJ: Sean

Station: 102.1 KPRI

Shift: 5:00–10:00 a.m. weekdays (with Madison), and various times during the weekend