Michelle Shocked

ToHeavenURide (Mighty Sounds)

Exasperated by Michelle Shocked’s 180-degree trajectory from album to album, Mercury Records refused to release her 1993 gospel album. That seems unnecessarily staid of the label, as there’s very little Shocked can’t conquer on the strength of her voice alone. That voice is the guiding light of ToHeavenURide, 13 gospel tunes recorded live at the Telluride (Telluride equals to hell you ride equals ToHeavenURide, get it?) Bluegrass Festival in 2003, and ’tis a glorious thing to behold, children. Sister Shocked shouts like a latter-day Sister Rosetta Tharpe, whose spirit she conjures with “Strange Things Happening Every Day.” Once you’ve stood up to clap, there’s no sitting down, because Shocked and her choir of angels raise the Holy Ghost and scare the devil out of such covers as “The Weight,” “Wade in the Water,” and “Uncloudy Day,” plus her own compositions “Psalm” and “Quality of Mercy.” Shocked scores again and this time sets your soul free.

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This article appears in September 7 • 2007.

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