Cayamo Cruise: Shawn Mullins

I recently traveled with 2100 of my clostest friends on a cruise called "Cayamo", put on by Sixthman, featuring singer-songwriters like Shawn Mullins...

You will likely remember Shawn Mullins from his hit "Lullaby", but (as with many artists) when you dig deeper into his library, you'll realize that many of his songs are much better than the ones you hear on the radio.

There is one thing that most people on this cruise have in common: we appreciate the songwriter, usually more than we appreciate the artist that made the song popular.

Shawn Mullins is one of those artists I had heard of before his song became popular on the radio, so when "Lullaby" hit, I had already heard it (and liked it).  But his songwriting is what really gets me: he makes you feel, which is, sometimes, a mark that other artists miss.

One of the songs that he wrote is called "Shimmer", and it talks about how people are born without hate, but they learn to hate as they grow up.  (If you want to hear a funny story about his experience in Australia, watch the video from the beginning).

Another 'beauty' of Cayamo is the opportunity it gives artists to collaborate; these artists are all on the same ship, giving them ample opportunity to hang out and even join each other on stage.  On this journey, Shawn shared the stage with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Max Gomez and Kris Kristofferson.

Shawn has been on Cayamo every journey since its inception (2008), and continues to be one of the main draws for the event.  The dates for the 2015 sailing have been set:  January 17-24!

(Via Youtube)