TALES FROM THE ROAD WITH DON CONOSCENTI By David Schultz For The Transcript Shawn Mullins' success with his recent hit "Lullabye" has given Oklahoma singer/songwriter Don Conoscenti an upbeat outlook on his present life. From the road in California during a recent phone call, Conoscenti explained, "Shoot, life is good. I'm in a good position. No pressure to do anything." Surprising statement from a guy who is away from home almost constantly and living out of his 400,000-mile Toyota pick-up truck. You see, Conoscenti and Mullins both used to be in the same songwriting group in Atlanta some years back, the same group that featured such prominent alumni as the Indigo Girls and Kristen Hall. Mullin's recent record deal with Sony gives songwriters like Conoscenti the comfort to know the same thing might happen to him sometime. "Very cool," says Conoscenti. "It opens a lot of doors for people like me. I'm very really proud and excited for Shawn; he's been working real hard." Conoscenti returns home to Oklahoma on Saturday night February 20 to the intimate Blue Door at 2805 N. McKinley in OKC. "I'm really excited about coming home. I miss Oklahoma a lot." That Atlanta-based songwriting group also sowed the seeds for another one of Conoscenti's friendships: Ellis Paul. Conoscenti has been playing guitar and singing harmony on tour with Paul the past six months, earning rave reviews on the internet and in newspapers like the Boston Globe. The two met during an exchange program between the Atlanta-based songwriters and a similar group in Boston, which included Dar Williams, Peter Mulvey, and Jim Infantino. Conoscenti and Paul hit it off immediately. Their recent collaboration has led to an explosion of creativity for Conoscenti. He's writing many new songs, experimenting with fresh sounds in the studio, and reworking a number of cover songs, dug up from his 20-year performance repertoire. One of those covers is a "cool arrangement with a rich, textural guitar" of the Police's "Roxanne". Another is Woody Guthrie's "Deportee", a song he's been performing as a duet with Paul. "People have been coming up after shows and telling me that I should record it as it would be the definitive version of that song," the surprised Conoscenti says. Other covers by Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, and Pierce Pettis are kicked around for the new album, tentatively titled, "A Relative Thing". The songs Conoscenti has been writing for "A Relative Thing" deal primarily with relationships. Much of the inspiration comes from helping Paul deal with his recent divorce and the growth that their friendship has experienced during their travels together recently. The chorus of the title track is about truth and how it's relative to each person's point of view. Conoscenti explains, "The relationship changes when one person leaves. I'm trying to write the characters in such a way that they trascend the separation and retain the bond and the love. I want this song to provide an example to other people. People tend to nuke everything around them when a relationship goes down and then try to fix it later. My take on that is you don't have to do that. You can work on it as the relationship shifts, then you don't have a bunch of cleanup to do afterwards." The guitar work that Conoscenti provides for Paul also is providing an unforseen benefit: the guitar community has been taking notice. Conoscenti played back-up for several of folk-legend Tom Paxton's Oklahoma shows last summer, including Paxton's Friday-night headlining stint at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah. The next month, Conoscenti won the prestigious showcase at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival. More recently, he has showcase appearances at several songwriting conferences, sponsored by guitar-string manufacturers who admire Conoscenti's work with Paul. What can the audience at the Blue Door show expect from Conoscenti? Expect to hear many of the new songs for "A Relative Thing", some of the aforementioned covers, and other audience favorites, like "Red Man Sky", a song Conoscenti wrote after his first trip to the Witchita Mountains. Coincidently, Mullins plays the Boar's Head in Oklahoma City the night before Conoscenti's show at the Blue Door. When asked whether the audience can expect any surprise guests at the Blue Door the next night, Conoscenti admits, "I don't really know. I lot of my very dear friends are in the band with Shawn. I'd love to see those guys. His keyboard player produced my very first record, so I would really like to see them while they're in town." Conoscenti's show begins at 8 pm at the Blue Door (2805 N. McKinley, in OKC on February 20. Tickets are available at CD World at 207 E. Main Street in Norman. For more information, call 528-4527 or visit http://www.telepath.com/emoran/mp.
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