Michelle Shocked show combines music, painting

By Alex Brown
azb@indiana.edu

Senses will be bombarded this Saturday in hopes of leaving the audience shocked - Michelle Shocked that is.

Singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked will perform with painter David Willardson as he paints live on stage, a  performance art called HeART, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Shocked said her collaboration with Willardson progressed naturally.

“He always listens to music when he’s painting in the studio,” she said. “I try to paint pictures in people’s imaginations with my songs. But I notice that when he’s on stage that their eyes are going back and forth between me performing and him painting, so it’s a good collaboration.”

Shocked said her set will include older songs that resonate with fans, as well as newer songs from her upcoming album, “Soul of Soul,” coming out in April.

Her next album will be an album of love songs. Half of them are dedicated to her country, with which Shocked said she has a dysfunctional relationship. It includes the
lyrics, “I love you America, but I think we should see other people.”

The second half will be based on her collaboration with Willardson, including songs “True Story,” which describes how they formed their relationship, and “Paper Boy,”
which is about his childhood paper route and the first girl to break his heart.

Shocked said Saturday’s show is a collaborative project called “Indelible Women.” It includes 12 songs inspired by women who have made history.

The songs will be paired with 12 of Willardon’s paintings, including portraits of the famous faces of women such as Audrey Hepburn, Frida Kahlo and Billie Holiday.

Willardson said his style could be described as a combination of energy art and pop culture, or “Pep art.”

Willardson said his and Shocked’s cohesive talents have proven to be successful since their first performance together.

“The music was exciting,” Willardson said. “The painting was taking place, and we timed it where she would finish her last song as I was signing the painting. So, it worked beautifully.”

Willardson has always had a passion for art.

At age 5, his father taught him how to draw Mickey Mouse by drawing a circle around a quarter for the head and around a dime for the ears, he said. But he had other motivations for drawing.

“I realized at that age that I could draw that for the girls, and the girls loved it,” he said with a laugh.

Willardson began his career working for Disney Animation Studios. Since then, he has pioneered a technique in airbrushing, and his career rocketed from there.

Tickets for the upcoming performance are $18 in advance and $20 the day of show.  

Willardson said the audience can expect to leave with the message that is his and Shocked’s mantra: “See the music, hear the art.”