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Michelle Shocked filled Dallas-Brooks Hall with her warm Texan charm. With her guitar she took to the naked stage and performed with stunning originality.

Shocked's fondness for her hometown was proudly displayed in her Texas Trilogy - four (?!) tunes of memories about her Texan lifestyle. These songs proved that regardless of this woman's extraordinary life, her heart is still in Texas.

The greatest strength of Shocked's performance is her stage presence. It was quite baffling to see this fragile woman, a guitar and microphone, create such power, humour and emotion.

The highlight of the concert came with the haunting performance of "Graffiti Limbo," from the Short Sharped Shocked album. While slowly strumming her guitar, Shocked recounted the frightening tale of a black American graffiti artist's death while in police custody.

Although Shocked didn't necessarily talk about politics, her principles came across. It was through her attitude, music, charm and storytelling that the artist injected energy and optimism into the audience.

Most of this optimism emanated from the performance of the tracks from her new album, Captain Swing. In her cheeky Texan talk, Shocked introduced "[On] the Greener Side" with the words, "There actually is a greener side. You just gotta figure which side it is!"

The surprise of the evening came when the accompanying mandolin player proved not only to be incredibly talented, but also Shocked's much admired father. In seeing Bill Johnston perform, it was clear that Shocked's musical ability was nurtured by him.

Shocked's versatility as a songwriter and performer was prominent throughout the concert. She moved from screeching down the microphone to soothing the crowd with the blues and almost every other style in-between.

The essence of Michelle Shocked was best depicted in the beautifully plaintive "Anchorage." Shocked's unique experience of life, music and emotion was projected in her melodic voice as she sang "Ah, just keep on rocking, girl," and I'm sure Michelle Shocked will keep on rocking [article ends abruptly]