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“If it doesn’t swing, I don’t want to play it,” says Michelle Shocked, the 28-year-old Texan gal who’s been creating quite the fuss with her latest album, Captain Swing, a honky tonkin’ recorded offering that stirs up a regular ragout of all the things that are a Texas girl’s musical roots, like a little country western, Cajun and blues.

“By swing, I mean a feeling, as opposed to a style. If people are attracted to music, it is usually not because of style, but because of the way it makes them feel. I know how it makes me feel. I want people to know where I’m coming from before I decide where I’m going. I’m willing to let my new material shape itself.”

Calling from Philadelphia, Michelle told the West Ender she “felt pressure to be a big star overnight.”

“The crowds have been pretty consistent,” reported Michelle on the current tour which brings her here to the Commodore Tuesday, May 22. “We’ve been playing to 1,000-1,500 people. But there appears to be a part of the audience that has been disappointed that it’s not (material from) Short Sharp Shocked that we’re playing. There is this small base of women’s support groups that seem cynical, suspicious of me, perhaps, because I did alter tracks. I guess being a professional folksinger is a contradiction in terms. Short Sharp Shocked was a story-telling album, but Captain Swing is more about the music, the feeling, the swing.” Her debut album, The Texas Campfire Tapes, was released first in the U.K. but has since, like Short Sharp Shocked, gone gold here in Canada. Captain Swing Revue features a six-piece band replete with a horn section that includes Tower of Power trumpet man, Lee Thornburg. She answered a few personal questions you might like knowing about the controversial singer-songwriter.

Born: Dallas, Texas, February 1962. Sign: Pisces, Year of the Tiger, Eyes: Hazel (“of the brown/green combination”); Hair: black/brown; Height: 5’8”; Faves: the colour black, her new Taylor, Jumbo acoustic guitar; Singer: k.d. lang; Guitar player: Jeff Healy.

Major influences: “My father. It was his mandolin playing that first inspired me to pick up the guitar.”

Listening to now: “I am really enjoying Nick Lowe’s new album, and Louis Jordan, an old swing cat from New Orleans.”

You’ve travelled a lot. What’s your favourite city? “In Europe, Amsterdam; in the US, New Orleans.

You’ve played here in Vancouver before. What do you like best about our city? “There seems to be a real liberal atmosphere there. I’m not saying it’s the most peaceful city, but it doesn’t sweep its problems under the mat.”

Advice to young, aspiring hopefuls: “I encourage anyone to realize that they can tell their own stories, stories about their experiences in life. Life presents experiences that are legitimate to write about in song.”

What’s next? “I have new material, but I want to keep working hard with Captain Swing. Next year I’ll put out a new album. Yes, there will be another shift in emphasis, but I can hint that I will be making the musical agenda as clear as possible. You can make good music with a simple tune. It will swing, guaranteed, or I’d be letting myself down.”