The Reverend Shawn Amos Previews New Album for Free

The Reverend Shawn Amos loves everyone so much he’s giving them a free listen to his new album, The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, on an exclusive stream on Allmusic.com. If you love the blues, you’ll likely love Amos’ music, and if you don’t love the blues, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Shawn Amos is not just a blues singer, but a songwriter, producer and an artist with a knack for the harmonica, rocking blues in an old school tradition but with a contemporary twist. Allmusic.com chose to feature the artist on the strength of The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You and sing his praises.

“[Shawn Amos] sounds enthusiastic and invigorated on The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You… brimming with confidence, combining his bluesy vocal with sharp electric guitars and some well-placed horns and piano.”

While the official release of The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You arrives October 16, all ten tracks can be heard through streaming now. The album consists of eight original songs and two classic covers, with supporting studio musicians that include Chris “Doctor” Roberts (guitars), Chris Thomas (bass), Brady Blade (drums, percussion), Forever Jones (backing vocals), Anthony Marinelli and Hassell Teekell (keyboards), Lewis Smith (trumpet), and Nick Lane (horn arrangements). Two-time Grammy nominee Mindi Abair makes her producing debut with The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, in addition to contributing vocals.

Gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama also make a cameo on The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, contributing vocals to the haunting “Days of Depression”and earning them another of many website features off the new album, this time on Relix. “Brand New Man” debuted on PureVolume, and one of the covers on The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, the classic “Bright Lights, Big City,” was featured on Yahoo Music.

Amos has a somewhat unconventional backstory before arriving at the blues and becoming the musician he is today. He was born to night club singer Shirl-ee May Ellis and chocolate chip cookie mogul Wally “Famous” Amos in New York City and grew up in Hollywood, not the Mississippi Delta. If that sounds like a pretty nice childhood growing up wealthy in a mecca of art and entertainment, Shawn Amos certainly earned his claim to the blues. Shirl-ee May suffered from schizoaffective disorder, committing suicide in 2003.

That prompted Amos to go back and revisit his mother’s early singing career for inspiration, releasing his album Thank You Shirl-ee May in 2005. Amos has released a total of five music albums, but The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You is only his second blues record, picking up where 2014’s The Reverend Shawn Amos Tells It left off.

If you think that’s a pretty colorful history so far, Amos previously worked as an A&R executive at Rhino Entertainment, and vice president of A&R at Shout! Factory, giving him a taste of Grammy caliber music vicariously. He’s also produced various media projects for legacy artists such as Qunicy Jones and Heart.

If all of that weren’t enough, Amos is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church, so when he says he can preach the blues, he can really preach the blues, quite literally, which he does on The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You. But, as Amos told Allmusic.com, it’s all of the twists and turns that make him the man and musician he is today.

“Every road I’ve traveled has led me here. I found myself with the blues. This music is really the most direct connection I’ve found to my heart and my spirit. It’s also brought me the most joy I’ve ever had making music. The blues has been relegated the outskirts of the pop culture playground. I hope this album in some small way helps to bring it closer to the main stage.”

[Photo courtesy of Blind Raccoon PR]