Don't Ask Don't Tell

Michelle Shocked's latest artistic explosion is a trilogy of albums recorded simultaneously during a sustained burst of overdriven creativity in December 04 and January 05, each one hewing to a particular stylistic concept - sort of (let's allow the girl some poetic license here). Just as audaciously, Michelle is releasing the three albums simultaneously.

'Don't Ask Don't Tell', is a breakup epic in the grand tradition of Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Shoot Out the Lights', Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks' and Marvin Gaye's 'Here, My Dear'. Like those enduring classics, 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is the product of real-life experience - songs as psychologically withering as "Elaborate Sabotage", "Hardly Gonna Miss Him", "Evacuation Route", and "Fools Like Us" simply can't be conjured up out of thin air.

Throughout 'Don't Ask Don't Tell', Shocked gets simpatico support from producer / bassist Dusty Wakeman and his ace Mad Dog Studio house band: guitarist Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams), keyboardist Skip Edwards and drummer Dave Raven. Additionally, Rich Armstrong steps up for some exquisite muted trumpet accents that are the very quintessence of heartbreak.