Please, Call Me Miss Shaw finds Miss Shaw rocking out and continuing to evolve into a fiercely independent musician who refuses to be pigeonholed as a “Cajun artist.” While Shaw has certainly shown hints of this on her previous releases, her latest recording shows an upward tick in this direction. The recording features five originals along with two covers, the traditional “Wednesday Night Waltz” and “Soulful Dress.” The high-octane “Lipstick Stain Blues” gets things jumping right from the start as Shaw gives a powerful vocal performance.
Things slow down with “Holiday” as we get the sweeter side of Shaw’s vocal talents, which are complemented nicely by her tasteful fiddle playing. “How Lucky You Are” was co-written with ace songwriter Jim McCormick and lies comfortably in Shaw’s wheelhouse. It’s catchy in all of the right ways and puts Shaw’s vocals and fiddle playing up front and center. Shaw tackles infidelity on “Dirty Blonde,” which features some nice back and forth playing between Tim Robertson on guitar and Shaw on fiddle. “Naked to the World” bridges the gap between some of the more rocking songs on this recording with the type of song that many listeners of Shaw have grown accustomed to over the course of her career. Shaw kicks things into high gear with a no holds barred version of “Soulful Dress,” which finds her aggressively spreading her wings as she delivers a tour de force vocal performance. “Wednesday Night Waltz” closes out the album and really stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the recording. It’s a nice way to wind things down and gives Shaw a chance to shine on fiddle. For many listeners, this is the Amanda Shaw that you may long for; but make no mistake, Shaw is pushing the envelope and discovering who she is as an artist.