Michelle Shocked has always been opinionated. During a battle with Polygram Records, she even cited the 13th Amendment (yes, the one that prohibits slavery) to get out of her record deal. Her new Soul of My Soul has strong opinions, but Shocked is coming more from a place of love and contentment rather than anger and outrage. After years of railing against the Bush administration and what she calls President Bush’s “impressive job of exploiting the things that divide us,” she now calmly explains in the song “Other People” that, “Citizen to country…we should see other people.”

She returns to New Orleans as “the anti-prodigal daughter,” she says, with plans that include church, not bars. That doesn’t mean she intends to sugar-coat herself. “People are always like, ‘Why don’t you just shut up and sing?’ Like they just want their music as entertainment, but I always find it highly entertaining when someone has an opinion, whether I agree with it or not.”

But she’s also quick to point out that her shows are not political rallies. The New Orleans show will be about the time she spent here and how much it meant to her— according to Shocked, a “kind of a love fest for all my friends and fans in New Orleans.” “You know what the most punk thing I’ve done lately is?” she asks. “I went to a town hall meeting for health care reform and I just listened and watched both sides as they shouted at each other. People didn’t know which side I was on.”

Michelle Shocked plays the Blue Nile October 17. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.