Original image by There Stands the Glass.
“Another act is coming up next.” The unintentionally dismissive aside from a Kansas City based singer-songwriter at the conclusion of her set during a Manor Fest showcase last week didn’t seem to phase Nick Shoulders.
Although the Arkansas based artist has more monthly listeners at Spotify than the combined total of all four dozen Kansas City based acts featured at the homegrown festival, the insurgent folk musician is remarkably humble.
Mindful not to infringe on his August 1 concert at Knuckleheads with a full band, Shoulders told me before his thirty-minute solo set he intended to play only “deep cuts.” (Most people in the room had previously purchased festival passes. I paid $30 at the door for admittance for two.)
Shoulders opened with a hilariously transgressive cover of Randy Travis’ “Diggin’ Up Bones” that was calculated to tickle my fancy. Decades older than the remainder of the audience of about 75, my life partner and I were the only people able to sing along to the 1986 hit.
Dozens of locals suffering from the cultural myopia that’s long incapacitated Kansas City’s music scene had their ears opened. Hometown boosterism is commendable but insular parochialism is poisonous. Shoulders’ incontrovertible talent served as a masterclass in the sound of success.