Atlanta-based folksinger and songwriter Shawn Mullins was serving as a member of the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Division when he released his first self-titled cassette on his own SM label in 1989; following the release of 1991s Everchanging World, he left the military after eight years to pursue music on a full-time basis. After three years spent fruitlessly searching for a record deal, he established a new label, SMG, in the interim releasing two more LPs, 1992s Better Days and 1994s Big Blue Sky. After 1995s Jeffs Last Dance, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, live companion discs recorded jointly with Matthew Kahler, Mullins returned a year later with the solo Eggshells. Souls Core, his first album for major label Columbia, followed in 1998, scoring a Top Ten hit with the single Lullaby. The album eventually went platinum, paving the way for an anthology of his early work with 1999s The First Ten Years. In fall 2000, Mullins released the official follow-up to Souls Core, Beneath the Velvet Sun. The Essential Shawn Mullins collection arrived in 2003, followed by 9th Ward Pickin Parlor for Vanguard Records in 2006.