Shawn Mullins’ new album “9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor” is named after the recording studio in New Orleans where about half of the album was recorded.

The actual 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor was destroyed during Katrina, shortly after Mullins finished the portion of the album that was recorded there. The Parlor has since been re-established in Lawrence, Kan. Mullins’ intention with the album was to strip down the music to an authentic acoustic sound by not using any loops or samples, but playing everything through and taking the best cut knowing that it won’t be perfect.

The first track “Blue as You” is uninspiring by itself. It consists of pop acoustic guitar and cliché lyrical styling; however, if thought of as a warm up for the rest of the album, it serves its purpose well.

One of my favorite tracks is the third, “Cold Black Heart.” It is a dark, traditional southern folk song that tells a story of love, passion, adultery, murder and life on the run from the law. The percussion and the quick banjo work on the song are impressive and used well to supplement the lyrics. This makes for a memorable track with everything that you could want from a southern folk song.

Being from Seattle, I couldn’t help but get excited for “All Fall Down,” the 10th track which sounded like a crossbreed between Shawn Mullins’ pop-folk style and the Seattle grunge ballads of bands such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Mullins’ vocal styling on this track breaks the traditional standards of folk music in an effective way, and the song is further strengthened by a bold guitar solo not common in folk music or even most blues.

The 12th track, “Solitaire,” is a slow, dark, mourning jazz ballad whose subtlety smoothes the atmosphere. The song straggles along in a rather addictive way with slow blues guitar work and dissonant vocal melodies. This song is just cool and is a perfect set up for the final track.

The 13th track is a cover of “House of the Rising Sun.” It starts out the way every cover of this song does and slowly builds, adding more and changing small things here and there. Mullins sticks close to tradition but does improvise some new vocal melodies. There is also a guitar solo that varies from tradition only in the effects used.

Mullins’ new album is no pioneering of new musical ideas, but he masterfully compiles styles of the past and present in this well orchestrated and easy to listen to album.

Alex Cooper can be reached at [email protected].