Continuing yesterday’s focus on one-hit wonders, I’m turning today to Shea Seger, a singer-songwriter from Texas whose 2001 album, The May Street Project, is a refreshing blend of modern studio wizardry and appealing Lilith Fair-ready folk rock.
I guess it’s not even accurate to call Seger a one-hit wonder, because she never really had a hit. One song, ‘Clutch,’ was released as a single but I’ve never heard it other than on the album itself.
I posted ‘Clutch’ as a Song of the Day in early 2010 and was surprised to see it handily dismissed by the commenters. I’ve always loved that song.
Unlike Alana Davis, Seger hasn’t dropped off the face of the earth. She did for a long time, but self-released an album just last year (her second, with a decade between the two). Her website is up to date and everything. The new songs sound pretty good, too.
Today’s track, from The May Street Project, is a duet with Ron Sexsmith. That’s probably how she crossed my radar in the first place.
In the liner notes for his Cobblestone Runway album, Sexsmith wrote this about the song ‘These Days‘:
Every now and then I’ll write a song for somebody else to sing. I wrote “Foolproof” for Diana Krall and I wrote this one for Shea Segar. “Shea who?” you might ask… she made only one record and disappeared. I saw her recently though and I think she’s working on something new.
I saw the virgin and for a moment I believed
You said you’d save me
But I don’t want to be saved
I just want to be loved and to love always
I felt my lips move
But the words they were not mine
I heard you crying and for a moment
I could see
You said you’d save me but I don’t want to be saved
I just want to be loved and to love always
And it’s OK, I know what’s confusing me
I know what I want to see
And I know where I want to be
And an angel was flying next to me
No hesitation
For a moment I was free
You said you’d save me
But I don’t want to be saved
I just want to be loved and to love always
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, if you want to rise to stardom, you definitely can do no better than hitching your wagon to the hit maker that is Ron Sexsmith:)
I went back and listened to “Clutch” and, while I did see what you found appealing about the verses, the chorus still did nothing for me and, overall, the song still didn’t grab me.
Today’s song, unfortunately, does little to stir further interest in Shea. Not a bad song, but not a great one either.
Indeed, a duet with the Sexsmith is a generally one-way ticket to superstardom. Just ask Chris Martin — Coldplay was nothing before he teamed up with Sexsmith on the song ‘Gold in Them Hills’ from Ron’s Cobblestone Runway album. Suddenly even Gwyneth Paltrow took notice!
I like the sound of today’s SOTD, and her name is familiar to me, though I have no idea why. I wonder how many “fans” an artist like this has? Who follow her work, know she has a website, care if she releases another album? The fascinating thing about these reality talent competitions is the exposure they afford any artist who gets air time, even if that person doesn’t go particularly far. I’ve noticed some of my FB friends (who I don’t know to be American Idol fans) listening to Jason Castro on spotify. If he hadn’t appeared on AI, coming in 4th but gathering all sorts of passionate fans along the way, would he have released an album, hoped for some air play, then gone on to do whatever a musical artist who isn’t making much money from his music goes on to do (what doe Shea Seger do to make a living?)
And if Shea Seger had one of those shows on which to appear, would she have?
I’m curious to see the “Where are we now?” edition of The X Factor, American Idol, and The Voice, oh, maybe ten years down the road. Will anyone even know or listen to them? It seems as though YouTube and reality talent competitions are a much “better” way for a talented person to get his music in front of a potential audience, but I guess it remains to be seen if someone launched in this way actually has a lasting career. I suppose the next Carrie Underwood’s and next Justin Bieber’s are auditioning for the newest season of AI as I write this.
Shea should consider auditioning on next season’s X Factor. 🙂