BETTER THE SECOND TIME; SHAWN MULLINS GETTING AIRPLAY WITH `SOUL CORE'S' RE-RELEASE.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

The times are a-changing for singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins, whose major-label debut has garnered airplay throughout the country.

``I've been touring for nine years in a van with my dog, Roadie, and now we've got a tour bus,'' Mullins explained. ``Now, I can walk around or do pushups, sit, write or watch TV.''

The Atlanta-based Mullins worked his material out the old-fashioned way, by playing more than 200 gigs a year.

His debut, ``Soul's Core,'' originally released on Mullins' own SMG imprint, was recently issued by Columbia with new packaging and an additional track (``Shimmer''). Last year, he was voted best acoustic artist at the Atlanta Music Awards.

The new album's ``Lullaby,'' a hook-filled, drum-loop-driven electro-acoustic saga of Hollywood heartbreak and redemption, is a staple at album alternative and modern-rock stations from sea to shining sea.

``When radio picked up on `Lullaby,' it was a total surprise,'' Mullins said. ``Out of my nine records, six have landed airplay on local stations, but not like this. Before this happened, I could never get booked at this club I always wanted to play in Chicago. I just drew 800 people to the city's biggest club, the Metro. That's what radio is doing for me. I can't believe it, man.''

Mullins says he gets his inspiration from journal entries while traveling.

``I write a lot on the road,'' he said. `` `Lullaby' was inspired by a gig I played at a venue that is also a Chinese restaurant. I could tell that one of the five people in the audience was moved by the music. She told me her story over Chinese food. I wrote down a few lines in my journal - `she grew up with the children of the stars.' Her story was sad, but I wanted to give her some hope. A week later, driving through the desert, the hook came to me - `everything gonna be alright, rock-a-bye.' ''

Bonus track ``Shimmer'' came a lot faster. The tune was ``one of those songs that just totally fell in my lap,'' Mullins said.

Another memorable number on ``Soul's Core'' - which was No. 59 and rising last week in the nation's pop albums chart - is ``Twin Rocks,'' which came about after a visit to the West Coast.

``I was so blown away by the West that I was trying to express what I felt inside about that part of the country,'' Mullins said. ``I wrote that song after I met a guy in Big Sur and a lady in Portland who told me similar stories. I try and make poems from the stories I hear and come up with songs that way, too.''

Mullins says he's not just relating the experiences of others, though.

``I love to meet people, and part of it is opening your heart to people on the road,'' he said. ``You can gain so much by being open. It allows you to communicate.''

Mullins got his start after winning a ninth-grade high school talent show with an original song.

``You had girls doing the Whitney Houston thing, you had the kid who wants to be a comedian, and I did my thing,'' he recalled. ``I couldn't believe I'd won. The prize was like 100 bucks and that was inspiration, let me tell you.''

The songwriter said ``Lullaby'' took off when an Atlanta modern-rock station began spinning the record.

``Within the next week, a bunch of modern-rock stations had added it,'' he said. ``For the first time in my career, I'm being radio-driven. It just blows me away.''

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Photo: no caption (Shawn Mullins)