LOS ANGELES – 2005 will be a big year for Michelle Shocked, who will release a new trilogy of albums on June 14 on her own Mighty Sound label through Megaforce and RED Distribution.

The two-time Grammy nominee will present her threesome, continuing the "American Trilogy" concept of her first three Mercury albums.

The three new albums -- titled Don't Ask Don't Tell; Mexican Standoff; and Got No Strings -- chronicle a tumultuous time of life -- including her recent divorce. This isn't to imply that the songs are bitter. In fact, to the contrary they’re executed with humor, imagination, irony and empowerment -- and in voices most have never heard from Michelle. There's rock and after-hours blues and hardcore punk and twang shading her sly lyrics.

The first of these albums, Don't Ask Don't Tell, is a rock album, full of guitar and guts, produced by man-to-watch Dusty Wakeman (Dwight Yoakam, Anne McCue.) The story of what she's gone through is in there, but so are a lot of other stories and emotions. Early comparisons have been drawn to Richard Thompson's Shoot out the Lights with the chromatic eclecticism of an album like Los Lobos' Kiko.

Mexican Standoff – like a line drawn in the sand - is half Latin, half blues. It is Shocked's unique tribute to both her Texas and Latin roots. Grounded in the blues tradition that infuses all of her work, it squares off with the influences of her adopted home, Los Angeles – and an exploration of her Spanish heritage. "You know more Spanish than you think you do," is how she accounts for the showdown between the Texas blues shuffles on one side and the folklorico border ballads on the other. With basic production by Los Lobos Steve Berlin on the Spanglish tracks and Mark Howard on the blues numbers, Wakeman is once again at the helm, bringing the project safely into port.

Sailing in its wake is a very different album, Got No Strings, a playfully animated work in which Shocked re-imagines songs from Disney films – from standards like "When You Wish Upon a Star" to memory-joggers like "Baby Mine" – as western swing numbers. It’s an inspired juxtaposition, thanks in large measure to the contributions of producer/guitarist Nick Forster of Hot Rize/ETown renown, lap steel wizard Greg Leisz, Gabe Witcher on fiddle and David Jackson on bass.

According to Shocked, "I'm not gonna try to convince myself that it was practical. But I do tend to think in concepts of trilogies, tryptichs, trios. It seems like a complete cycle to me."

And you're hearing it here first: There are three more albums right behind these, completely different than these, including gospel/electronica and New Orleans style jazz and a tribute to blueswoman pioneer Memphis Minnie. She says, "You can't stop creative momentum. When it hits, you gotta roll with it..."

Michelle will tour in support of the new material this summer:

Thu-Jun-02 Los Angeles - The Mint
Fri-Jun-03 San Francisco - Great American
Sat-Jun-18 Pittsburgh - Three Rivers Arts Festival
Tue-Jun-21 Tucson - Plush
Wed-Jun-22 Flagstaff, AZ - Orpheum
Thu-Jun-23 Salt Lake City - Velvet Room
Fri-Jun-24 Boulder - Fox Theater
Sat-Jun-25 Taos - Solar Festival
Sun-Jun-26 Austin – Antone’s
Mon-Jun-27 Lexington. KY - The Dame
Tue-Jun-28 Baltimore - Ramshead
Wed-Jun-29 New York - Joe's Pub (3 shows featuring each of the 3 albums)
Thu-Jun-30 Philadelphia - World Café
Fri-Jul-01 Ann Arbor Ark - TBA
Sat-Jul-02 Chicago - Hothouse
Sun-Jul-03 Milwaukee - Summerfest
Tue-Jul-05 Portland, OR - Douglas Fir Lounge
Wed-Jul-06 Seattle - Triple Door