Big Bus Dream

“It's a solid debut, featuring Shannon's low Lou Reed style growl and tasteful, burnished songwriting." - Tim Davis, Creative Loafing

- Creative Loafing

"Imaginative and well crafted"

Dominick Miserandino, Celebrity Café
- Celebrity Cafe'

It starts by reminding me of Jonathan Richman, no bad
thing; sticking out like a broken heart at a wedding is ‘Without Me’a gentle acoustic plea
that really does go straight to the heart - it is nicely understated and all the better for it. These are old-fashioned protest songs at heart
with a patina of new-coffee house folk (the Gourds) rather than any weird new Americana, so the songs deliver their messages pretty cleanly and in a way that is easily digested, they tell stories...enough Variety and talent to keep me interested throughout. - AmericanaUK

It starts by reminding me of Jonathan Richman, no bad
thing; sticking out like a broken heart at a wedding is ‘Without Me’a gentle acoustic plea
that really does go straight to the heart - it is nicely understated and all the better for it. These are old-fashioned protest songs at heart
with a patina of new-coffee house folk (the Gourds) rather than any weird new Americana, so the songs deliver their messages pretty cleanly and in a way that is easily digested, they tell stories...enough Variety and talent to keep me interested throughout. - AmericanaUK

Big Bus Dream's second album is at its heart folk music – but there's more to the thoughtful arrangements than acoustic guitar and vocals. Mike Shannon's voice is placed at the front of the mix, giving the lyrics a boost so that no part of the stories he tells is lost. He sings with a Mark Knopfler-style: gruff, hushed, matter-of-factness that works well with the low, driving acoustic guitar.
Musically, the tracks are populated with colorful synthesizers and inventive percussion that suggest a rocker taking a restrained and crisp folk approach. Like Talking Heads unplugged with a Bowie-esque bridge, “Money Trumps Everything,” for instance, recalls Shannon's CBGB roots.
These songs could've been jacked up with electric guitars and busy production, but that might've stripped them of their loveliness.
- The Charlotte Observer

Big Bus Dream's second album is at its heart folk music – but there's more to the thoughtful arrangements than acoustic guitar and vocals. Mike Shannon's voice is placed at the front of the mix, giving the lyrics a boost so that no part of the stories he tells is lost. He sings with a Mark Knopfler-style: gruff, hushed, matter-of-factness that works well with the low, driving acoustic guitar.
Musically, the tracks are populated with colorful synthesizers and inventive percussion that suggest a rocker taking a restrained and crisp folk approach. Like Talking Heads unplugged with a Bowie-esque bridge, “Money Trumps Everything,” for instance, recalls Shannon's CBGB roots.
These songs could've been jacked up with electric guitars and busy production, but that might've stripped them of their loveliness.
- The Charlotte Observer