Shawn McDonald's studio albums display a very creative musician and songwriter who is blessed with amazing vocals. In his live venture, Live in Seattle, McDonald has seemingly perfected the art of a live show.

With standout tracks like the album openers, "Here I Am," "Take My Hand," and "All I Need," McDonald engages his audience and listeners with lyrics dripping with passion, acoustic guitar that will please any casual listener, and audio quality that puts most live show recordings to shame.

McDonald's next song, "Open Me," is his most passionate song to date, with lyrics that beg God to increase our love for him, "Would You open up eyes, so I can see/Would You open up my ears, so I can hear/Would You open up my mind, so I can know/Would You open up my heart, so I could love You more."

Nearly any show with only an acoustic guitar and a vocalist runs the danger of each song sounding the same, but McDonald has proven to be an able songwriter and each track is seemingly different from the songs before and after it which really helps the song list along. With almost an hour of beautiful songs and guitar work, the acoustic/folk listener will immediately fall in love with Shawn McDonald.

Review date: 12/10/07, written by Zach Hall for Jesusfreakhideout.com