Atlanta-based folksinger and songwriter Shawn Mullins was serving a member of the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry division when he released his first self-titled cassette on his own SM label in 1989; after 1991's Everchanging World, he left the military after eight years to pursue music full time. After three years spent fruitlessly searching for a record deal he established a new label, SMG, in the interim releasing two more LPs, 1992's Better Days and 1994's Big Blue Sky. After grinding it out for years, his song "Lullaby" finally caught the attention of 99X, an influential Atlanta "new rock"-format radio station. They started playing "Lullaby" and told Mullins to get ready for a record company bidding war.

Columbia Records signed Mullins and re-released his CD, Soul's Core.