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Michelle Shocked is an unlikely candidate for stardom, but she seems to be well on her way. The gamin-like singer-songwriter-guitar player got her start at a Texas folk festival where her first album was recorded on a Sony Walkman.

That’s right, The Texas Campfire Tapes were recorded on a Sony Walkman on a hot summer night. You can even hear the crickets chirping in the background. But Shocked’s simple yet arresting songs jump out at the listener, just as they did on her follow-up album, Short Sharp Shocked. That too featured just her and her guitar. When she toured to support it in 1989, it was a solo effort all the way.

But this Saturday she faces a new challenge at The Warfield in San Francisco. Her new album, Captain Swing, featured full instrumentation, including horns and even spawned a video on MTV.

So, Shocked will have a different burden to bear this time, though it’s quite likely she’ll still rely on her quirky humor and rapport with her mostly female audience to help carry the show.

Her songs are her strength, and Captain Swing featured her best work yet. It will be interesting to see how she deals with a bigger crowd (her first show was at the cozy Great American Music Hall) and a full band – but my bet is she’ll make it an evening to remember.

Opening is John Wesley Harding, an English singer-songwriter-guitar player who is a mixture of Billy Bragg and Phil Ochs, though not quite in the league of either one. His album is only satisfactory, so he’ll have to turn it up a notch to win over a crown there to see Shocked.