Atlanta-based folksinger and songwriter Shawn Mullins was serving as 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. Following the release of 1991's Everchanging World, he left the military after eight years to pursue music on a full-time basis. After three years spent fruitlessly searching for a record deal, he established a new label, SMG, and released the LPs Better Days and Big Blue Sky in the interim. After 1995's Jeff's Last Dance, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (live companion discs recorded jointly with Matthew Kahler), Mullins returned a year later with the solo Eggshells.