CMT Blog: Archive

When Shelby Lynne sings, her bold voice cuts right through me, and that direct approach spills over into her stage banter, too. During her concert at the Belcourt Theatre last night (May 13), she praised Nashville for allowing her to make music for a living, and that if she didn't have roots here (as a fledgling country artist back in the 1980s), she wouldn't have a career. She immediately followed that by announcing that she's now started her own label, then flipped the bird -- on both hands -- to all the Nashville labels and told them to suck it.

I'd go just about anywhere to hear Shelby Lynne sing, even though she scares me a little bit. Her newest album, Tears, Lies and Alibis, is certainly on par with past efforts like Restless (1995) and I Am Shelby Lynne (2000), and she front-loaded her set with her new material. She did apologize later for starting the set with "Rains Came" (considering the flood), but she was quickly forgiven by the older crowd, who presumably have been following her career for the last few decades.

Her live renditions occasionally bring out the nuances that you might not hear on her albums. A few of the tracks that I've been skipping on Tears, Lies and Alibis turned out to be some of my favorite moments of the show because of the way her voice pulled me in. Later, on "Leavin," she sang, "As you walk around and try to find yourself/Take a look at the bed you made." Even though she wasn't addressing me in particular, I couldn't help shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

Unfortunately she didn't draw much from her Dusty Springfield tribute album (which I love), but that's OK. Anything she does is fine with me -- and I wouldn't dare suggest otherwise.