- Michelle Malone
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Michelle Malone (born Atlanta, Georgia) is an American rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Contents
Biography
Malone was born and raised in Atlanta by her mother and grandmother, both professional singers. Malone first began performing at age four in a church choir, and later learned to play saxophone, guitar, and drums, which she played in her first band at age twelve.
As an teenager, Malone began to write songs. While studying voice at Agnes Scott College, she began performing professionally in and around Atlanta. She left school upon receiving a recording contract from Clive Davis at Arista Records, for whom she recorded, with her band Drag the River, the album Relentless. She later signed with Walter Yetnikoff at his Velvel Records label. Malone now owns her own label SBS Records, and continues to record and tour.
Over the course of her 20 year career, Malone has won numerous awards including Best Female Vocalist and Best Acoustic Guitarist (Creative Loafing), Album of the Year (Atlanta Magazine). Her albums Sugar Foot and Debris, released on SBS Records, were both on the Grammy Award ballot for best Contemporary Blues and Best Americana Albums respectively. Her songs have appeared in the films Bam Bam and Celeste, All Over Me, Shotgun Jesus and television programs True Blood, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Brooklyn South, and have been recorded by Indigo Girls (for which she received both gold and platinum records), Antigone Rising, Hannah Thomas, and Vistoso Bosses. Malone was also featured in a Georgia Tourism TV commercial with Elton John in the mid 90's. The Collectible card game Magic: The Gathering was named in part after Malone's song The Gathering (Redemption Dream 1994/Daemon/HiFi Records).
Malone has collaborated in the studio and on stage with such artists as John Mayor, SugarLand members Jennifer Nettles, Kristen Hall, and Kristian Bush, Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins, Kevn Kinney, Drivin' N Cryin', Little Feat, Albert King, Charlie Musselwhite, Johnny Winter, Lurrie Bell, Lonnie Brooks, ZZ Top, Robert Cray, Keb Mo, Tinsley Ellis, Rory Block, Marcia Ball, Chris Whitley, Steve Earle, K.T. Tunstall, Shawn Colvin, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Joan Osborne, as well as Ellen Degeneres.
Malone's tenth CD, Debris, was released April 2009 on her own SBS Records label and distributed by Thirty Tigers out of Nashville, TN. It was produced and engineered by Nick Didia. Guests on the CD include Peter Stroud (guitar), Jonny Daly(pedal steel), Phil Skipper (bass), Trish Land (percussion), Trina Meade (backing vocals), Tony Reyes (bass, backing vocals), and Dave Anthony (drums).
Critical response
Malone is "the kind of singer and songwriter who can jolt things into overdrive" (New York Times). Malone "churns up those Southern roots with the vigor of Lucinda Williams while embracing her inner Keith Richards" (Playboy Magazine). "The kind of singer and songwriter who can jolt things into overdrive." - New York Times
"raucous and jubilant - somewhere between Lucinda Williams and Shelby Lynne comes Malone alternating between soulful ballads and rowdy, riffy blasters." Rolling Stone
"4 out of 5 Bunnies "... on this loose and blues-stoked new album, Malone churns up those Southern roots with the vigor of Lucinda Williams while embracing her inner Keith Richards." - Playboy
"Her lyrics ripple with Dylanish imagery and a fierce will to survive." Mademoiselle
"Malone has become a master at mixing blues and Americana" Guitar Player
”A proper American cocktail best drunk straight up.” Billboard
"Why Michelle Malone hasnt knocked the likes of Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt off of their roots-rock and blues pedestals blows the mind. Maloneʼs authentic interpretation of good old Southern rock and hard-edge blues should have her rubbing shoulders with the Allman Brothers and Buddy Guys of the world. Sugarfoot and Stompinʼ Ground, are rousing and relentless toe-tapping beauties deserving of a boatload of attention." (The Village Voice)
"as raw, magnificent, dirty and low down as anything you'll ever want to hear in blues music - our blues-breaker CD for the week"( Dan "Elwood" Akroyd, House of Blues Radio Hour)
”A proper American cocktail that’s best drunk straight up.” (Billboard)
“Whether moanin’ at midnight or howlin’ at the delta moon, Malone’s the sexiest, most swaggering-est gal rocker on the goddam planet right now. “ (Blurt Magazine)
"Michelle Malone may have the best voice you've ever heard." (Paste Magazine)
"She's mastered all the tools of the trade and destined for greatness. A refreshing surprise of an album." (Blues Revue Magazine)
Malone has become a master at mixing blues and Americana" (Guitar Player Magazine)
“Michelle Malone is as well-rounded as she is supremely talented.” (Hittin’ The Note)
"She has the soul of a bluesman, the heart of a folk singer, and the guts of a rock and roll star all wrapped up in one fiery bad ass” (Nashville Rage)
“The first four songs on Moanin’ Michelle Malone’s new CD, Debris, are the four best blues songs you’ll hear this year. It is, quite possibly, the best four-song combination ever put together in a blues album. If someone teaches a Modern Blues 101 class, that person should start with these four songs.” (Atlanta Music Guide)
“Michelle Malone is among the flashiest, most impressive slide guitar soloists working in contemporary blues, often fortifying her vocals with slashing lines, inventive twists and surprising backing.” (Nashville City Paper)
"Malone’s riveting wail and sizzling slide guitar blend sass and defiance with an authoritative presence exuding a spunk all her own." (Performing Songwriter)
"Michelle Malone’s badass pipes and guitar shine on new album." (Metromix Greenville)
“Slinging a slide guitar that roars, Michelle Malone is a crackling live wire.” (Indy Weekly)
“Debris is like sing-along, foot-tapping, booty-shaking therapy.” (Southern Voice)
Discography
- New Experience (1988)
- Relentless (1990) (with Drag the River)
- For You Not Them (1992)
- A Swingin' Christmas in the Attic (1993)
- Redemption Dream (1994) (with Band de Soleil)
- Bird On Fire (1996) (with Band de Soleil)
- Beneath the Devil Moon (1997)
- Lucky to Be Live (1998)
- Homegrown (1999)
- Strange Bird, Vol. 3 (2000)
- Hello Out There (2001)
- Stompin' Ground (2003)
- Sugarfoot (2006)
- Debris (2009)
References
External links
Categories:- Living people
- Alumni of women's universities and colleges
- American blues guitarists
- American blues singers
- American female guitarists
- American female singers
- American singer-songwriters
- Female rock singers
- People from Atlanta, Georgia
- Agnes Scott College people
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