Music! Music! Music!

Back when I Am Shelby Lynne was released in 2000, Out Magazine touted its release by comparing it to Dusty Springfield’s best efforts. Like Dusty who is much loved in these parts Shelby defies definition. Both artists approach (ed) their material from different perspectives, but both end (ed) up in the same authentic place.

I Am Shelby Lynne is a blue-eyed rhythm and blues album with a dash of real blues thrown in for good measure. The music is Dusty Springfield sprinkled with Bonnie Raitt.

Lynne's vocals are what makes all of these self-penned tunes special. Her voice suits this material perfectly. She can coo like a kitten on "Black Light Blue" or wail like a blues queen on "Life Is Bad." The latter comes complete with a very bluesy slide guitar and vocal style that indicates she may have listened to early Raitt. "Your Lies," which opens the album, sounds just like a good 1960s Top 40 song by the late Springfield. If released as a single back then it most certainly would have been a hit.


Springfield's "Some of Your Lovin'" penned by Carole King is the closest in kinship to this unique sound. It was the late Dusty's favourite recording.

"Gotta Get Back," "Thought It Would Be Easier" and "Leavin," are all enjoyable low key R&B songs. The Springfield influence is prevalent on all. The closest Lynne gets to her country roots is on "Where I'm From," her tribute to her home state of Alabama, but even that tune exhibits enough blues touches so as not to be considered a true country song.

If you like your female vocalists to sing with feeling but not sound like one of the many melodramatic divas that have gained notoriety over the last decade, I Am Shelby Lynne is for you.

(From the ‘Net: Rambles – a Cultural Arts Magazine)

Shelby Lynne will be performing at Tower Records Lincoln Center New York this coming Wednesday July 13, 2005 at 6PM in anticipation of her performance at Central Park’s Summer Stage on July 15, 2005. Shelby is here to enhance our musical lives with a new album on Capitol, Suit Yourself. It hearkens back to her milestone opus, I Am … for which she received much acclaim. The recent article in Next Magazine paints what seems to be an accurate picture of the independent artist.

Experiencing Lynne on stage at the Ryman in Nashville some years back was a unique experience. It was the distinct pleasure of experiencing a performer who loves her craft and approaches it in a no nonsense way.

*****

The same evening upstairs at Tower Lincoln Center’s Any Wednesday Cabaret Bart Greenberg brings to us another top notch act, Boulevard East. Bart has been diligently playing their disc in Tower’s Vocal Section and, therefore, his regular customers will probably be familiar with their sound:

Combining their unique personalities and shared love of standards, Christopher Howatt, Dana Merritt and Beth Covell deliver a fresh interpretation of many of the enduring songs you love. From Cole Porter to Hoagy Carmichael...from Nat King Cole to The Andrew Sisters...from bluesy ballads to Broadway, "Boulevard East" sings the best of the best!

This coming Wednesday promises to be one of Tower’s most promising evenings. Hope to see you there.