Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Daily Archive
Michelle Malone - Folk? … on steroids, maybe.
Posted by admin on 02 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Audio 6-Packs & Artist Reviews
Artist of the Month, January 2008
While it’s true that great folk-fringe music is consistently kicking down the walls that used to define the “Folk Alliance,” this next act may have the Memphis Hilton send them a bill for the damage. Yes, Michelle Malone is playing the 2008 Folk Alliance Conference (February 20-24). If it’s folk - it’s gonna be on steroids.
Armed with a bottleneck slide, blues harmonica, and her signature gut-wrenching vocals, Moanin’ Michelle Malone ( a nickname given to her by Albert King after hearing her sing), is having so much fun these days that she can’t help but shake her Sugarfoot!
Malone was born in the dirty south and grew up listening to her mother sing in the church choir every Sunday. When it came time to craft her own sound, she took those religious roots, blended in enough rock and soul to keep the devil satisfied, and came up with her 9th studio CD, Sugarfoot. It’s a high-spirited stripped down blend of rootsy acoustic slide, gritty electric blues and explosive vocals with just enough rough edges to get the medicine down.
Sugarfoot sounds like the lost recordings of Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones meeting up in Susan Tedeschi’s garage for a late night jam session. And as is usually the case with Malone, the disc is an experience best enjoyed at high volume. Songs such as “Tighten up the Springs” ,”Rooster 44″ and “Traveling and Unraveling” highlight Malone’s devil-may-care attitude and her slide guitar, which is becoming more and more of a signature for her.
I’m having a good time with it,” she says. “Since I picked up the slide, I feel more free - I’m having more fun.” She’s also working hard - Malone plays all the guitar, blues harp, and mandolin on the new disc.
Malone has won many awards throughout her 2 decade + career including 3 time best album, best acoustic guitarist, and best female vocalist of the year, and Sugarfoot is no exception. As well as being voted best blues guitarist on IAC.com, Sugarfoot has earned Malone critical acclaim on a dozen “Best Of” lists including The Blues Critic Top 10 albums of the year, multiple nominations for traditional blues rock album, best female blues vocals, and is on the grammy ballot for Best Contemporary Blues CD.
Sugarfoot comes as close to capturing her raw spontaneity and grand, dirty, low-down power as anything to date. In keeping with that rough and tumble attitude, Malone averages over 200 days a year traveling the world, and has shared stages and tours with such blues legends as Albert King, Charlie Musselwhite, Johnny Winter, Little Feat, ZZ Top , Marsha Ball and Chris Whitley, as well as folk icons Shawn Colvin, Joan Baez, and Jackson Browne. She has also written, recorded and toured with John Mayer, Indigo Girls and Shawn Mullins.
Malone’s live show is not to be missed - and you won’t get a more intimate show than her upcoming Folk Alliance showcase in the CIYH private showcase room on Saturday the 23rd. Her song, “Preacher’s Daughter,” is also included in the CIYH Compilation CD.
