July 27, 2018
Shelby Lynne Moorer was born in Quantico, Virginia, on October 22, 1968, and raised in Frankville, Alabama.
She came from a musical family and her house was filled with the sounds of classic country music as well as The Beatles and Elvis. Her mother was a natural singer, and her father began teaching her to play guitar around age seven. Lynne once said in an interview, “I was singing before I could talk.”After high school, Lynne decided to leave her Alabama life behind, for Nashville in 1989, so she could pursue her musical dreams. Once in Tennessee, Lynne met veteran songwriter Bob Tubert, and she gave him her demo tape. Tubert liked it and played it for the TV producer of Nashville Networks Nashville Now, who invited Lynne to perform on the show. The performance caught the attention of CBS Records, and Lynne was offered a contract with the label.Over the next three years, Lynne produced an album a year Sunrise (1989), Tough All Over (1990) and Soft Talk (1991), landing a few hits along the way. In 1991, she won the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist award.Never complacent, after two more albums, Lynne became hungry for a change from the Nashville system, and for her next album she enlisted producer Bill Bottrell, who had worked with such artists as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Sheryl Crow. The resulting album, I Am Shelby Lynne (1999), recorded far away from Nashville on the Northern California coast, earned Lynne the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2000which was especially poignant as she had been in the music business nearly 13 years.Love, Shelby was released in 2001, followed by two self-produced albumsIdentity Crisis (2003) and Suit Yourself (2005). Just a Little Lovin’, her critically acclaimed tribute to Dusty Springfield, was released in 2008. And the same year Suit Yourself came out, Lynne made her acting debut in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, playing Cashs mother. She has also appeared on the TV shows Head Case (2007) and Army Wives(2009).Again showcasing her need to take a different path, Lynne founded her own label, Everso Records, and its first release, Tears, Lies, and Alibis, debuted at No. 16 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart in April 2010. The album resonated with critics as well, and Newsday called it “her strongest album in a decade.” After this critical success, Lynne released her first-ever holiday collection, Merry Christmas, in time for 2010s holiday season.In 2011, Everso released Revelation Road, and Lynne headed out on a year-long solo acoustic tour. In 2013, a five-song EP, Thanks, came out to rave reviews from the likes of Mother Jones and The New York Times. Lynne said of the album “These songs are a way to express my love and gratitude to the universe and to all of the music appreciating souls out there for the friendship and fellowship that music brings us.”In 2014, I Am Shelby Lynne got the deluxe reissue treatment.I Cant Imagine was released in the spring of 2015, it was her first album for Rounder. The tour that followed included complete concert performances of the new recording and I Am Shelby Lynne in a single set.Lynne and sister Moorer teamed for the Side by Side tour, and considered recording an album together. The plan was shelved until 2017 when they got together in Los Angeles with producer Teddy Thompson and a small group of invited guest musicians including Benmont Tench, Erik Deutsch, Doug Pettibone, and Val McCallum. The sisters chose to record a host of covers from the classic country canon, alongside contemporary fare by pop and Americana songwriters. Their lone co-written original was the set closer Is It Too Much? Titled Not Dark Yet, the album was released by Thirty Tigers in August. They sold out venues across the U.S. And U.K. Lynne recently wrapped her first starring film role called Here I Am, a rock and Roll saga, directed by Cynthia Mort (Nina, Tell Me You Love Me). Lynne co-wrote the music and film score. The new single Off My Mind is currently available online.
Located at the Bijou Theatre
Friday, July 27 - 8pm
Website: www.knoxbijou.org