Step aside, it’s Michelle Malone. The powerhouse
southern rocker has released her eighth CD, Stomping
Ground a collection of well-crafted songs with those
perfectly messy guitar solos and tons of soul. The album is a confluence
of rock, folk, R&B, and blues, and recalls the energy and quality
of the early seventies rock that included acoustic Rolling
Stones and Rod Stewart. Malone calls the
music Chattahootchi Swamp Rock. “It’s not the southern
rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd - were not that.” she explains,
“There’s dobro, mandolin, and a lot of grassroots instruments, but
my love is rock ‘n’ roll. There are also a whole lot of electric
guitars and Marshall stacks.”
Born and raised in Atlanta, GA, Malone learned about music in church.
Her mother is cabaret singer Karyn Malone, and
her stepfather was a drummer and the choir minister at her church.
She attended high school during the year, and in the summers, she
and her brother went on tour with their mom. Having a mother who
was a performer was a big influence on the young Malone who remembers
seeing a picture of her mom in the paper. “She was wearing huge
bell bottoms and hoop earrings and long hair. I grew up thinking
that’s the way my life would be when I grew up. Glad they came back
in style (bell bottoms).”
In addition to her own music, Karyn Malone introduced her daughter
to everything from Bessie Smith to Janis
Joplin, Led Zeppelin, opera, and classical music. “She’s
one of the people in my life I have so much respect for.” Says Malone,
“Her strength and her courage… women have the ability to do anything
they put their minds to. Especially my mother. She handed that stubborn
Southern rebellion down to me.”
Touring for over a decade, she has criss-crossed the nation many
times appearing at extremely diverse venues. “There have been many
highs and lows,” She laughs, “I’ve played in every little po-dunk
shithole across the country. I played a dorm room in Iowa where
they were making their own beer in their room, and I played for
35,000 people or more touring with ZZ Top. I’ve
also done shows with The Indigo Girls, Dave Mathews,
and opened up for Ellen DeGeneres.” While the big
stage has it’s advantages, Malone especially loves the intimate
setting of house concerts. “People invite you into your homes, and
they’re there specifically to hear your music, unlike a bar where
they might be there to hear your music but they might be there to
find a date.”
Maintaining a positive attitude toward her music has allowed Malone
to make it work from the beginning. She hasn’t had a “proper” job
since high school, always finding a way to play music for a living.
“All things are possible,” she explains, “you just have to be 110%
committed to what you want to do. I just really want people to know
that about themselves. The blue print is in there.”
Malone started her career in 1987, releasing her first CD New
Experience on her own SBS Records.
Two short years later she landed a deal with Arista Records
and Relentless was released on Arista
in 1990. She recalls her major label experience as “stifling, political
and corporate.” Turning in demo after demo for the second CD, the
label did not support her music. Finally Malone asked to be let
go, noting irreconsilable differences. “Major labels are right for
some people and not for others,” says Malone of her Arista experience,
“I’m very stubborn, and I have a really good idea of what I want
to do and how I want to do it. I didn’t want to play a game.” Happiest
with an independent label, she continued to release five more albums
on SBS Records.
For Stomping Ground, Malone signed a distribution deal
with Daemon Records. Daemon is an independent label
owned by Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. Malone felt
comfortable working with Daemon being a long-time friend of Amy
Ray who she met in college in the late eighties. “Working with Daemon”
says Malone, “is as close to being with family as I could get in
the music world.” Working with Daemon will allow Malone support
for the record at retail and help with publicity and radio promotion.
Their distribution network will put Stomping Ground in
stores across the U.S., and the album will be available for sale
at Daemonrecords.com
and other online stores.
In addition to her own music, Malone helps to build the community
of independent artists by releasing independent music samplers through
SBS Records. She gives them away all over the world. And bands from
all over the world send songs to her. The samplers are funded by
the artists through a small fee for production of the CD. “We want
to encourage artists of all genres and at all levels to keep making
independent music.”
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