This Alabama-raised singer was already a 10-year vet of the business when she won a Best New Artist Grammy for 2000’s I Am Shelby Lynne; then she showed up on the cover of her next LP in daisy dukes (not that there’s anything wrong with daisy dukes, per se) and playing over-polished Nashville rock while trying to broaden her fan(ny)base.
It didn’t work, but it’s an example of how the singer bounced willy-nilly between styles and audiences through that era. What’s emerged now is a woman comfortable in the Muscle Shoals traditions that most of her music, including her new one, Revelation Road, was born in.
$26. Don Gibson Theatre in Shelby.
This article appears in Nov 8-14, 2011.
