Michelle Malone is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, she started performing in bands and writing songs as a teenager. Initially, she would sign with
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
after performing around parts of Atlanta. Soon after, she would release an album entitled Relentless with her band Drag the River. She would also collaborate with
The Harshed Mellows with the song "U.S. Blues" for the tribute album ''
Deadicated''. She would again switch labels, going to Velvel Records, but decided to found her own record company, SBS Records.
Throughout the following years, she would release a multitude of albums. In the 2000s she would release ''Debris'' (2009) and ''Sugar Foot'' (2006), with the former supported by a tour throughout North America and Europe. The following decade Malone would continue with ''Day 2'' (2012) and ''Acoustic Winter'' (2014), with both having a combined tour.
Malone's other solo studio albums include ''New Experience'' (1988), ''Dream'' (1994), ''Home Grown'' (1999), ''Hello Out There'' (2001), ''Stompin' Ground'' (2003),'' Strange Bird: Volume 4'' (2003), ''Stronger Than You Think'' (2015), and ''Slings & Arrows'' (2018).
Biography
Malone was born and raised in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia, by her mother and grandmother, both professional singers. Malone first began performing at age four in a
church choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
, and later learned to play saxophone, guitar, and drums, which she played in her first band at age twelve.
As a teenager, Malone began to write songs. While studying voice at
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College is a Private university, private Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergra ...
, she began performing professionally in and around Atlanta. She left school upon receiving a recording contract from
Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
at
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
, for whom she
recorded, with her band
Drag the River, the album ''Relentless'', produced by
Lenny Kaye of the
Patti Smith Group
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
. She later signed with
Walter Yetnikoff at his Velvel Records label. In 1992 Malone started her own label, SBS Records, and continues to record and tour.
Over the course of her 30-year career, Malone has won numerous awards including Best Female Vocalist and Best Acoustic Guitarist (''
Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of an arts and culture news and events newspaper/magazine. The company historically published a weekly publication that once had a 160,000 weekly circulation. While Creative Loafing is no longer p ...
''), and Album of the Year (''
Atlanta Magazine''). Her albums ''Sugar Foot'' and ''Debris'', released on SBS Records, were both on the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
ballot for best Contemporary Blues and Best Americana Albums respectively. Her songs have appeared in the films ''
Bam Bam and Celeste'', ''
All Over Me'', and ''Shotgun Jesus'' and television programs ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...
'', ''
Dawson's Creek
''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...
'', ''
Felicity'', and ''
Brooklyn South'', and have been recorded by
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...
(for which she received both gold and platinum records),
Antigone Rising, and
Vistoso Bosses. Malone appeared with
The Harshed Mellows on a recording of the song "U.S. Blues" for the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
tribute album ''
Deadicated'' (
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
, 1991). She was also featured in a Georgia Tourism TV commercial with
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
in 1994. In 2010, Malone took part in a virtual concert performing to a screen displaying
avatars, as part of
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the Monkees and co-star of their The Monkees (TV series), TV series of the same name (1966–1968) ...
's Video Ranch 3D project.
Malone has collaborated in the studio and on stage with such artists as
Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...
,
Chuck Leavell,
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...
,
Sugarland members
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer.
Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based bands ...
,
Kristen Hall
Kristen Hall (born October 24, 1962) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and a founding member of the country music group Sugarland. She had a solo career and released several albums, formed the country band Sugarland, and more recently ...
, and
Kristian Bush
Kristian Merrill Bush (born March 14, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim (band), Billy Pi ...
,
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...
,
Shawn Mullins,
Justin Vernon
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...
of
Bon Iver
Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...
,
,
Drivin' N Cryin',
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in ...
,
Albert King
Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...
,
Charlie Musselwhite
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago ...
,
Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...
,
Lurrie Bell,
Lonnie Brooks,
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
,
Robert Cray,
Keb Mo,
Tinsley Ellis,
Rory Block,
Marcia Ball
Marcia Ball (born March 20, 1949) is an American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana.
Ball was described in ''USA Today'' as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp me ...
,
Chris Whitley
Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Whitley's sound was drawn from the traditions of blues, jazz and rock and he recorded songs by artists from many g ...
,
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982.
Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...
,
KT Tunstall
Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...
,
Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home".
Early life
Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...
,
Jackson Browne
Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States.
Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...
and
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...
, as well as
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer.
She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...
.
Malone recorded and released ''Debris'', on her own SBS Records label and distributed by
Thirty Tigers
Thirty Tigers is an American music marketing, distribution and management company for independent artists, based in Nashville.
History
The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland and is distributed by The Orchard.
In 20 ...
in Nashville, Tennessee. It was produced and engineered by
Nick Didia
Nick DiDia is an American record producer, engineer and mixer currently residing in Australia. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles and later Atlanta before moving to Byron Bay, Australia. Since the early 1990s, he has amassed over 40 millio ...
. Musicians on the CD include
Peter Stroud (guitar), Phil Skipper (bass), Trish Land (percussion), Trina Meade (backing vocals), Tony Reyes (bass, backing vocals), Angela Kaset (piano) and Dave Anthony (drums). Touring extensively in support of ''Debris,'' Malone and her band (consisting of Alabama natives Ryan Keef, Katie Herron) performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Malone recorded and released ''Day 2'' in 2012, produced with
Shawn Mullins and Gerry Hansen, with contributing musicians
Randall Bramblett
Randall Bramblett (born 1948) is an American musician and singer-songwriter, whose career as a solo artist, session player, and touring musician, has spanned five decades. He has worked with Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Goose Creek Symphony, Ro ...
,
Chuck Leavell, Phil Skipper, Gerry Hansen and Tom Ryan. In January 2014, she released ''Acoustic Winter'', produced and engineered by Gerry Hansen and Ben Holst.
In 2014, Malone toured in support of her ''Acoustic Winter'' and ''Day 2'' CDs, as well as toured with
Kristian Bush
Kristian Merrill Bush (born March 14, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim (band), Billy Pi ...
of
Sugarland in support of his solo release ''
Southern Gravity''. Malone plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, and harmonica and sings backing vocals in Kristian Bush's band. She also wrote her record "Stronger Than You Think" during this time and released it in 2017.
In 2018, Michelle released her 15th studio album ''Slings and Arrows'' to critical acclaim. It was recorded in four days live in the studio at Bakos Amp Works with Doug Kees on Guitar, Robby Handley on bass, Trish Land on percussion, and Christopher Burroughs. Michelle Malone produced it, Jeff Bakos engineered it, and Gerry Hansen mixed it at Creekside Studios. The record was written, recorded, and performed in Georgia by Georgia musicians. It debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard Blues Albums Chart.
Malone is currently on tour in support of Slings and Arrows Malone is also currently working on a Christmas album with her new holiday group, the jazzy cocktail trio Michelle Malone and The Hot Toddies with Doug Kees on guitar and Robby Handley on upright bass. In 2019, Malone and her Band appeared on the Southern Rock Cruise 2019 with
Blackberry Smoke,
Kentucky Headhunters,
Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section (or ARS) is an American Southern rock band formed in 1970 by Rodney Justo (singer), Barry Bailey (guitar), Paul Goddard (bass), Dean Daughtry (keyboards), Robert Nix (drummer), Robert Nix (drums) and J. R. Cobb (guitar). ...
,
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band. A co-founder of the band when it formed in 1969, he was central ...
,
Marshall Tucker Band, and
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
.
Discography
* ''
New Experience'' (Aluminum Jane Records • 1988)
* ''Relentless'' (
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
• 1990) (with
Drag the River)
* ''For You Not Them'' (Sister Ruby Records • 1993)
* ''A Swingin' Christmas in the Attic'' (SBS Records • 1993)
* ''Redemption Dream'' (Hi-Fi Records /
Daemon Records
Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent ...
• 1994) (with Band de Soleil)
* ''Bird on Fire'' (SBS Records • 1996) (with Band de Soleil)
* ''
Beneath the Devil Moon'' (Velvel Records • 1997)
* ''Lucky to Be Live'' (Velvel Records • 1998)
* ''Homegrown'' (SBS Records • 1999)
* ''Strange Bird, Vol. 3'' (SBS Records • 2000)
* ''Hello Out There'' (SBS Records • 2001)
* ''Stompin' Ground'' (SBS Records • 2003)
* ''Sugarfoot'' (SBS Records • 2006)
* ''Debris'' (SBS Records • 2009)
* ''Moanin in the Attic Live'' (SBS Records • 2010)
* ''Day 2'' (SBS Records • 2012)
* ''Acoustic Winter'' (SBS Records • 2014)
* ''Stronger Than You Think'' (SBS Records • 2015)
* ''Slings and Arrows'' (SBS Records • 2018)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Michelle
Living people
American blues guitarists
American blues singers
American women guitarists
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
Singers from Atlanta
Agnes Scott College alumni
American lesbian musicians
American LGBTQ singers
American LGBTQ songwriters
LGBTQ people from Georgia (U.S. state)
Lesbian songwriters
Lesbian singers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)
20th-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American women singers
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)