Michelle Malone is playing at Star Gaze Saturday, July 1, 5419 N. Clark, ( 773 ) 561-7363.
As a solo artist or as part of a band, Michelle Malone's honey-dipped vocals are as distinctive as Malone herself. Emerging from the fertile Atlanta music scene to become one of the most recognizablwe performers on the acoustic music circuit, Michelle Malone is a riveting live performer, and one who deserves the considerable following she has earned over the years.
Gregg Shapiro: Your most recent album is the self-released disc Homegrown ( SBS Records ) .
MM: I was on a label ( Velvel ) that is now defunct. The last label I was with. I was sort of forced to put out my next record myself because I was ready to record and didn't have a label. I'm really not the kind of person to sit around and wait for other people to come and do things for me or help me. I felt completely able to put out my own record. I had done it when I first started making music with New Experience. I felt like I knew what I was doing. The record itself is kind of a return to my acoustic roots, as far as the production goes. It still has band material on it—drums, bass and guitar. Really, what you hear is vocals and acoustic guitar up-front. I think I dug pretty deeply into my psyche to come up with most of these songs. I feel like they're really honest and heartfelt. I'm very proud of it.
GS: You are currently touring in support of that disc with your band, the Michelle Malone Stars.
MM: They're a couple of friends of mine that I've been playing with, off and on, for maybe two years or so. Michael Lorant plays drums and sings. He's from the band Big Fish Ensemble and from the Indigo Girls fold. He's toured and played with them a lot. David LaBruyere plays bass and sings. We all came up in the same scene. David played on Shawn Mullins's records and has been touring with me for the past year, year and a half or so.
GS: I'm glad that you brought up the Indigo Girls. I understand that you have also been touring with Amy ( Ray ) and Emily ( Saliers ) . How does it feel to be a satellite member?
MM: A "satellite member," that's interesting. I'm very proud of it. It's the most fun I ever have in music. Before this band, the Malone Stars, that I'm in recently, I never got to sing much with others. Either no one else sang in the bands I was in before or I was touring solo. So, when I do get to sing with Amy and Emily it's an amazing experience. We've been doing it for so long that it comes really naturally for all of us. We blend really well, we know pretty much the inflections and little vocal habits of each other. It is such a great experience and they're a couple of my best friends and I love to be around them.
GS: Speaking of singing, you do a positively breathtaking cover of "The Look Of Love" on the Dusty Springfield tribute disc Forever Dusty: Homage To An Icon ( R&D Records ) .
MM: Oh, thank you. My mom ( Karyn Malone Folmar ) is on there, too. I'm just so proud of her and her voice. It just kills me.
GS: That's who you are singing with on the song?
MM: Yeah, that's my mom. You can't really tell where I stop and she starts. ... Rebekah Radisch, one of the co-founders of the record label that put out the Dusty tribute record, is an old, dear friend of mine from the early days of the Indigo Girls and us always being on the road. She lives in Chapel Hill ( NC ) and she used to work in a radio station that we used to always go to. You just make great friends along the way and stay in touch and little things pop up over the years. It's great. I've always loved Dusty. I'm very proud to be a part of that project. I'm really happy to hear someone bring that up, because it's something I'm very proud of.
GS: I understand that photography is a hobby of yours. Will we be seeing one of your photos on the cover of a forthcoming CD?
MM: I don't know. I'm kind of enjoying keeping it a hobby. And that also means, to me, keeping it to myself. I don't really want to open it up to critique or anything like that, because then it becomes this other part of me. I just do it for fun. I completely stumbled into it and I have no idea what I'm doing. It appears that people really like the photos I take and I think that's great. I'm actually selling a couple of them at a local [ Atlanta ] folk art shop here. That's really nice. I'm going to have some them up here in a show at an arts festival in Atlanta. It's just kind of close to home and I don't know how public I want to go with it. We'll see. Someone asked me if I would put them on my website, and I'm thinking about it.
GS: The summer months are always a busy time when it comes to music. You recently played Boston pride. Will you be doing any other lesbian and gay pride shows?
MM: I'd be happy to. I haven't been contacted about any others yet. I expect to be [ laughs ] , but you never know. I think that a lot of times the people who book those events think that you're too busy or that they can't afford you or whatever, so they don't bother asking. I did so many of the Pride events several years ago, that maybe they want to get other acts that they haven't had before. I don't know. But, I'm always open to playing those events and other worthy causes. I'm a real sucker for that type of thing.
GS: When you perform in Boston, do you ever have the chance to visit or perform in Northampton or Provincetown?
MM: I used to play The Iron Horse in Northampton when I was in Band De Soleil. I think I pissed off the club owner a long time ago with some of my antics. I don't think he'll have me back. Some people have a harder time living in the present than others. And Provincetown. I played P-town once, and the club paid me in a check and it bounced. I haven't been back [ laughs ] . I'd love to play both of those towns, especially since so many women go to both of those cities.
GS: Have you ever walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, or done any other touristy-type things?
MM: No, I haven't. Generally, when I'm on tour, I don't have time to do anything. I get to the gig, play, go to bed, and get up and leave the next morning. ... I've played so many different clubs in Boston, that I feel like I've seen the club tour. I played Mama Kin's and actually met those guys [ Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith ] and that was like a piece of history to me. I played several shows in larger venues with the Indigo Girls.
GS: I know that Catie Curtis and Melissa Ferrick, among others, are in Boston. Do you ever hook up with them when you are there?
MM: No, I haven't. It's kind of an odd thing. I think that what happens with musicians is that unless you run into them on the road or you have, by accident, a show booked together [ laughs ] , you never get to see each other. I played a show with Melissa Ferrick in San Francisco, of all places, a couple of years ago. I played the Newport Folk Festival with Catie a couple of years ago. Those are the only times I've run into those folks. I also think we should be crossing paths more often and playing more shows together.
At the same time, we probably do have a similar following. It makes sense and yet it doesn't. I would love to do that. I just love to be in the company of great musicians and my peers.
