Michelle Malone

A performer blending vocals, songcraft, and guitar work shaped by blues, country, and roadhouse rock & roll, Michelle Malone shifts onstage without warning between hushed coffeehouse reflection and raucous blasts with Twin Reverb cranked to 10. Her fervent, unyielding approach has built a devoted audience, particularly across the American South. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, she grew up under the care of single mother Karyn Malone, who received support from her own mother; both women earned their living as vocalists in night spots, jazz clubs, and resorts, prompting Michelle to pursue the same path from an early age. She began singing in church at 4 and, by 10, had mastered guitar, drums, and saxophone through self-instruction. At 12 she formed her debut group and soon turned to songwriting. Following high school, she entered Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, to study voice, yet quickly established a presence on the Atlanta club circuit. Her independent debut, New Experience, appeared in 1988 via Aluminum Jane. Performances with Drag the River caught the attention of Clive Davis, leading to a contract with Arista Records. The 1990 release Relentless marked her major-label arrival and drew strong critical response. In 1991 she joined the temporary ensemble Harshed Mellows—featuring players from the Georgia Satellites and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers—to cut “U.S. Blues” for the Arista Grateful Dead tribute Deadicated. Disillusioned by major-label demands and manufactured personas, she exited Arista and launched her own SBS Records imprint, whose acronym stands for Strange Bird Songs; the label issued For You Not Them in 1992. A jazzy holiday collection, A Swingin’ Christmas in the Attic, followed in 1993. Longtime friends and college-era mentors Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls brought Malone to Daemon Records for 1994’s Redemption Dream, which introduced her new outfit, Band de Soleil. The track “The Gathering” from that album supplied inspiration for the fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering. Also in 1994, she appeared in a Georgia tourism television spot alongside Elton John. Velvel Records issued Beneath the Devil Moon in 1997 and the live EP Lucky to be Live; both were combined for a 2009 reissue. After health setbacks stemming from a demanding 1998 that encompassed Lilith Fair dates and marathon preparation, she revived SBS Records for the acoustic-focused Home Grown in 1999. Subsequent years brought a steady stream of recordings—Hello Out There in 2001, Stompin’ Ground in 2003 backed by the Low-Down Georgia Revue, Sugarfoot in 2006, the live Sunscream in 2008, and 2009’s Debris featuring her new ensemble the Michelle Malone Banned—alongside annual tours often exceeding 150 shows and periodic additions to the authorized Strange Bird bootleg series. Shawn Mullins co-produced the 2012 album Day 2. Acoustic Winter arrived in understated form in 2014, while Stronger Than You Think restored full volume in 2015. For 2018’s Slings and Arrows, fellow Georgia musicians including Shawn Mullins, former Georgia Satellites member Joey Huffman, and Peter Stroud, whose résumé includes work with Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow, contributed. Outside her own projects, Malone serves as an instrumentalist on tour with the Kristian Bush Band, the solo endeavor of Sugarland’s co-founder.