A Conversation with Shelby Lynne – HuffPost 5.19.10

Mike Ragogna: Let’s talk about your new album Tears, Lies And Alibis. Did you record it with a plan?

Shelby Lynne: No, because I wrote a lot of songs for this record, and the end result was thinking about the present in some kind of way.

MR: From your perspective, which are the ones that came from the deepest place?

SL: They all come from such a raw, real, honest place, Michael, I don’t know if I’m any closer to any particular one. They’re all pretty special to me.

MR: The album flows pretty easily. When you sequenced Tears, Lies, And Alibis, were you conscious of linking the songs together in some way?

SL: The way I did it was music over content because the songs are all so different lyrically. The instrumentation and choosing the players, using the right licks here and there, and the instruments are mainly the glue because I had over twenty songs for it. My pet peeve is making a record that’s too long. So, I had to really get down to brass tacks and make choices, and I definitely spent time alone trying to make the right choices. Then one day, it just went boom, boom, boom, boom–these are the ones. And I think it was the same day I came up with the title.

MR: Yeah, it’s definitely got an attitude.

SL: Kind of an old country sound.

MR: Over the years, you’ve released quite a few records, and every single time, I can remember promotion departments and the press touted your records as, “The best Shelby Lynne you’ve ever heard!” What’s it like having to live up to that hype every time you release a new album?

SL: Well, man, I’ll tell you. The label thing had gotten to be such a drag with the last two or three albums. It just really got to be such a drag dealing with them every time I finish a record and I’m so proud of it. I get ready to put it out and go, “Oh no not again, here we go. I just got to find a solution here.” It’s just gotten to be too corporate-y and too business-y, and there’s just not any art, no music, no caring about the artist, no nurturing the catalog. It’s honestly the truth, it’s gotten to be such a drag that I just couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t fun.

MR: With your new album, you seem to be trying to change the dynamic by controlling its fate. Returning to your earlier point, what kind of balance do you think exists in the music industry between art and its marketing?

SL: The music industry has gone to the dogs and it’s in the toilet. They don’t care about music. They don’t care about the artist. They just don’t care. You know, that’s why artists don’t have any long careers anymore. They sign the wrong people for the wrong reasons. It’s all about money.

MR: There’s also the back catalog to deal with. Do you think the labels are their best caretakers?

SL: It gets tougher to take our music back. You can’t make a living on a major label. They take all the money. They make all the money because they have all those salaries to pay, and they don’t give a damn if you’re starving. I knew when I was getting ready to do the press on this record that they’d be asking me about the whole thing, and this is the way I feel about it. I’m not mad and I’m not bitter. I am free.

MR: And there’s that wonderful 360 deal, probably the most offensive approach to an artist that labels have ever concocted. Basically, it takes control of every element of an artist’s potential livelihood beyond records–name and likeness, photos, new non-musical product lines, concert revenues, t-shirts…

SL: That’s wrong. That’s why I tell this to anybody starting out who asks, “What do we do?” First off, if you think the major label thing is your answer, please don’t do it. Just buy yourself a $3.00 calculator and you’ll know why. It’s ridiculous, and I feel bad for these little young cats that really want to have a label and stuff. You’re really honestly better with CD’s in the back of a Cadillac and doing your own damn record.

MR: Then there’s a new business model and culture that’s evolved out of American Idol.

SL: Well, American Idol is part of the problem.

MR: As much as it’s blasphemous to say such things, I think you’re right.

SL: It’s so much a part of the problem because the standard is so f*****g low. That’s why we’re bombarded with too much crap. You have to keep your standards somewhat in a realm of taste. I’m sorry, I do not agree with that s**t.

MR: And there’s the shock value Simon provides, verbally throwing many of these talented kids to the lions for its entertainment value, though I think he believes it’s good for them in some way.

SL: It’s not about any talent. I tell you what, when I was a kid, I would have done anything in my power to get on American Idol, if it had existed. But you know, now that I’m a 42-year-old woman, I’m going, “My God, if you want to find good music, you really, really either have to know where to look or you just stumble on it. You have to really, really search and search and dig to find it because we’re so bombarded with American Idol level mediocrity that we’ve forgotten what it’s about. It’s about being 75-years-old and still being able to look at your catalog of work and go, “You know what? There’s not a bad apple in the bunch!” I want to be that 75-year-old woman, still singing, still making records and going, “You know, I ain’t done that bad.” At least I can sleep at night, put my head on the pillow and go, “I never sold out.”

MR: Where do you find the music you like these days?

SL: Well, I’m lucky, I have KCRW. I listen to that a lot. Those guys have good taste and have turned me on to a lot of things. Certain magazines that are a little obscure. Man, there are so few magazines left anymore. But it’s definitely not the Rolling Stone. Those times are gone. It’s over with. Rolling Stone might as well be on the American Idol rack.

MR: What about any websites?

SL: You know, I’m not much of a computer person. I’m not one to sit around and dig around the computer all the time. I have a lot of friends who like the weird, kooky stuff and we help each other out. “Hey, check this out” or “Dig on this!”

MR: This is a weird time for music. Despite many people liking this or that, it’s so hard to know where artists and their music are heading.

SL: I don’t know what’s going to happen either, Michael, until the artists start saying, “You know what, f**k you and your record deal. I’m going to go do it the old-fashioned way and have my pride.”

MR: So, touring is in your immediate future, what will that be like?

SL: Well, I’ll just take a couple of guys out. We’re not doing drums. It’s going to be a low-key show. And I’ll just incorporate my other work into it, you know

MR: So you’re going to mainly be covering this new record, but will you also be performing some of your older hits?

SL: Oh sure, yeah.

MR: Where are you heading?

SL: California, all the way to the East Coast, and then back to California. Then we’ll take a break and do it again this summer.

MR: Are you going to take any opening acts on the road with you?

SL: I’ve got this guy, Findlay Brown, who’s got a pretty good little record out. He’s going to go out acoustic and open for us. I haven’t met him yet, but I sure like his records.