There have been many facets to Shelby Lynne’s career. She’s ventured into country, soul, pop, even folk. Wednesday evening, for a little more than an hour, she treated a nearly sold out St. David’s Sanctuary to her down-home singer-songwriter side.
Performing with super guitarist John Jackson – some might remember him from time spent with Lucinda Williams – and bassist Brian Harrison, who co-produced Lynne’s stellar new self-released Tears, Lies, and Alibis, she offered mostly her own songs.
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The pixie with the tremendous voice kicked things off by mirroring the first four songs on the new disc. After asking that the stage lighting be lowered, which better fit her smoky mood, she let fly with the taut and sultry “Alibi,” then cast a spell with “Something to Be Said About Airstreams,” an ode to downsizing life and the pleasures it can bring, and one of the disc’s highlights.
The Alabama native laid the Southern charm on thick throughout, always a great deal of her appeal. “I don’t even try to fake it, because I can’t,” she deadpanned at one point. Her skewed sense of humor on the bluesy “Buttons and Beaus” proved that as well. Lynne closed with a nearly whispered “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” taken from her 2008 Dusty Springfield tribute, Just a Little Lovin’, a primo showcase for her vocal prowess.
For an encore she spoke of her love for Willie Nelson and, alone on stage, rendered his “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.” Perhaps, being in a church, she was feeling a bit spiritual, or maybe Lynne identifies with the song’s image. Whatever it was, judging from their enthusiastic reaction, the audience was ready to follow her anywhere.
This article appears in May 21 • 2010.