Robert Johnson allegedly did it first, deep in the heart of Mississippi, he sold his soul for rock n roll. When the soul salesman came a knockin’ on Atlanta rocker Michelle Malone’s door she took a good look at the contract’s fine print and tore it up right in his face. Then with a toss of her mane she slipped on her wraparound sunglasses and went off to create the best album of her career.
Home Grown, Malone’s seventh album, took two-weeks to record. Releasing it on her own indie label SBS Records, Malone says she’s been selling records to a lot of good people.
On the road since September in support of HOME GROWN, Malone is a firm believer in touring. Whether alone or with her band, Malone is comfy playing for five or 5,000 people.
"I live to play where people like to hear music, no matter if it is in the living room or the enormo-dome." said Malone.
Right now she’s scheduled to open a few shows for her old friends the Indigo Girls before heading out to the West Coast in March.
SBS Records, formed in 1992, after Malone asked to be released from her Arista recording contract, to reissue her earlier releases. It was at that time Malone realized "no one else can do more for me than I do for myself." SBS Records only releases Malone’s material because Malone feels to release another artists’ records would turn SBS into just another company. A thing she vehemently opposes.
"Indie life is a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. It is more rewarding than any situation I’ve ever been in. It’s not about the bottom line. It’s about making music and getting music out to fans." she said.
Being independent means little support from radio and television. However, the savvy musician Malone hasn’t missed out on the Internet revolution. Malone acknowledges that her touring and songwriting duties keep her busy enough so she has someone else handle the day-to-day site upkeep. Still she sees the Internet as an advantageous tool to have in the music industry.
Her site www.michellemalone.com is complete with the usual artist features, Mp3s and merchandise. Like Oprah, Malone uses her site to recommend especially meaningful books to her fans. "I thought it’d be cool" she said. Malone says fans of her music ask her to recommend CDs she likes all the time, but opted for the book list because it "might be a little more important."
Malone, known for being vocal about issues she cares about, takes her activism to the next level. Still popular on the benefit circuit around Atlanta, it is environmental issues that hold the most space in Malone’s heart. Last year she completed an eight-week cross-country bike ride to support the Havasupai tribe’s fight to close the uranium mines near their water supply.
Ever the activist in her own life, Malone says her songs, while a reflection of what she was feeling at that time are not overt protest pieces. "It’s probably not me on a soap box telling people what to do, it is more subtle." she said.
She chooses to let her listeners interpret her songs in their own personal way. That personal connection between her listeners and her music is why Malone is not fond of talking about her lyrics.
So 14 years and seven albums later Michelle Malone has come full circle. She’s back to where she started, playing clubs and singing her heart out to people on a nightly basis. Gone is the meddling corporate label, replaced by a small self-run label in Decatur, Ga. Definitely the harder way to make a go of it, but
Malone is okay with that. "I just realized I’m one of the luckiest people in the world to play music for a living. I’m no longer looking for the next thing. I’m pretty happy where I’m at." Malone said.