Q&A: (Shelby Lynne)

Ever since the advent of longtime popular expressions, people have managed to transform the original intent of common phrases by using them in a scenario that isn't exactly the most appropriate to its true meaning.

One example is the term "suit yourself," which frequently appears in conversations conveying a tone of disagreement. One person may wish to go, for instance, to a tailgate party before a football game while another doesn't, and might subsequently hear, "OK, suit yourself," which seems to infer that by disagreement one is missing out on something.

The phrase, in all of its proposed meanings, seems the most appropriate when used in the context of neutrality - a statement that someone should accommodate one's self by acting in a manner that best fits one's own disposition exclusive of anyone else's actions.

The term seems to have been used as intended in the case of musician Shelby Lynne. She aptly titled her latest work "Suit Yourself" based on what one can only assume was how she wrote and recorded an album to her liking, which is now out on Capitol Records.

Lynne, a native of Alabama, wrote all of the original compositions (nine in all and two covers belonging to Tony Joe White) alone within the confines of her Palm Springs home.

About half the songs on the album Lynne recorded by herself in Palm Springs and the other half she recorded with a band in home studios in Nashville.

Among the tunes she submitted as demos, Lynne opted to keep the first takes of several songs including her musical ode about the death of Johnny Cash.

Coincidentally, Lynne plays Cash's mother in a biopic film about the country legend called "Walk the Line" that also stars Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix.

"Suit Yourself" follows up 2003's "Identity Crisis." Both are two of Lynne's most recent works in a professional music career spanning roughly 15 years.

Signed to a record deal as an 18-year-old from a small town in Alabama, Lynne had much to write about after being left an orphan a year earlier when her father shot and killed her mother and turned the gun on himself in the family driveway.

Lynne and her younger sister, Allison, moved in with their maternal grandmother following their parents' deaths. Shortly after, Lynne met another musician who asked her to sing on some of his demos. Those demos ended up in Nashville where Bob Tubert, a well-known industry player, heard them and offered to represent Lynne.

She moved to the Mecca of country music with her new husband, both of whom were 18. Shortly after her arrival, Lynne performed on Ralph Emery's "Nashville Now," a nightly television music and interview program. Several record producers caught the appearance and Lynne was offered four record deals within a week.
She initially signed with Epic Records and cut several albums under the label. After years of artistic differences and conflicts, Lynne got out of her contract with Epic and signed to the independent Morgan Creek label based on the West Coast. There she recorded a Nashville favorite, 1993's "Temptation."

Morgan Creek eventually went out of business and transferred her contract to the independent Magnatone. She then recorded 1995's "Restless" which never lived up to its predecessor. Feeling like she was hitting rock bottom, Lynne rented a $250-a-month room near the waterfront in Mobile, Ala., where she spent nearly a year staring at the Mobile Bay under the influence of various substances.

She eventually started writing songs again. MCA Nashville heard the material and offered her a contract, but she turned it down.

Rather, she sent her demos to producer Bill Bottrell, whom she liked for his work on Sheryl Crow's debut album.

Lynne later traveled to Bottrell's home in Northern California and the two worked on the acclaimed 2000 release "I am Shelby Lynne," an album that earned her a 2001 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Lynne immediately followed the work with "Love Shelby," a record cut under the production guise of Glen Ballard who is mostly known for his celebrated work with Alanis Morrisette on "Jagged Little Pill."

Recording and touring for both albums took five years and by the end, Lynne settled into her home for a much-needed break. She later began writing tunes that would make their way onto "Identity Crisis."

In terms of yielding a first-take, spontaneous musical imprint, "Suit Yourself" begins where "Identity Crisis" left off, which is the reason why Lynne did not want to re-record some of the songs she first archived in Palm Springs. On the other hand, "Suit Yourself" differs from "Identity Crisis" in that it speaks to the listener more as an album by a band than an album by a solo artist using studio musicians. It appeals to the listener with the same allure that a Miles Davis Quintet album does. One doesn't buy a Quintet album just to hear Miles Davis. They also buy it for the interactions among group members and their unique individual styling who play a song composed or arranged by Davis.

Lynne and Davis have a similar approach to recording sessions by limiting a song's rehearsal, and attempting to capture the song's emotion and groove while maintaining certain technical standards by trying to get most everything right on the first take.

Lynne, who plays guitar on every song, recorded with drummer Bryan Owings, guitarist Michael Ward (a former member of the Wallflowers), bassist and engineer Brian Harrison, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' keyboardist Benmont Tench, along with pedal steel guitar player Robby Turner. Lynne's close musician friend White also lent his voice and guitar playing to a couple of songs. She also covers two of White's songs - "For Ol' Times Sake" and "Rainy Night in Georgia."

Lynne further enhances the album's intimacy by including session chitchat that acts as the album's prologue, sounds of ice cubes bouncing off the rim of a glass during "You and We" and instructions to stop the tape after finishing "Sleep." Both songs feature Lynne's first-take vocals while songs like "I Won't Die Alone," "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "For Ol' Times Sake" were recorded with the band.

The Beach Reporter this week spoke with Lynne about recording a "suit yourself" album half in solitude and half with a band.

The Beach Reporter: The songs on the album definitely have a 'first-take' feel. How well did you know these songs before you sat down to record them vs. the rest of the band?

Shelby Lynne: I knew the songs pretty well myself but they were really pretty new to the band. I guess somebody needs to know it pretty well going in. It's kind of what makes it fresh is that the boys - I didn't give them much time to rehearse them. I showed them how they went and I pushed the record button.

You spent a lot of time at your house in Palm Springs writing these new songs. Does that region provide you with some kind of creative energy?

Well, it's my house, really. I don't go out a lot, I don't do anything, I just have a house that I love and I have a studio in it and it's at my fingertips so if I'm inspired I write it and put it down in the moment. I'm kind of a hermit, so it's not really the environment that's inspirational but the motive behind the material.

Is there any reason then as to why you picked Palm Springs to live?

I didn't want to live in Los Angeles. It was something close by and I don't mind the heat too bad, even though it's pretty miserable right now but I go on the road soon.

It seems as though you and Tony Joe White have a successful musical relationship. How would you characterize it and his contributions to your music?

Tony is a good friend. He's just one of those rare individuals who has a patent on a certain sound and a certain vibe. He's inspirational to me because he's so unique - there's no one like him and I'm proud to know him.

On this album you cover versions of his songs 'Ol' Times Sake' and 'Rainy Night in Georgia.' What was your reasoning for selecting these two songs in particular?

I am a big fan of the first song which not a lot of people know about and of course, the second song - you can't go wrong there. It's probably one of the greatest classic standard songs of all time.

In terms of their arrangements, what was your vision?

I wanted to let the songs do the talking; nothing fancy, just allowing the song and the production to breathe and give it lots of space and air. I took a little bit of a different approach to "Rainy Night" by creating a really relaxed, slow, kind of dreamy setting.

The album exudes a strong sense of comfort in terms of its overall vibe, especially in your singing. Was that the general mood during the recording process?

Yeah, we purposely recorded at home studios to get that classic feel. By using the analog equipment, which is really warm and my preference of making records - it feels like a group of buddies having a good time. The reason the album feels like it feels is because it's truly what it was - friends getting together and giving our talents to hopefully pretty good songs.

You recorded some songs off the album at your home in Palm Springs as demos but when you arrived in Nashville to re-record them along with the songs recorded with the band, you decided to keep the original versions.

Yes, most everything I had written prior to getting together with the band is on the record now as the first take that I recorded at the house. There was just no way to get the emotion down again. 'Johnny Met June' I wrote the day he died and the record you hear is the record I recorded that day in my house by myself. There was no way to rekindle that emotion so I just left it alone and added to it.

In the song 'You're the Man,' you take a position on the idea that the earth's natural resources are not shared in the most communal sense and that people living here do not have equal say as to what happens with them.

Yes. What angers me more than anything is that we have no choice, we have no say in the matter. Corporations and the government do with it what they please and we suffer the consequences when we walk out into a smog cloud everyday. It's not fair but it's just one little way of kind of protesting what we have no control of.

The song 'Sleep,' is that autobiographical? Do you have trouble finding sleep?

No, I just go through times when I don't really sleep a lot and that was written when I wasn't doing a lot of sleeping.

You spend a lot of time by yourself writing songs and recording them, and at the same time you have said you set very high standards for yourself. Does the combination of solitude and creating songs that rise above mediocrity pose as a challenge in determining the good from the bad?

I usually know if it sucks. I'm lucky that way and I try not to isolate myself so much that I take myself too seriously. My manager is my springboard and she is pretty damn honest; she will tell me if something is not right. I think it's only fair to do it to yourself because when you start getting so attached and intertwined with yourself, you don't have any view of what's really going on in the world. That's something I don't ever want to happen to me. I'm always interested in opinions from other musicians and people whom I trust in terms of taste.