“The Black Crowes got thrown off the ZZ Top tour. We picked up where they left off… Every night the tour manager warned us when the explosions were going to go off”: Michelle Malone gave up sax for guitar – and had John Mayer “begging” to join her shows

Michelle Malone has shared guitar-related space with everyone from Billy Gibbons and John Mayer to Charlie Starr and Albert King since the ’80s – and she releases her new album, Southern Comfort, on October 4.

Looking back on her debut, New Experience, from 36 years ago, she says she’s grown in leaps and bounds, adding: “I just love to play and be creative. I’m grateful for every time I get to play for an audience. I mean… I still get paid to play guitar!"

The upcoming record is her 20th in total, and the 13th on her privately-owned label, SBS Records. “It's distinctively Southern in that it's a little rock, a little blues, and maybe even a little country. To quote Gregg Allman, ‘All rock music is Southern because of its roots in blues, gospel, and country.’”

You grew up in Atlanta. What did your local music scene look like?

“Atlanta had a rich and diverse music scene. I used to sneak into this little club called Hedgen’s to see the Georgia Satellites when I was a teen. It really changed my life – I didn’t know local bands could rock like the Stones! I also saw jazz and blues and folk and singer-songwriters. I love it all because my family performed and raised me on all music.”

How did playing in church as a youngster inform your style?

“I couldn’t wait to be in the choir, but you had to be at least five, I think. My mother and grandmother always had solos in the choir, and I loved listening to them. It was a natural rite of passage. And then I found out about the school band that you had to be eight to play in.

“As soon as I was old enough I was all in. My grandfather was an upright jazz bassist in the war, and he turned me on to the greats. I recall trying to play sax along with Paul Desmond and Miles Davis when I was 10 or 11.”

When did the guitar come into the frame?

“I started playing when I was 11 and gravitated to rock, like the Stones, Zeppelin and anything on the radio. It was the ’70s, so most everything I heard was guitar-based. It was exhilarating. Eventually, I would hang up my sax – probably because I could sing while I played guitar.”

What got you hooked on blues?

“I always loved jazz and blues, but blues guitar was much easier to play and understand, especially as a kid. I've never really been a blues guitarist. I'm a songwriter who plays what I write, and that’s most anything – rock, blues, singer-songwriter. I don't like to limit myself. Life is a banquet and I want to try it all!”

Has having your label, SBS Records, given you freedom as a guitarist?

“I started off with my previous own label, Aluminum Jane Records – which was a bad play on ‘Steely Dan.’ Back then we used small releases to catch big fish, and subsequently I was signed to Arista, which was frustrating.

“I eventually quit and decided to start SBS Records, and I still release my records on my own terms. Music is too subjective and important to be bound by international corporate boards.”

How did you wind up working with John Mayer?

“He moved to Atlanta and started showing up at my gigs begging to sit in, so I finally let him. He was goofy, gawky – and really tasty. He played with me a lot live and on my record Homegrown in 1999. I took him on the road with me, and he stole the show every night. Some people come out fully formed – he’s one of those people. I was a late bloomer who got signed too soon!”

How about Albert King?

“I was asked to open for him at the historic Royal Peacock in the Sweet Auburn area of Atlanta. It was built in the 1920s, and everyone from Cab Calloway and Little Richard to Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye performed there. I played a great solo acoustic opening set, and Albert King’s show was smoking, very raw, and inspiring.”

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You’ve also shared the stage with Billy Gibbons.

“When I had my band Drag the River, we were chosen to open for ZZ Top for a few weeks or so. The Black Crowes had just devised a way to get thrown off the tour, and we picked up where they left off in Atlanta.

“It was ZZ Top’s Recycler tour, and it was huge. They carried a stage set that looked like a junkyard with a conveyor belt that their dancers performed on. Some of the dancers were local, some toured with the band, and they were all kind and hung out with us.

“There was loud pyro as well. Every night the tour manager would warn us when the explosions were going to go off, so we could prepare and wouldn’t lose our hearing! Billy Gibbons was so kind and friendly.”

Where did the inspiration for your new record, Southern Comfort, come from?

“I used to just write whatever felt good or sounded good, not always knowing what the songs were about, not thinking about melody or structure. My songwriting is now more from personal experience – of which, by this point, I have quite a lot!

“I prefer to write with others now, so it's not always about me and how I do things. I like collaborating. Southern Comfort features a lot of my local friends, like Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson of Blackberry Smoke, Will Kimbrough and Buddy Miller of Emmylou Harris and Spyboy.”

What does your current rig consist of?

“I still play my ’74 Fender Tele Custom that I found in an Atlanta shop in the late ‘80s. I also still use my ’59 Supro Dual-Tone – both through my late ‘50s vintage Fender Tweed Vibrolux.”

How would you describe your current style to a new listener?

“I’m a singer-songwriter disguised as a rocker. Pennie Lane said I ‘play guitar like a man.’ I have an expressive edge. What I lack in technique, I make up for in raw guts and emotions – like Neil Young or Keith Richards.”

• Southern Comfort arrives on October 4, but it’s available early via Malone’s website.