Michelle Malone is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 and blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

.

Biography

Malone was born and raised in Atlanta by her mother and grandmother, both professional singers. Malone first began performing at age four in a church choir, and later learned to play saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, and drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s, which she played in her first band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 at age twelve.

As an teenager

Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...

, Malone began to write songs. While studying voice

Human voice

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

 at Agnes Scott College

Agnes Scott College

Agnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....

, she began performing professionally in and around Atlanta. She left school upon receiving a recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 from Clive Davis

Clive Davis

Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...

 at Arista Records

Arista Records

Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...

, for whom she recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

, with her band Drag the River

Drag the River (Georgia band)

Drag the River was a rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia featuring singer/songwriter Michelle Malone. They began as a collection of Atlanta rock-scene mainstays, performing Malone's original songs at local venues such as Little Five Points Tavern and Avondale Towne Cinema, often featuring guests...

, the album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Relentless. She later signed with Walter Yetnikoff

Walter Yetnikoff

Walter Yetnikoff is a former music executive.Yetnikoff has retired and gone on to write his memoirs, "Howling at the Moon"...

 at his Velvel Records label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

. Malone now owns her own label SBS Records, and continues to record and tour.

Over the course of her 20 year career, Malone has won numerous awards including Best Female Vocalist and Best Acoustic Guitarist (Creative Loafing

Creative Loafing

CL Inc. is the Tampa, Florida-based publisher of three city newsweeklies and their associated websites. Each of the papers focuses on local news, politics, arts and entertainment, and restaurants...

), Album of the Year (Atlanta Magazine). Her album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s Sugar Foot and Debris, released on SBS Records, were both on the Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 ballot for best Contemporary Blues and Best Americana Albums respectively. Her songs have appeared in the film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s Bam Bam and Celeste, All Over Me, Shotgun Jesus and television program

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

s True Blood

True Blood

True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...

, Dawson's Creek

Dawson's Creek

Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...

, Felicity, Brooklyn South

Brooklyn South

Brooklyn South is an American ensemble police drama series that aired on CBS for only one season during the 1997-98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, David Milch and William M. Finkelstein. Bochco is the creator of many well-known police dramas such as Hill...

, and have been recorded by Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

 (for which she received both gold and platinum records), Antigone Rising

Antigone Rising

Antigone Rising is an all-female New York City based rock band. Their music is influenced by classic rock from the 1970s such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, mixed with pop overtones and at times folk and country elements...

, Hannah Thomas, and Vistoso Bosses

Vistoso Bosses

Vistoso Bosses were an American R&B duo made up of Taylah P. and Kelci from Atlanta, Georgia. They debuted with the single "Delirious" produced by stjames, features Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, taken from their 2009 album Confetti....

. Malone was also featured in a Georgia Tourism TV commercial with Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 in the mid 90's. The Collectible card game Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...

 was named in part after Malone's song The Gathering (Redemption Dream 1994/Daemon/HiFi Records).

Malone has collaborated in the studio and on stage with such artists as John Mayor

John Mayor

John Mayor may refer to:*John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor , English classical scholar*John Mair , also spelled John Mayor, Scottish philosopher-See also:*John Meyer *John Meier...

, SugarLand members Jennifer Nettles

Jennifer Nettles

Jennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...

, Kristen Hall

Kristen Hall

Kristen Alyson Hall is an American folk rock singer/songwriter. In 2002, she was a founding member of the country music group Sugarland. She left the group in December 2005.-Lawsuit:...

, and Kristian Bush

Kristian Bush

Kristian Merrill Bush is an American folk rock and country musician. From 1990 to 2001, Kristian was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim along with Andrew Hyra...

, Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

, Shawn Mullins

Shawn Mullins

Shawn Mullins is an American singer-songwriter who specializes in folk rock, instrumental rock, adult alternative, and Americana music. He is best known for the 1998 single, "Lullaby", which hit number one on the Adult Top 40 and was nominated for a Grammy Award.-Career:Mullins was born in...

, Kevn Kinney, Drivin' N Cryin', Little Feat

Little Feat

Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....

, Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

, Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...

, Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter

John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...

, Lurrie Bell

Lurrie Bell

Lurrie Bell is an American blues guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player, Carey Bell.-Career:...

, Lonnie Brooks

Lonnie Brooks

Lonnie Brooks is an American blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Dubuisson, Louisiana, United States...

, ZZ Top

ZZ Top

ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...

, Robert Cray

Robert Cray

Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.-Career:...

, Keb Mo, Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis is an American blues and rock musician, who grew up in southern Florida.-Biography:...

, Rory Block

Rory Block

-Festival appearances:*Long Beach Blues Festival - 1993*San Francisco Blues Festival - 1999*Notodden Blues Festival - 2006-See also:*List of blues musicians*List of contemporary blues musicians*List of Austin City Limits performers-External links:****...

, Marcia Ball

Marcia Ball

Marcia Ball is an American blues singer and pianist, born in Orange, Texas but who grew up in Vinton, Louisiana. She was described in USA Today as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist.....

, Chris Whitley

Chris Whitley

Christopher Becker Whitley was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Whitley changed his sound frequently, and achieved modest mainstream success while maintaining a small but devoted following...

, Steve Earle

Steve Earle

Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....

, K.T. Tunstall, Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...

, Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, James Taylor

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

 and Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne

Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...

, as well as Ellen Degeneres

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....

.

Malone's tenth CD, Debris, was released April 2009 on her own SBS Records label and distributed by Thirty Tigers out of Nashville, TN. It was produced and engineered by Nick Didia

Nick DiDia

Nick DiDia is an American record producer mostly known for his work with Australian rock group Powderfinger and American pop-rock group Nine Days...

. Guests on the CD include Peter Stroud

Peter Stroud

Peter Stroud is an American lead guitarist, best known as the guitarist with Sheryl Crow, Don Henley, Pete Droge and Sarah McLachlan. He is also the co-founder of 65amps, a company that manufactures guitar amplifiers.-Biography:...

 (guitar), Jonny Daly(pedal steel), Phil Skipper (bass), Trish Land (percussion), Trina Meade (backing vocals), Tony Reyes (bass, backing vocals), and Dave Anthony

Dave Anthony

Dave Anthony is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and podcaster. Anthony has lived in San Francisco, New York City, and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Heather, and their son, Finn...

 (drums).

Discography

• New Experience (1988)
• Relentless (1990) (with Drag the River
  Drag the River (Georgia band)
  Drag the River was a rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia featuring singer/songwriter Michelle Malone. They began as a collection of Atlanta rock-scene mainstays, performing Malone's original songs at local venues such as Little Five Points Tavern and Avondale Towne Cinema, often featuring guests...
  
  )
• For You Not Them (1992)
• A Swingin' Christmas in the Attic (1993)
• Redemption Dream (1994) (with Band de Soleil)
• Bird On Fire (1996) (with Band de Soleil)
• Beneath the Devil Moon (1997)
• Lucky to Be Live (1998)
• Homegrown (1999)
• Strange Bird, Vol. 3 (2000)
• Hello Out There (2001)
• Stompin' Ground (2003)
• Sugarfoot (2006)
• Debris (2009)

External links

• Official website