Shelby Lynne live!

Shelby Lynne
Park West, Chicago
Saturday, March 29, 2008

Since winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 2000 for I Am Shelby Lynne (her sixth album, natch — still mind boggling), Shelby Lynne seems to be wandering through the musical landscape in search of an identity. After the Memphis-soul vibe of I Am, she took a walk on the slick, overproduced, Sheryl Crow side with Love, Shelby, some stripped-down soul searching with the aptly named Identity Crisis, and the even sparser Suit Yourself.

As Lynne’s tour found its way to the Park West, she’s trying on another hat with her latest effort, Just A Little Lovin’. She has found her way back to the blue-eyed soul that dominated I Am, but it’s the soul of Dusty Springfield she’s channeling. Lovin’, with one exception, is Lynne paging through the Springfield songbook, and as such, the first half of the show was all Dusty, all the time.

Granted, with Lynne’s vocal power and styling, it’s a natural fit, and that vocal prowess was about the only thing keeping the shaky beginning afloat. Tepid runs through “Anyone Who Had A Heart” and “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” didn’t bode well, and pausing between a song to let a drunk in the front ramble threatened to sink the whole thing. Yet once she served up the swampy groove of “Willie And Laura Mae Jones,” she started to hit her stride.

Lynne’s originals during the rest of the relatively short, 15-song set concentrated solely on I Am and Suit Yourself. While she held her own in the role of smoky chanteuse, keeping the audience rapt with “Black Light Blue” and nodding to her country roots with “Johnny Met June,” it seemed like a weight was lifted when she strapped on the Telecaster and cut loose for the finale, “Your Lies.” It was as if she was a pitcher toying with you by throwing off-speed curves before blazing a 98-mph heater at your head, just to show you what she could do.

Lynne has never seemed the type to worry whether changing styles stymies mainstream success, and it’s tough to argue when she pulls off each guise so well.

— Timothy Hiatt

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly