SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Singer and songwriter Shelby Lynne has known heartbreak and devastation for much of her life. There were tears when we spoke, but also some laughs. We began with a story that drives her and her music, and it is disturbing to hear. Nearly four decades ago, when Shelby Lynne was just 17, her father shot and killed her mother and then turned the gun on himself.
SHELBY LYNNE: I don't think you ever get over something like that, but I do think you make peace with it. I mean, I have. I have gotten old enough, Scott, that I have such compassion for those two people. I miss them in a peaceful kind of way.
SIMON: Takes a while to get there, though, doesn't it?
LYNNE: It sure does. And there's some holes and valleys and things you fall into. Climbing out, I reckon, is why I write songs - because it's kind of a ladder to get out of there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHELBY LYNNE SONG, "GOOD MORNING MOUNTAIN")
SIMON: Shelby Lynne has released over a dozen studio albums. Her latest is titled "Consequences Of The Crown."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOOD MORNING MOUNTAIN")
LYNNE: (Singing) Good morning, mountain. I see you're still around, blocking all of the sun. Too big to get around.
SIMON: Shelby Lynne's new album was inspired by her return to Nashville, where she got her start.
LYNNE: I wanted to go back to the South. My sister lives in Nashville, and my nephew, so I wanted to be close to them. I really didn't have any plans to make any records anymore. I just wanted to come back to Nashville and see if I could get in the songwriting community.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOOD MORNING MOUNTAIN")
LYNNE: (Singing) I see you still have the blues.
SIMON: And tell us about the songs on this album. Am I wrong to hear a lot of pain?
LYNNE: Oh, no. You are correct on that. I came to Nashville, and I didn't expect to fall in love, but I did. And then it kind of fell apart and crushed me. So I thought, well, here's another wellspring to pull from. I might as well write about it. Called in my friends, and we wrote songs about my pain, and it was kind of a healing experience. And it wrote some hell of a good songs.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CONSEQUENCES")
LYNNE: (Singing) Everything I did and thought before today was wrong. It ain't easy. The hope of happiness with you has left me all alone. You don't please me.
SIMON: How much does this album draw from the blues?
LYNNE: (Laughter) Blues music or blues in your heart?
SIMON: Well, I'll take both.
LYNNE: Well, there's definitely emotional blues in it. And then I've kind of always felt like a blues singer. I'm drawn to the Mississippi Delta and the roots of country music. And my grandmother played me Jimmy Rogers records when I was little. And so the blues are a part of me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CONSEQUENCES")
LYNNE: (Singing) Loving you has consequences. But lord, I hate this game.
There's a lot of blues in life. I'm just lucky enough to get to write poems about it.
SIMON: Well, that's a gift to ourselves, and it's a gift to others - isn't it? - to be able to turn hurt into a song?
LYNNE: I think it comes with the job, and I also think it's important to be honest. I mean, it hurt to get stomped on. But it has to happen in order to learn anything, I guess? I think if something hurts bad enough and you have the strength to get through it, hopefully, you won't do that same thing again.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GONE TO BED")
LYNNE: Staying awake by my best friend all night. Can't wait for sun and coffee. I'll make it. I'm always shooting for the moon. You're awake spinning on a quartet singing to somebody else. We didn't build anything but scars.
SIMON: There's a lot of spoken word, narration in this album, like the song "Gone To Bed." It's beautifully effective. What put that into your mind?
LYNNE: I'm really influenced by the old R&B records that had, I guess you call them, recitations in them. And one that comes to mind is Shirley Brown, singing a song called "Woman To Woman."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WOMAN TO WOMAN")
SHIRLEY BROWN: Barbara, this is Shirley. You might not know who I am. But the reason I'm calling you is because I was going through my old man's pockets this morning, and I just happened to find your name and number. So woman to woman, I don't think it's being any more than fair than to call you and let you know where I'm coming from.
LYNNE: And it's a recitation in the front. I was like, wow. OK. Sometimes, you're going to lose it if you sing it. But if I'm talking to you like we're having a conversation, which is really like you and I are having now, I think people can really dig in and go, OK, I hear you, girl.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GONE TO BED")
LYNNE: I wish I could forget about you. See what you made me do? Fire on summer, on the off-beat, off the on-beat. Heartbreaks and superhits. One needs the other. Can't nothing cool it down. Not even a cold heart knows how. Songs ain't my friend. Turn on the box. Bacharach & David broke my heart the last time, yeah. You Alfie? Yeah, you Alfie. I know it's crazy to write a record around something so cruel, but it's the only way to get to you. You never loved me at all - at all.
(Singing) What was it all about?
SIMON: I don't ask this question lightly. What have you learned about life at this point?
LYNNE: What I've learned is how to use my inner endurance, try to have some of that compassion that I had for Mama and Daddy for myself. And that's really it. Being able to withstand those things that happen, things you won't ever get over, and realize that there's a reason I'm still here, and I think it's to make music.
SIMON: Yeah. I've - you've convinced me. I think, and not just me, millions. Is there a song you want to point us to on this album that helps us understand that?
LYNNE: I like "Shattered." That one gets me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHATTERED")
LYNNE: (Singing) Looking for a feeling. Looking for a reason. Looking for a sign. Anything that matters. I'm shattered. I'm shattered.
When I left Nashville 25 years ago, it's amazing, the change coming back with all the young recording artists that I've actually had the pleasure of writing songs with since I've been here. Their mothers listened to my records.
SIMON: (Laughter).
LYNNE: I know. Like, here's an example. Paul Overstreet, very well-known, successful songwriter here, wrote the song that I recorded with George Jones when I was, I don't know, 19 or something. And I found myself in a writing room with his youngin', Summer, and we wrote a song. So that's kind of what I'm finding is happening around here. And I have to tell you, Scott, it feels pretty good.
SIMON: Well, Shelby, you deserve a lot of good in your life, you know?
LYNNE: I think we all do, and we got to just endure hard times and figure out why we're here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHATTERED")
LYNNE: (Singing) Looking for a reason.
SIMON: Shelby Lynne, thanks for speaking with us.
LYNNE: I so enjoyed it, Scott. I'm a fan. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHATTERED")
LYNNE: (Singing) Looking for a sign. Anything that matters. I'm shattered. Oh... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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