After three decades of making music, Michelle Malone tried something new for her 15th album, “Slings and Arrows.”
The Atlanta singer-songwriter turned to Kickstarter hoping to raise the cash she needed to produce the album she describes as a “blues, folk, country-tinged album to fortify your spirit.” In just a few weeks, her supportive fans chipped in more than $41,000 — nearly twice her goal.
“More than anything, the fact that people want to help me make another record just blows my mind. I figured they would be sick of me by now,” said Malone.
“Once we reached the goal, and exceeded that, I felt a huge sense of responsibility to these people. I did not want to disappoint anyone.”
Disappointing is an unlikely adjective for Malone, who Rolling Stone magazine describes as “raucous and jubilant — somewhere between Lucinda Williams and Shelby Lynne.” She will perform Friday, March 9, at the Cary Theater.
The 150-seat venue is an intimate setting, so the veteran performer plans to dial back the raucous for the occasion.
“I often prefer an intimate space, because I can really communicate with the audience on levels that are harder to communicate in a larger venue. So I’ll be coming up acoustic; I won’t have a band,” she said.
“Out of 15 records, about half have been of the more singer-songwriter genre. I’ll play a lot of slide on my acoustic guitar, but I’ll also play some ballads.”
The audience can also count on a few songs from that new album, which was released March 2. Malone says “Slings and Arrows” contains songs she felt compelled to write.
“There has been a great divide in the country — in communities and families,” she said. “I feel it and it has hit really close to home for me as well. I didn’t know what to do. More than anything, I didn’t know how to make myself feel better, so I did what I always do — I picked up my guitar.
“I don’t know if it will have that effect on anyone else, but it certainly has been healing for me.”
Malone says she isn’t interested in taking sides or telling anyone what to do. This album is about encouraging people to come together and bridge divides of all sorts.
“There’s all kinds of folks in the world,” said Malone, “and you can’t not be friends with them because you have a difference of opinion.”
Or as she puts it in her song “Love Yourself,” “Do unto others, even when you don’t see eye-to-eye.”
For tickets, visit sixstringpresents.com/event/evening-michelle-malone/.
For more information about Michelle Malone and her new album “Slings and Arrows,” see www.michellemalone.com.
