Michelle Malone is a lifer. She’s been a mainstay of American roots music for more than 30 years, building her community onstage and off, mixing roadhouse rock and roll with blues, folk, and country-soul. It’s a sound that’s taken the award-winning songwriter around the world, but it’s inspired by Malone’s home in the South, too. After more than a dozen studio albums, she continues flying a flag for Georgia — a state with its own ever-evolving sound —on Southern Comfort (due out October 4th).
With contributions from Blackberry Smoke members Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson, The Georgia Satellites’ Rick Richards, guitarist Doug Kees, and Americana icon Buddy Miller, Southern Comfort has a long guest list of southern all-stars. Michelle Malone is part of that universe, too. From her appearances on Drivin N Cryin’s “Straight To Hell” and “Honeysuckle Blue” (both of which feature her vocals) to gigs alongside The Indigo Girls and Shawn Mullins, she’s added her own spin to the area’s soundtrack with songs like “I Choke On My Words.” That hometown pride didn’t stop her from also finding inspiration in places like Colorado and the Florida Keys, where she co-wrote nearly half of the album’s songs with Dean Dillon.
The songwriting legend behind songs like “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Miami, My Amy,” Dillon’s partnership helped spark the most collaborative album of Malone’s carer. “It’s not just me on this record; it’s a village,” she says. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the title track, “Southern Comfort,” a song that dates back to her early days with Drag The River. Signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, the band released its major-label debut in 1990, matching Malone’s songwriting with the electricity of a loose, loud rock band. Founding member Billy Pitts passed away in 2022, and Malone’s new recording of the track is a tribute to the drummer, stacked high with Telecaster twang, slide guitar, and stomping groove.
This is music inspired by a particular area, but it’s also a sound for everywhere. A sound for everyone, too. Malone gives her songs a sense of place while still making them sound universal, and that talent — not the guest appearances, but the sharp edge of the songwriting itself — is perhaps the most comforting thing about her latest record.
Today, Glide is excited to premiere the standout track “Simple Life.” Musically, the song captures its title perfectly with a simple acoustic guitar, a light beat, and Malone’s soulful, comforting vocals. True to form, the song showcases Malone’s clever folk songwriting and her ability to craft the kind of music that speaks to all of us.
Malone describes the inspiration behind the song:
I’m a simple gal, and I’ve always wanted a simple life…but then I became a musician! I’m grounded at home or in the woods, and I sleep better in my own bed than I do in a hotel, but I love to sing and play guitar—what’s a girl to do?!
LISTEN:
