Shelby Lynne says that having her own label, the newly inaugurated Everso Records, for her newly released “Tears, Lies, and Alibis” will mean more music quicker from her in the future.
“I have all kinds of plans,” Lynne tells Billboard.com. “Finally I can do whatever the hell I want to do without getting the big ‘no’ from the record company). I plan on taking advantage of my freedom and working hard and putting out a lot of records.”
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That includes a Christmas album Lynne plans to record in June and put out in the fall. “It’ll be traditional,” she says, “all of the songs we love. I like calm, simple Christmas records like Willie Nelson made. I’ll do all the traditional songs and I’ve written a couple of (originals), so we’ll see what happens once we get into the studio.”
Lynne reports that she also has a head start on a follow-up to “Tears, Lies, and Alibis” after writing more than 20 songs for the new album and putting just 10 on the finished product. “I didn’t want to do one of those too long, cheesy records,” she explains. “I can’t stand too long of a record. So I’m thinking already ahead for the next record, if you can believe that. I’ve got songs I know you will hear on my next record. Sometimes a song that didn’t make one record will stay in my head for so long and just won’t go away. I take that as a hint to keep ’em close and not forget about them. That’ll make it easier for the next one.”
But, Lynne adds, she isn’t interested in signing other artists to Everso. “I don’t feel like taking anybody’s money,” she says.
Lynne began making “Tears, Lies, and Alibis” for Lost Highway, which released her 2008 Dusty Springfield tribute “Just a Little Lovin’.” But she and the label quickly butted heads over the new project. “They were looking for a man to be the record producer,” says Lynne, who produced “Tears, Lies, and Alibis” herself, “and looking for songs that they understand, and my singing about Airstreams (mobile campers, in ‘Something to Be Said’) is not one of them. They were looking for a way to make money, and I’ve never made any money for anyone, so I don’t know what the hell made them think I was gonna make them some money.
“I just had it with the corporate money, money, money label thing. I took my little nest egg and said…’Let’s do this thing,’ so here we are. It was just time to do this, and I couldn’t be more free and happy. It’s the most liberating feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”