Interview: Shelby Lynne speaks her f-ing mind

She so hip. she know the f word! I bet she a B!!

Before I could comment here, the caution reads,

"Language stronger than "darn," insults, ethnically or racially disparaging language, and comparisons to Hitler usually result in speedy comment deletion and may get you blocked from further commenting"

Yet you brought me the "f" word numerous times in the article. I am sorry this artist was damaged by the murder suicide of her family. I will never listen to her work because her writing is unlikely to be interesting or broad, because she can't summon more than swear words for the interview, which is way easier than touching raw emotion in song with music.

Hawes,

Of COURSE the rules for the anonymous are stricter. Please give the readership points for intelligence over 110 IQ points. What you did by allowing such an abundance of words you could be prosecuted for using in public in much of the South, is portrayed this woman as a foul mouthed sub-intelligent creature who lacks depth sufficient to discuss her work. A public relations expert might say you portrayed her negatively. The phrase, "hatchet job" comes to mind. You may not be told this often, but how something is edited impacts the impressions of the general public substantially.
Hawes, this is less about "soft hearts" and touchiness toward hard language, and more about your being party to the destruction and degradation of the English language, which used to be diverse, fascinating, and capable of painting such a picture of new music that people flocked to hear the work of new artists.

She don't make no f-ing plans, she didn't learn an f-ing thing, she didn't make no f-ing change, it ain't no f-ing Nashville sound, she don't have anf-ing clue.

Yup, I'm going to her f-ing gigs and buying her f-ing sheet.

Wonder if she can handle the f-ing truth................she F-ING SUCKS!

What's all the fuss here? Is it really about a few "bad" words? I hear this kind of language all the time from musical artists, athletes, and even our former Vice President, who told a fellow congressman to "go f*ck yourself" and on the floor of the senate no less!

Now does that make it right or wrong? I don't know.

What I do know is that Shelby Lynne is a GRAMMY award winning artist with a long and noteworthy career who is navigating her own path in a very difficult industry and instead of focusing on fame and fortune, she is focused on making music that moves people on an emotional level.

It's a shame that some people will decide not to listen to her music because she used some bad language in an interview. As someone that has listened to her music, I can tell you, her writing is not only interesting and broad, but it absolutely touches raw emotion.

I'm excited that such an amazing artist is playing a small intimate venue in our little town. It is definitely going to be a great show!

Nevermind JKay. I'm guessing he/she goes throughout their day looking for reasons to be offended. Elevating their sanctimonious a*$ along the way.
As for Shelby... She's an amazing artist. Her work is enough for me. I don't care about her vernacular in interviews.

I've been following her since early 90's. She has more talent than most dare dream for. I can't quit listening to her new album - who can write the song, write the music, play every single instrument, sing both the melody and the harmony, record it on tape, and then put them all together in perfect unison? I dare say not many. You go Shelby.

@JKay re degradation of language to quote the woman's actual lyrics...;D
"Which one clatters most
Screaming turns to salt and dust
Volume is not heard
Bible beaters rest your fists
Haters rest your ire
You're both too young to know you're mute
Unconscious to the choir
But I can't hold that against you man
You're on Revelation Road
Grab your little passbooks
A ticket gets you in
One Hail Mary does the trick forgive of all your sins
And when the show is over
You're where you started from
Collecting all the barbs you threw piled up to be disposed
Judgment comes and never tires
Forgotten is the code
Doing unto others is a farce, a laugh, a joke
Remember when the black veil falls
We all stand alone
Barefeet on the gravel man
We're on Revelation Road"

JKay: Jesus, have a shot of something, dude--you are tighter than a drum skin. As for -maxbrando: Are you getting paid to be so obtusely moronic?

I can handle THE TRUTH!

,dont worry babe, they all know who i am. and what can happen if they cross. love and prayer will be our cover, with you all the time, i will be your lover. i will be your lover boy....so dont you cry just yet, its the way you make them sweat, take in a deep breath and let love flow, your words are so amazing, even one could be a show........so take it you see, its a gift from you to me, what better way to land when you are holding out your hand, i can see but not in the dark, and its so dark.........but i can hear you, and feel you, id like to see you again......let me know if we can.

Dis real country mane!

"So based on her use of the f word, Shelby Lynne is assumed to have no talent?"

I like to refer to people who make these assumptions as pretentious pr**ks.
They mostly like to refer to themselves as worldly and edumacated.

Here is Shelby channeling Britney Spear back in 2001: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=shelby+lynne&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1680&bih...

Calm down everyone. This was some superficial interview of some singer who has been guided by her handlers to present a certain package to help sell records. There was not one thing in her statements that I have not heard a zillion times from other singers..."I don't want to be categorized....I want my music to have relevance in thirty years...I want to be an artist not a performer...yawn yawn yawn."

Discoduck...you have it backwards: the use of such language is itself pretentious. I would never allege she is talentless, just pre-packaged. The language means nothing...gee, when did NWA have their first album? Didn't GG Allin die like 17 years ago? F-bombs today mean that the speaker (and writer) is just trying to shock. In the words of an old journalism professor of mine who chastised the use of the word "very," "it is meaningless and trite." And the inserting of f*** by The Hook editors is pretentious. It's the whole "yo man, rock 'n roll" thing, thinking they are somehow being cool. Hawes's cute little response was dripping with condescension and pretense; quite typical of the attitude in this city. Anyone who begins a sentence with "It may come as a shock to you..." is basically saying: "Hayseed, I am smarter than you."

I don't know which rag is worse with the Chville "world class" attitude: The Hook or Cville Weekly. Go to any big city (I came from Philly) and you will this hackneyed news style. Big city mags like "Philadelphia Magazine" have been doing this style (pseudo cool graphics, use of language, words like "suck" on the front cover) for years. It's designed to get that 18-34 demo to think they are reading a cutting edge publication when in fact, they are reading amateur hour, a high school publication in a larger format. It is also designed to get that 34-50 demo to think "wow, this is cool and I feel cool reading this." No different that 20 year-old rich little UVa preppy boys calling each other "dude," or UVa's homogenous cute little blonde-bimbos-in-training calling eachother "girlfriend" in a weak, ineffective Starr Jones inflection.

Shelby and papers like The Hook are natual fits: fakes. They remind me of when punk rock started in England in the mid-1970s. Within months, department stores had clothes on the shelves with holes in them and cleaned up revolutionary statements written on them....watered down punk stuff that pretentious people like those we see "downtown" could swallow without choking. You know, Mom and Dad would feel safe buying the leather jacket for little Hawes's birthday and say: "Oh, look, little Hawes likes to dress like Sid Vicious. Isn't he so creative?" Or perhaps he was more into the red Wacko Jacko jackets with the zippers and screens on the shoulders.

Finally, for all of you who are trying to set up artists as role models, please stop this. Look in your town for role models; looking at celebrities as role models is just a vicarious way for us to say "I want to be him (her)."

Love, kisses and candlelabras,
Liberalace

Sorry Liberalace, but Shelby Lynne is not a fake - she's as real as they come.

And FWIW, before claiming that Hawes' response was "dripping with condescension and pretense," you should have read your own. It strikes me as having a similar tone.

If anyone in this thread wants to stop hiding behind an anonymous login and use their real name and email address, I'd be glad to arrange for a few folks to attend the show where they can see and hear Shelby for themselves and make up their own mind as to her artistic merit.

@ Liberalace "The language means nothing.... F-bombs today mean that the speaker (and writer) is just trying to shock."

So language goes from having no meaning to being able to have a particular meaning in the course of two sentences? Considering that you started with "the use of such language is itself pretentious," which sort of presupposes that it was intended to have some meaning, it seems you've managed to turn a complete 360 in about 50 words.

It may come as a shock to you Liberalace, but the standard approach to making an argument calls for you to pick a position and stick to it at least until the end of its statement. Despite that little lapse, I'm picking you as my local role model for your GG Allin name drop.

Liberalace,

Really enjoyed your assessment. I don't know why Hawes Spencer would ever imply intellectual superiority. I suppose that Halsey Minor has not bought "The Hook" just yet.

Liberalace, your Zappa reference has me looking for another local role model already. You not only listen to THAT, but also tacitly admit having paid attention to the lyrics and you dare to call someone else pretentious?

You haven't dropped his name yet in your wild spree, but from the clues you've salted about I'm sure you're a fan of John Giorno. Perhaps you will take him up on his invitation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqhm9PZeB-II

All you people are ridiculous.

Somebody cussed. woooo. Get over it. Seriously.

Only in America.

Boooo!- Yuck Fou...............

The most annoying thing about the reaction to this article is that if this was a male, no one would think much of it. I attend a lot of concerts and read music news pretty much every day, and time and time again, i see that if males use the "f word" or other similar language from stage or in interviews no one blinks, but let a female do it and she is called a "potty mouth" or criticized for not having a better vocabulary. Unless you judge every musician, author, actor, and artist equally by every interview he or she gives, then keep your pie hole closed when a woman uses some strong language and maybe do some self-examination on why it bothers you so much.

Karen- not true.............many turn Chris Rock for just that reason.

I am curious as to what her acceptance would be if she changed interviewing technique

"Who give's a F&@# about a GD GRAMMY!" you say ? Don't be an a** , a Grammy is big f*king sh*t ask any strong f*cking b*tch like Shelby .

lol World Class City like Charlottesville are you on drugs the town is a little stinkhole headed by completely incompetent wanna be dictators and filled with cretins that will never amount to anything and would probably be about 5000 beggars if not for UVA.