By Paul T. Mueller –
Georgia-based singer-songwriter Michelle Malone brought decades’ worth of songs and showmanship to her May 13 show in Houston. The show at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, featuring Malone on acoustic guitars and Doug Kees on electric, included a career-spanning 14 songs. All were fueled by Malone’s powerful vocals, ranging from a delicate croon to an all-out roar.
She led off with the evocative “Dust Bowl Man” from her 2022 album titled 1977. Other highlights included the anthemic “Just Getting Started,” from 2017’s Slings and Arrows, and “Not Who I Used to Be,” also from 1977. The latter wrapped in a bit of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” with a powerful solo by Kees.
Malone’s solicitation of requests from the audience yielded a sweet rendition of “32 Seconds,” harking back to her 1990 album Relentless with former band Drag the River, and “Butter Biscuit,” which she called a “silly song” but one that’s often requested. Near show’s end came a new song, “Like Mother, Like Daughter,” in honor of the hours-away Mother’s Day.