I Am Shelby Lynne is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter
Shelby Lynne, released in April 1999, in the United Kingdom and on January 25, 2000, in the United States. After several years of lackluster results from recording various styles of country music in and around
Nashville, Lynne co-wrote and recorded this album in
Palm Springs, California, incorporating confessional lyrics with musical elements from
blues and
rock and roll. Lynne collaborated on this album with producer
Bill Bottrell, who had previously worked with
Sheryl Crow on her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club.
The album is considered to be Lynne's breakout work, and the catalyst toward her receiving her first career
Grammy award as
Best New Artist of
2000. The award came more than a decade after Lynne's debut album, 1989's Sunrise.
Writing for
AllMusic,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album as a sign of Lynne's reinvention of herself as a "tough and sexy singer", comparing her to
Bonnie Raitt and
Sheryl Crow. He praised Bill Bottrell's production of the album and said that Lynne "finally sounds comfortable in her writing and voice", and that with this album, she has "finally [found] her groove".[2]
Rolling Stone's Parke Puterbaugh said that the album had more
jazz and
soul about it than
country, but that it had "a genuine evocation of country". He said that the tracks "[seduce] you ... rather than bowling you over". He praised Lynne's harmonies, calling them "nothing less than righteous."[8]