Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album I Am Shelby Lynne (1999) led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, despite it being her sixth studio album. She released a Dusty Springfield tribute album called Just a Little Lovin' in 2008. Since then she has started her own independent record label, called Everso Records, and released three albums: Tears, Lies and Alibis, Merry Christmas, and Revelation Road. Lynne is also known for her distinctive contralto voice. Early life Shelby Lynne was born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Jackson, Alabama, then Mobile, where she attended Theodore High School. Music was an important part of the Moorer family. Her father was a local bandleader and her mother a harmony-singing teacher; as children, she and her younger sister Allison — later a country recording artist in her own right — sometimes joined their parents on-stage to sing along. However, Lynne's father was a violent alcoholic who abused his wife. In 1985, her mother fled with the two girls to Mobile. Her father soon discovered their whereabouts. In 1986, when Lynne was 17 and her younger sister, Allison, was 14, he fatally shot her mother in the family's driveway. He then turned the gun on himself while his daughters were in the house. Career Early years Lynne appeared on TNN's country music show Nashville Now in 1987. She soon landed a recording contract with Epic Records. Her first recording for Epic was a duet with George Jones, "If I Could Bottle This Up", which became a top-50 hit in 1988. Epic teamed Lynne with producer Billy Sherrill for her 1989 debut album Sunrise. The follow-up, 1990's Tough All Over, took more of a mainstream country direction, and 1991's Soft Talk found Lynne moving into slick country pop. Lynne placed several songs on the country charts during this period, but none managed to break into the top 20. Critics generally regarded her as a promising talent, and she won the ACM's Top New Female Vocalist in 1991, beating the other two nominees Carlene Carter and Matraca Berg. However, she was tiring of the lack of control she was afforded over her image and musical direction. She split from Epic and signed with the smaller Morgan Creek label, debuting