By Michael Gaither

Michelle Malone has been at this for a while. For three decades, the Atlanta-born, award-winning singer-guitarist — who also plays a mean slide — has been writing, recording and touring. She returns to the West Coast next week and will be at The Ugly Mug Café on March 13.

I met Malone in 2019 at a local house concert. I loaned the host a PA speaker, stuck around to run sound and was blown away by her songs, her voice and just the amazing musical vibe that she and her musical partner Doug Keys brought to 30 lucky people in an Aptos home. She and I finally had a chance to catch up by phone this week.

“I grew up on classic rock from the ’70s,” she says (her mother and grandmother were also singers). “And by the time the ’80s came around, I was already playing guitar. I was especially drawn to blues-based classic rock.”

She’s been writing songs since she was a teenager, and as a recording artist now has over 15 albums to her name. For her latest release, 2024’s “Southern Comfort,” she dove into co-writing, teaming up with legendary songwriter Dean Dillon for many of the tunes on the record. Dillon has written a lot of hits and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, alongside Bob Dylan and Shel Silverstein.

Malone chose to work with Dillon because, “I’d made so many records I kinda got to the point where I was bored with myself,” she laughed. “I wanted to write with other people. And at some point, I just needed some different input.”

She continued, “I’d co-written before, but with people I already know in Atlanta. I also had a publishing deal when I was a lot younger, where they put you in a room with someone you don’t know and say, ‘Here, go make something good.’ If you haven’t been writing for 20 years, you don’t know how to do that yet.

“Writing with Dillon was special,” Malone said. “He’s just an amazing songwriter. He can cut to the chase to the heart of it in like two minutes, and by three minutes you’ve finished one of the greatest songs you’ve ever been a part of.”

Malone was on the road a lot last year with the new record and took a break for the winter, however, she’s happy to get back to California. “I come out to California each year because ya’ll have the great weather!” she said.In the past couple of years, she’s also been on the road opening for acts including The Indigo Girls and John Waite, but “house concerts are my favorite. It’s generally most of what I do when I go on the road.” You’ll get that same, intimate house concert vibe at her show at The Ugly Mug.

In addition to writing and touring, the accomplished songwriter has two cover band side projects. “The Hot Toddies” is a holiday trio that features classic Christmas songs from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. “We just travel around that state with that band. We get to be home during Christmas, and we get to work,” she said. She’s also in Canyonland, playing the music of the 1970s Laurel Canyon scene (Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Young). “I call that one a tribute band, because it’s a tribute to my mother. She used to sing all these songs. I’ll even call her and ask, ‘Did you used to sing this song? What key was it in?’”

But whether it’s playing her own songs or covering artists and music that have influenced her, Malone is about being an entertainer. “What I’ve learned in recent years, is that none of this is about me. It’s about bringing joy to the people who’ve paid to come to see you. What can I do, or what can I sing? What can I do to make people happy?”

Michael Gaither is a performing songwriter, radio DJ and the music writer for The Santa Cruz Sentinel.