Shelby Lynne

The 39-year-old’s willingness to tackle just about any genre continues with her latest effort, Just a Little Lovin’, a stylishly subdued collection of Dusty Springfield covers. Supported by spare arrangements and instrumentation, Lynne reimagines and reinvents some of the blue-eyed soul singer’s biggest hits—including "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "I Only Want to Be With You," "The Look of Love" and "You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me"—while adding one of her own, "Pretend," to the mix as well.

Lynne, busy getting the word out about Just a Little Lovin’, recently agreed to answer a few questions through e-mail about why she wanted to sing someone else’s songs this time around, how she chose the songs she covered and whether or not she’ll be releasing a similar album in the future.

GayWired: I’ve read that Barry Manilow first put the idea of a Dusty Springfield cover album in your head in early 2005. What did you think when he made the suggestion?

Shelby Lynne: After Barry made the suggestion I didn't think about it for a while. I had just completed an album and was literally stepping on a tour bus for a long tour. It was around a year before I even considered it.

GW: Quite a bit of time passed after the suggestion was made, right? What caused you to 'come around' in the end? What was it about the idea that intrigued you?

SL: I was starting to wonder what album I wanted to do next, then I remembered what Barry suggested. I thought about it and figured why not? I'm a big Dusty fan and I thought people would want to be reminded of how great she was. 

GW: In a recent interview, you mentioned that one of the things that drew you to the film, Walk the Line, was that you could be someone else for a change. Was that part of what drew you to this project, too?

SL: It's a break from writing and singing my own songs. Even though I write songs, I have always considered myself a singer first. It was an honor to interpret some of the best songs with Dusty in mind.

GW: How did you choose the songs that appear on Just a Little Lovin'? Are they your personal favorite Dusty songs, were they the ones with the best stories or melodies, or maybe the most open to interpretation? 

SL: I chose my favorites. I also made sure when choosing the songs that I felt I could really make them my own.

GW: Not all of the songs on the album are covers, of course—you wrote 'Pretend' yourself. What were your intentions with the song—is it your version of a Dusty song, or maybe a tribute to her? 

SL: Phil Ramone really thought I should include one of my own compositions on the album. 'Pretend' is a song I wrote several years ago for another album that didn't work out. So when I went looking for material that was suitable for this album, this was the only one I had. It's not easy finding songs that can stand next to these, but the band and everyone in the studio thought it would fly just fine.

GW: Why you decide to give all of the songs a kind of moody, cabaret-esque sound? Did you want your versions of the songs to be as different as possible from the originals? 

SL: If you're going to cut covers, you have to make them your own or you're sunk.

GW: Did this process change the way you think about writing your own music—or at least inspire you to start penning your own tunes again?

SL: I’m always writing songs. 

GW: I'm guessing you're kind of 'covered out' at the moment, but are there any artists that you'd cover in the future if you had the chance? If so, who would you choose, and which songs would you like to cover?

SL: Right now I can't see doing covers again for many, many years. I wouldn't know where to begin. I admire so many artists. Time will tell.