Shelby Stone describes herself as an angel in rock n’ roll garb who has not a single ladylike thing about her. But she sure does try.
“Lotta leather, a lot of cowboy hats, happy to be here.”
A Fort Worth native and the daughter of rodeo clown Booger Stone, she rode horses growing up and worked with a reigning trainer before deciding that it wasn’t for her.
“I picked up a guitar in high school and never looked back.”
She played her first show on Valentine’s Day in 2020 and at the end of 2023, Stone’s debut single Each Other charted at the station she once worked for, 95.9 The Ranch. Her debut album is coming later this year.
TCC: When did you know music was what your were going to do?
SS: I love this question because it actually has everything to do with The Stockyards. So, I worked for 95.9 The Ranch, I was a promo girl and it was around Christmas time, we had our big staff Christmas party. We had it at (Red River) and after, obviously, we came out to The Stockyards. I DD’d for everybody and there was two gentleman on stage, Rob Redwine and Brandon Kent, if you’ve ever been to anything down here, you’ve seen them play before. And one of the sales reps was like ‘you’ve got to hear this girl’ and kicked one of them off stage and had me get up there. And I will say, what I know now looking back, that was super brave of them. Because there was no telling what was going to come out of my mouth. At the time, I was a nursing major at UT-Arlington. The next day, I called my advisor and was like ‘what are your music degree programs that y’all have here.’ I ended up finding a degree I music industry studies, which is the commercial recording and all of those things and just dove in, fell in love, and I’ve never looked back. It was an immediate turning point.
TCC: I’ve followed you on social media for a long time and on Spotify for a long time, only three songs on there, I’ve gotta know why?
SS: Well, we’re trying to make it only two. I haven’t really told anybody this. So, House of the Rising Sun was a school project. There ain’t a single mysterious thing about me, every thought I’ve ever had, I have shared online or two somebody. But music wise, we’ve had some people that are watching, and we want to give them as little knowledge as possible. But last May, we went out to Arizona and ended up cutting a handful of songs. That’s when we ended up putting up Each Other out in November. I flew back to Arizona last month and we cut a few more songs, so we’ve got things in the works.
TCC: So, it’s quality over quantity
SS: That’s exactly what it is. And this is not a cheap industry, so I’m working with the cashflow that I do have. And if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. I don’t want to put something out and go ‘hm, I really wish I would’ve done this, this, this and that to it.’ But new songs are coming, pinky swear.
TCC: Earlier you used the phrase “back when I was blonde.” I feel like you got the eras like Taylor Swift does.
SS: I for sure have eras. I cheered for awhile, I was blonde for awhile, I realized that I’m allowed to dress Western. I don’t have be in ag every single day, busting my tail to wear Western wear. So, there was me going through a really rough phase where I was thrifting everything, lots of ill-fitting clothes and now we’ve been able to find things that fit. There are so many eras, cheap hats, good hats, I was boot salesman for a second. I talked to my manager like ‘do you think I could do that, in my own way?’
TCC: Next era, what are your goals?
SS: Next era, full band stuff. A pretty rock n’ roll show. I like to be able to have range and go from like a face-melting rock n’ roll to a gut-wrenching song and just kind of stripped thing and it makes sense. I’ll be honest, I personally haven’t found too many artists that could pull off both, and that is what I want to do. So the next era is finding a way to blend all of that and really locking in on my songwriting skills. I just want to keep learning more and more about this. I have the coolest job in the world.