by Seamus Fitzpatrick
Shelby Means has spent the better part of the last decade building her reputation as a rock-solid bassist and harmony singer in other people’s bands. From her early tenure with Della Mae to her more recent years with Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, she’s always been the anchor, the heartbeat beneath the flash. With her self-titled debut, Shelby Means, she flips the script by stepping to the front of the stage not as a sideman but as a singer, songwriter, and bandleader. The album has two covers and 11 originals and co‑writes. What emerges is a very enjoyable flow that has excellent pickin’ among friends and a carefully crafted showcase of her textured voice.
Means’ vocals carry the warmth and ornamentation of bluegrass lineage. She leans on slides, glissandos, and register leaps with the ease of a singer who knows the idiom from the inside out. On the opener, “Streets of Boulder,” her voice is flanked by Jerry Douglas’ lyrical dobro and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ dancing fiddle lines. Bryan Sutton’s guitar lays the groove, Ron Block’s banjo and Jacob Means’ mandolin share the drive, while Molly and Kyle Tuttle add resonant vocal harmonies. The multiple voices and instruments develop a robust bluegrass sound.
Throughout, she shows remarkable vocal flexibility and character. In “Suitcase Blues,” her bass anchors a relaxed medium feel. Her singing is expressive with bluegrass character, while Keith-Hynes’ fiddle adds poignancy, and Molly and Kyle Tuttle’s harmony vocals lift the choruses. “Farm Girl” leans into traditional country humor and sass. Sam Bush’s mandolin chop snaps against Bryan Sutton’s guitar, Jerry Douglas slides cheekily on dobro, and Ron Block’s banjo punctuates every line. The harmony call-and-response from Kelsey Waldon and Rachel Baiman makes the chorus feel like a full barn-raising.
Means is still a bassist, and her pulse keeps songs like “Up on the Mountain” and “Million Reasons” anchored and alive. She doesn’t just hold down root-fives; she guides the pocket, shaping the phrasing of the whole band. Each soloist gets space, mandolin with its percussive drive and the lyrical expressions of the fiddle bow, dobro singing in sighs, and guitar steady and grounding. In “High Plains Wyoming”, the ensemble’s hits punctuate the melody, cadential figures carry extra bite, and counterpoint lines weave under Means’ clear vocal lead.
The humor shines in “Elephant at the Zoo”, where playful lyrics are mirrored by the band’s good-natured sass. Fiddle and dobro nudge each other like siblings, while Means leans into the melody, showing her range from low growl to high sustain. “5 String Wake Up Call” is another showcase of ensemble personality as each instrument trades short, witty solos, mandolin and dobro leading while the fiddle builds momentum.
Ballads reveal just how varied her vocal hues can be. In “Old Old House,” she stretches lines with aching glissandos; the vocal harmony stack mirrors her slides with perfect intonation, breathing as one organism. “Calamity Jane” begins as a tender narrative before swelling into a full-band climax, mandolin and fiddle solos intertwining with her upper-register cries. “Fisherman’s Daughter” works in a similar emotional pattern with sparse opening textures that gradually blossom into rich harmonies, her bass grounding every shift.
The waltz “Joy” captures the sweet spot of Means’ artistry with a vocal performance that’s technically controlled and emotionally resonant. Guitar and fiddle set a gentle mood; as the arrangement builds, dobro and mandolin solo with elegance, while the harmony turns the final cadence into a hymn-like close.
Producer Maya de Vitry and the Nashville team capture an acoustic sound that is balanced and vivid. On “Wild Tiger Style,” for example, the dobro rings like silver in the stereo field while the fiddle lyrical arcs around the band. Vocals are always front-and-center but never smother the ensemble, and the harmony stacks are spread just enough to let listeners follow each part. The result is a mix of intimacy and polish that gives the record a live-in-the-room sound. The band’s dynamics and textures are carefully sculpted.
“Elephant at the Zoo” has Means playing arco in the intro, a subtle reminder that she is not only a singer fronting a band but an instrumentalist with broad command of timbre and mood. The folk-meets-bluegrass atmosphere affirms her identity as a tradition-bearer with an ear for today’s sounds.
Shelby Means demonstrates how a bassist, long relegated to the supportive role, can reinvent herself as a full-fledged front-line artist. Shelby Means steps into the spotlight with a strong outing. It’s a study in arranging space for each voice and instrument, a lesson in how bluegrass and country traditions can be honored with excellent singing and playing. Every track has vocals, every track has band interplay, and every track feels like community.
This debut is Shelby Means introducing her voice with an enjoyable collection of songs. Now her voice and bass add to the musical community at the center of the bluegrass conversation. And she makes it sound like the most natural thing in the world. That’s the short of it!
