Sheryl Crow

"I love the sound of EJ16 Phosphor Bronze 12-53 strings!"

About Sheryl Crow

For Sheryl Crow, the title of her seventh album isn't just a location; it's a state of mind. "I grew up in a small town 100 miles from Memphis, and that informed not only my musical taste, but how I look at life," she says. "The drive to Memphis is all farmland, and everyone is community-oriented, God-fearing people, connected to the earth. The music that came out of that part of the world is a part of who I am, and it's the biggest inspiration for what I do and why I do it." So for the Kennett, Missouri native, calling the disc 100 Miles From Memphis is a statement of purpose, both musical and emotional. It also marks a long-awaited return by the nine-time Grammy winner to the sounds that first drew her to making music. "This is something I've been thinking about for a long time," says Crow. "When (manager Scooter Weintraub) first started working with me twenty years ago, what he heard in me was that I had heavy influences from the South-Delaney and Bonnie, all the Stax records. So for years he's been asking me, 'When are you going to make that record?'" The results evoke a time when soul and passion filled the radio waves, when the sweat and joy of a recording session could be captured forever on wax. Sometimes the musical references-Al Green, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder-are made apparent, but the album's eleven songs are characterized more by capturing a classic spirit than by imitating any specific style.

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