For songwriter and performer Sally Shuffield, the key to a good song is in its words, regardless of its genre.
"If somebody could tell a really good story, or use words in a way that are clever and that affects people regardless of age or time, that affects me the most," she said.
"A lot of times, I find that I don't care if it's blues or jazz or country or bluegrass. If the lyrics speak to me, that's what influences me as a song lover."
Scheduled to perform today at Uncommon Ground on Chicago's North Side and at Valparaiso's Front Porch Music Saturday, Shuffield, 40, was reared in Arkansas, where she was intrigued by both her region's history and the country, folk and bluegrass music that was performed there at festivals.
A songwriter and guitarist since she was a teen, Shuffield eventually relocated to Colorado, settling near Boulder. She received a masters degree in anthropology and tried her hand at careers in everything from journalism to environmental causes.
Yet Sheffield continued to pursue music on the side. She eventually found herself sharing her songs in jam sessions that included many popular names in the Boulder acoustic music community.
"Some of the people (in the sessions) who were further along (in stature in the community) than I was really encouraged me and said 'you should really record some of these,' and Greg Schochet (Shuffield's producer and a respected mandolin player) said, 'I'll help you.'"
In 1999, she released her debut effort, "Backroads of My Mind." By 2001, she had made the decision to pursue music full time and released her sophomore set, "The Ties that Bind."
Her most recent set, "Something in the Water," came out in 2006. This time around, she added occasional sprinkles of drums and electric guitar into the mix as well as a straight-ahead bluegrass number.
Lyrically, "Something" finds Sheffield using her educational background and love of history for some of the song's subjects. The title track, for example, is about the Meadow Mountains Massacre, in which between 100 and 140 people were killed along a southern Utah trail in the 1950s.
"Some people sit down and really work on a song and say I'm going to write about this,' and some people, me included, need a lot of time and space to tink around on a guitar and have melodies come," She said.
"And for me, when a melody comes, the lyrics tend to come with it, and when they come, they tend to be about things that happened in the 1800s or characters from that period of time that interest me."
"Something" was a hit with National Public Radio stations since its release a year ago. After spending the better part of six years concentrating on building and maintaining her fan base around her home state, Shuffield plans to tour throughout the country to support her album in 2007, with her follow-up to "Something" tentatively recorded and released in 2008.
Sally Shuffield
When: 10 tonight
Where: Uncommon Ground, 3800 N. Clark St., Chicago
Cost: Free (tips/donation suggested)
FYI: (773) 929-3680 or www.uncommonground.com
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Front Porch Music, 505 E. Lincolnway, Valparaiso
Cost: $9
FYI: (219) 464-4700 or www.frontporchmusic.com
