The last few years have been a whirlwind for up-and-coming Red Dirt singer-songwriter Shelby Stone.

The 26-year-old Decatur native went from singing karaoke at a work Christmas party to recording an album and opening for bands like Cross Canadian Ragweed, Turnpike Troubadours and American Aquarium.

And now, she’s playing Billy Bob’s Texas Friday, April 3 to celebrate the streaming release of her debut album, “Silveryear.” Tickets are on sale now.

“It’s so cool, man. They say you get your whole life to write your first record, but I mean, I didn’t start writing until I was 21, so this is just like, ‘Holy [expletive], we actually did this!” Stone told the Star-Telegram over a Zoom interview.

‘Silveryear’

“Silveryear” was previously only available as a digital download on Stone’s website or as a physical copy at the merch booth at Stone’s shows. The album was crowdfunded, so Stone said she wanted to get the music to its backers as soon as possible. Vinyl copies quickly sold out on her website, and she’s been building a steady stream of fans ever since the album’s release last year, with nearly 20,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

“I think people want the tactile experience of holding the record in their hand, they want to hear the rawness of it. I just think that physical media is so back,” she said.

Starting Friday, more fans can hear Stone’s powerful voice and hard country-rock songs full of emotional lyrics. She titled the record “Silveryear” because she recorded it when she was 25, a year traditionally associated with silver, and that metal’s durability and strength.

The songs on the album also represent durability and strength, hardened by the turmoil one may experience in their 20s. “Silveryear” has songs about romantic breakups, friendship breakups, being with someone you shouldn’t, wishing you were back with someone you never should have left. It’s all backed by Stone’s band The Stone Rollers, including her manager, mentor and co-writer, Texas music scene veteran Dalton Domino. Stone wrote or co-wrote nearly every song on the album, which includes a song written by The Wilder Blue’s Zane Williams.

“It’s just the perfect emotional scrapbook for being in your early 20s...it is such a weird time to navigate,” Stone said. “You’re an adult, but you’re not an adult, you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. I’m just really proud of it. I hope people can tell, even just vocally, the growth throughout the album.”

North Texas roots in Wise County

“Silveryear” was a long time coming, even though Stone writes in the album’s liner notes she had only written “exactly 10 songs” before making this album.

Stone grew up in Decatur, and attended Victory Christian Academy, where she would lead worship and perform the national anthem at sporting events. She said music was always a big part of her life — “I love music, I was always obnoxious about lyrics” — but she didn’t think singing or playing the guitar would be any more than a hobby.

“No, I never really thought I was going to do this — I just thought I would occasionally lead worship on Sundays,” she said.

But she got a job at Fort Worth country station 95.9 The Ranch as a student at UT Arlington, and got called up on stage to sing karaoke at a station Christmas party in the Stockyards, she told the Wise County Messenger. That was enough to give her the nudge to keep performing, first in dive bars and honky-tonks around Wise County and Fort Worth, and later, opening on CCR’s Boys From Oklahoma tour last February — a band she grew up listening to as a kid.

And speaking of The Ranch: readers might have heard Stone’s latest single, “Burns Blue,” on the radio this week leading up to the album’s release.

“It’s just really cool, we’ve been having a lot of big full circle moments lately,” she said.

‘Blue-haired nonsense’

Fans who buy “Silveryear” at a concert can also get a merch pack that comes with a CD, liner notes, a digital copy of the album, a koozie and some stickers, one of which reads “Here for the blue-haired nonsense.” (She thanks Paramore’s Hayley Williams and her hair dye brand, Good Dye Young, in the album’s liner notes.)

Stone’s blue hair has become her calling card, but she said it started out as a happy accident a few years ago when she was trying to dye her hair for a music video shoot in Kerrville.

“I put this stuff on there that ended up stripping all of the color out, and it gave me white roots and red hair. And I do not look good with red hair. So I was trying to counteract that, I threw blue on everything, and then put black on the red parts to try to cover up the rest of it.

“So it was an accident, but it’s been one of the greatest ones. It’s been an easily marketable accident. Thank God,” she laughed.

And now, this weekend, she’ll bring her “blue-haired nonsense” and energetic live show back to Fort Worth, where it all started.

“It has put the size of the room in perspective,” she said about playing at Billy Bob’s. “I’ve headlined three times in total. I‘m having to genuinely think about the shifting mindset of like, I don’t have to win these people over. I’ve already won them over. They’re here. They bought tickets. They know who I am.

“I’m trying to find the words for it. And I’ve still, I come up short every time.”

And as for what’s next, the official “Silveryear” release is just the beginning.

“I tell people all the time that the goal is to play stadiums. This is all I want to do for the rest of my life. And to think about all the major milestones from there to here — it’s just utmost gratitude.”

Stone makes her Billy Bob’s Texas debut this Friday, April 3 at 10 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale now — $28 reserved, $18 general admission. Pre-save “Silveryear” on Spotify here.

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