Shelby Lynne, one of my favorite ballsy female artists, has recently issued her ninth album, “Suit Yourself.” I admire her because she continually bucks industry and record-buyer expectations to deliver the music in her heart. I listen to her because she’s a musical spitfire who’s country-fried soul and rock recalls the best of Stax and Muscle Shoals.

At 37, the singer-songwriter is at ease with herself and her career, but it’s been an epic journey to reach this point.

Lynne was 17 when she saw her drunken father murder her mother in the family’s Alabama home before turning the gun on himself. At 18 she entered into a short-lived marriage. Rather than wasting away from these calamities, just a few years later Lynne was in Nashville being hailed as the next-big-thing.

She released five albums in the ’90s and scored a couple of hits, but found the rigidity of country music to be “kind of a box. And, boy, I don’t like boxes. So I had to mix it up and confuse everybody as much as possible.” Which is what she did — as her ever-declining sales proved.

Finally Lynne had enough and she left Nashville for good. After much cajoling she convinced producer Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow) to help her essentially start over. The result was 1999’s masterful “I Am Shelby Lynne.”

The album drew raves from critics who compared its blend of country and blue-eyed soul to Dusty Springfield’s legendary “Dusty In Memphis.” “I Am Shelby Lynne” appeared on scores of year-end best lists and, in a bizarre twist, snagged the Best New Artist Grammy for the veteran performer.

After two further releases (“Love, Shelby” and “Identity Crisis”) we’re back to “Suit Yourself,” a lo-fi affair that captures Lynne at her spontaneous best. “It was probably the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had making a record with a group of cats that just want to play music cause that’s what they do.”

The cats Lynne assembled include guitarist Michael Ward (The Wallflowers), keyboardist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), drummer Bryan Owings, pedal steel player Robby Turner and bassist/engineer Brian “Brain” Harrison.

Lynne matched her crack band note for note, producing the album and playing guitar on every track. “You can be a girl singer, but I really felt like one of the boys, which is where I’m most comfortable. And the record has that vibe to it, you know, cause we cut it live.”

The 12-song “Suit Yourself” is highlighted by the rocking opener “Go With It,” “I Cry Everyday,” which spotlights Lynne’s rich, drawling tenor, “Johnny Met June,” a song she wrote on the day of Johnny Cash’s death that imagines his heavenly reunion with wife June, “Iced Tea,” about an enduring lover (“You’re the cornbread and iced tea of life”) and “Track 12,” actually a cover of Tony Joe White’s evocative “A Rainy Night In Georgia.”

I propose that Lynne be permanently enshrined in the pantheon of feisty female icons that we ’mos and ’bos have so lovingly established. “Suit Yourself” is just further proof that the country hellcat belongs there.

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