Robin Lane has worked in many musical styles throughout her lengthy career. There were the folk stylings of her early years when she was part of the Laurel Canyon scene and the new wave punk-influenced sound of her band Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. Her solo work has seen her dabbling in other genres, but no one ever thought of her as an Americana artist. But that label keeps cropping up when critics hear her latest release, “Dirt Road to Heaven.”

Lane doesn’t worry about what people call her music. “I don’t really like labels; I just write songs,” she said in a recent phone interview.

“I started out to make a country album, and then it kind of morphed into these other songs,” she added.

Lane will play songs off the album when she and her band perform at Floodwater Brewing Company in Shelburne Falls on Sunday, July 9, at 6 p.m. This show will be a chance to see her in an intimate setting in the town she’s called home for the past 11 years. She has another local show coming up when she appears at the Divine Theater in Gateway City Arts in Holyoke on Friday, July 14, at 8 p.m. This show is a co-bill with the local folk-punk band Fancy Trash, who has recently been playing together after a lengthy hiatus.

Lane’s living in Shelburne Falls, and the songs off the new album result from a long musical journey with many twists and turns. She grew up in California, the daughter of Ken Lane, who wrote for Dean Martin, and a mother who was a model. Living in the Laurel Canyon area, she was exposed to and inspired by songwriters like Stephen Stills and Neil Young. She even sang on Young’s “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.” Lane started songwriting around the age of 20.

After a brief marriage with future Police guitarist Andy Summers, in the late 1970s, she left Los Angeles for Boston. At the time, punk and New Wave were hitting big. She left folk music behind in favor of this louder electric music and formed Robin Lane & The Chartbusters. She recorded three albums for Warner Bros Records with the band. They are best known for the hit, “When Things Go Wrong.” The song was one of the first videos to air when MTV debuted in 1981.

In 1985 Lane launched a solo career. She opened shows for artists like Steve Earle, John Hiatt, and Warren Zevon and released a series of albums.

Having left Boston in favor of western Massachusetts, in 2010 she formed Songbird Sings, an organization dedicated to helping people work through trauma by writing and recording their songs.

“Everything informs you, and everything that you do in this world rubs off on your songs,” she said when asked how leading these workshops has impacted her songwriting. (Lane is currently looking for places to hold her Songbird Sings workshops.) Even though she was very involved with Songbird Sings, she continued writing and performing her songs.

Lane estimates that “Dirt Road to Heaven” took more than 10 years to make.

“It took a lot of time because John Pfister, the album’s producer, who also owns the studio where we recorded, lives in Marblehead,” said Lane. “Plus, I had to go to California and stay for a couple of years, and then there was the pandemic.”

“Dirt Road to Heaven” was well worth the wait as it’s a solid collection of honest songs that are musical and lyrically varied. Lane gets real here as she tackles everything from love to loss to life in general and in the process proves what an underrated songwriter she is.

The album opens with the title track, on which Lane sings in a clear, strong voice, “I’m on a dirt road to heaven/Walkin’ in my own direction/I heard that there’s a highway in the sky/ But it’s not mine, no it’s not mine.” The song is reminiscent of a Lucinda Williams tune, and while there is an overall heaviness to the words here, there’s also a sense of peace of someone accepting of where they are at in life.

“’Dirt Road To Heaven,” that title, had been in my mind for a long long time. I finally wrote some words to go along with it,” said Lane of the track. That song and the title seem to encompass my whole life in more ways than I can say right here. It’s huge and I’m thankful for it.”

The album shifts gears on the following track, “Woman Like That,” about a friend turned stalker that opens with some tom drumming and banjo work by Chartbuster member Asa Berner, who died in 2019. Other highlights are the catchy “Hard Life” while “Rodeo Clown,” has a nice touch of country twang. Lane shows off her sense of humor in “Last Cute Minute,” about an older woman for love, but “Someone not on social security/Not on disability, too.”

“Dirt Road to Heaven” was released on Red on Red Records last summer and was met with highly positive reviews. The quality of these songs led Justine Covault, the owner of Red on Red Records, a label out of Boston, to sign Lane.

“Robin writes unflinchingly honest songs that reflect the light and the dark in the world. Her voice is distinctive and gorgeous,” said Covault in a statement about the signing. “And she is absolutely riveting as a live performer — when she plays and sings, the audience is spellbound. I’m honored and thrilled that she is joining the Red on Red roster family.”

Lane had enough experience with the icky music business, as she called it, that she wasn’t interested in going down that road again. Still, she knew that Justine was someone special and different from the usual music industry men she had encountered over the years.

A few months ago, Red on Red re-released “Dirt Road to Heaven” as a pared-down five-song EP hoping to grab the attention of those listeners who don’t bother to listen to full-length albums. The strategy worked, and the album gained more positive attention.

“I’d never met anybody like Justine. She helped all these band and music people from the Boston area get their stuff out, and she was such a wonderful person,” Lane said.

The future of Red on Red Records is unknown at this time. However, Lane has new material ready to record and will move forward with these songs. “Dirt Road to Heaven,” continues to gain listeners and Lane has even released a couple of videos to support it. You can hear the album on all streaming platforms or purchase it on her website at therobinlane.com. She also has a patreon platform at patreon.com/robinlane that she encourages people to join. The five song EP is only available digitally on Bandcamp.com. And of course, check out these upcoming live shows.

Tickets for the Divine Theater show are $18 in advance and $23 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. This is a 16 + show unless accompanied by parent or guardian.

Ball in the House at Watermelon Wednesdays

Ball in the House (BitH) is an R&B/soul/pop a cappella group based out of Boston that will perform as part of the Watermelon Wednesdays concert series on Wednesday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. These shows take place at the West Whately Chapel on Conway Road.

The group has toured all over, opening for everyone from the Jonas Brothers to The Temptations. They will be performing their program called “And Now I See,” in which they delve into the history of African-American music from its beginnings until today. The show will also explore how racism has affected this music and the artists.

Tickets are $22 and available at watermelonwednesdays.com.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at Soundslocal@yahoo.com.

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