The title of Michelle Malone’s 16th CD, Stronger Than You Think, perfectly describes both Malone and her music.

Malone grew up in Atlanta, began writing songs as a teenager and got signed by the legendary Clive Davis to Arista Records in the early ’90s while still in college, where she went to study voice. “Well, I was in college for partying, I think. I mean, I studied voice, I studied a lot of things, got kicked out twice. The only classes I really made it to were voice, English...