Alabama Shakes Review

Alabama Shakes

About two weeks ago I was chatting with my friend Brando on the phone. We talked about future wedding plans, inside jokes, and our upcoming annual cabin trip in backwoods, nowhere Utah. As the conversation wrapped up, he slipped in a casual suggestion, “Hey man, if you get a sec check out this Alabama Shakes band…it’s a blues band from Alabama with a sassy, large, black girl as the singer. It’s like The Black Keys meets Aretha Franklin.” …..thank you Brando.

The Alabama Shakes are still relatively new. They share the quintessential high school gathering and start to success. Singer/guitarist Brittany Howard (large, sassy, black girl as my friend described) approached bassist Zac Cockrell and the two started to collaborate. Within another few months local drummer Steve Johnson and guitarist Heath Fog were added to the mix. The band released their first album Boys and Girls in April under Rough Trade Records and ATO Records.

Boys and Girls boasts a 12 song set of hard rocking blues and soul. Singles “Hold On” and “You Ain’t Alone” are still climbing US and international charts. Expect swooning lyrics and bluesy guitar licks and piano riffs. Great things are expected from this hard group. Praises rain from  mtvU to Jack White, who has expressed future interest in working with the group.

Alabama Shakes are currently touring in England and have already scheduled, sold-out shows throughout their summer tour.

 

The Rundown

Hello music world! This post starts off what I hope to be a fantastic and innovative tool to the music community of Rexburg, Idaho and surrounding areas. Of course, I hope that this blog can affect all who come across it in some way.

I’ve heard from more than a few friends that there is “no music scene” in Rexburg and at BYU-Idaho. That is up for debate. But while there may not be a frontier music scene, I know that there are musicians and fans with a passion to play, listen and participate. What I envision for this blog is to create a space where these musicians and fans can collaborate through album reviews, venue/show reviews (so what if all we have is Sammy’s and someone’s basement), and just creating a community to hopefully come together face-to-face to talk, listen to and create MUSIC.  Hopefully this whole project takes a mind and face of its own. That’s what it will be designed for.

Expect album reviews and recent, local music news on this blog. Have a band? Solo artist? Let us know about you! Want to share a new artist you’ve found or rant about your all time favorite? By all means, go ahead.

I’ll end this by leaving my view of music. While I am not one who would necessarily say that “music is my life,” I definitely do have a personal and particular passion for it. It describes who I am without me having to do it. I take comfort in lounging around my apartment listening to the Shout Out Louds and Two Door Cinema Club (whom I will surely review an albums for soon). I admit that I listen to Barry Manilow with my mother. I take pride in saying my first concert was to see the Aquabats! I could listen to Freddy Mercury belt a high C while Brian May strokes his Red Special every single day of my life (and I probably will). Music tells our past, relates our present and introduces us to the future. I have the utmost respect for musicians. They shoulder a heavy burden. I have never met anyone who does not like music. It is the musicians who help us speak words and express emotions that we, at times, simply cannot.

What is a great documentary of our lives without the perfect soundtrack?