Alabama Shakes were an American rock band formed in

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 21,897. Histo ...

, in 2009. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist

Brittany Howard Brittany Amber Howard (born October 2, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter of rock bands Alabama Shakes, Thunderbitch, and Bermuda Triangle. Her work wi ...

, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson. The band began its career touring and performing at bars and clubs around the Southeast for two years while honing its sound and writing music. They recorded their debut album, '' Boys & Girls'', with producer Andrija Tokic in Nashville while still unsigned. Online acclaim led ATO Records to sign the band, which released ''Boys & Girls'' in 2012 to critical success. The album's hit single "

Hold On Hold On may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Hold On!'' (album), by Herman's Hermits, 1966 * ''Hold On'' (Trapeze album), or the title song, 1978 * ''Hold On'' (High Inergy album), 1980 * ''Hold On'' (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album), 1987 * ...

" was nominated for three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s. After a long touring cycle, the band recorded its second record, ''

Sound & Color ''Sound & Color'' is the second and final studio album by American band Alabama Shakes. It was released on April 17, 2015 via ATO Records. ''Sound & Color'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the U.S., giving the band their firs ...

'', which was released in 2015, debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, and won four Grammy Awards.

History

Early years (2004–2009)

Brittany Howard grew up interested in music, filling notebooks with lyrics and teaching herself to play drums, bass, and guitar. Howard played in multiple bands at East Limestone High School that helped to formulate and craft her taste in music. Her most serious band in her early years was Kerosene Swim Team, a rock band that consisted of Owen Whitehurst and Jonathan Passero. They went on to have a single titled "Coffins and Cadillacs" featured on a compilation track from now defunct indie label Volital Records. They would practice daily after school in Passero's garage, Whitehurst's garage, and Howard's house. They mainly played house parties, and their songs consisted of a mix of covers and originals penned by Howard. Both Whitehurst and Passero went on to continue playing backup for Howard, with Whitehurst playing with Howard and Shakes' bassist Zac Cockrell in what would eventually become The Shakes. Whitehurst would play drums and piano, with Howard and Cockrell playing their current respective instruments.

Formation (2009–2011)

Howard met Heath Fogg in junior high when he played guitar at house parties. She met classmate and bassist Zac Cockrell in a psychology class some time later, and they soon began to spend time listening to their favorite music together and writing their own. After graduation, Howard hosted twice-weekly jam sessions at her great-grandparents' former home. Drummer Steve Johnson, who had heard Howard singing at a party years prior, began attending the jam sessions at the suggestion of Cockrell. They began making music together and recording homemade demos having little else to do in the small town. The group made its live debut in May 2009 under the name "The Shakes." Fogg, at this point a guitarist in the

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

-based Tuco's Pistol, invited the group to open for his band at Brick Deli & Tavern in Decatur. The band was nervous to perform for an audience, as they felt "vulnerable." Their set included covers of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

, James Brown,

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

, and AC/DC. The show went over well, and Fogg soon joined the group. During this time the band members held other day jobs: Howard as a fry cook and then a postal worker, Johnson at the

Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is located on the Tennessee River near Decatur and Athens, Alabama, on the north side (right bank) of Wheeler Lake. The site has three General Electric boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear generating units and i ...

, Cockrell at an animal clinic, and Fogg painting houses. For much of their early years, the Shakes performed shows on weekends at "sports bars and country dives." They also began recording their debut album at Tokic's Bomb Shelter—the home of producer Andrija Tokic—in Nashville, funding the recordings themselves. The band chose Tokic's over other studios because they recorded mostly live to tape, and they believed it would spur a livelier performance. The band would complete arrangements in their hometown and drive an hour and a half north to Nashville to record in intervals over the course of 2011. Their breakthrough came when Justin Gage, a Los Angeles music blogger and

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

host, found a photo of Howard performing online. After contacting the band in July 2011, he posted an

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

of their song "You Ain't Alone" on his music blog,

Aquarium Drunkard ''Aquarium Drunkard'' is an online music magazine launched in 2005 by Justin Gage, and based in Los Angeles, California. The name "Aquarium Drunkard" is a play on a lyric by the band Wilco. The website was originally created by Gage to share mu ...

. By the next morning, the group was awash in offers from record labels and management companies. Gage also contacted

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

, vocalist of the band

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

, who attended a show not long after. He arranged to set the band up with his managers, Christine Stauder and Kevin Morris. Alabama Shakes released a four-song EP, ''Alabama Shakes'', in September 2011, which gained media attention (including

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

) and earned an invitation to play at the CMJ Music Marathon industry showcase in New York. The band began negotiating a record deal with ATO Records and added "Alabama" to their name after Joseph Hicks, of Halo Stereo, noticed how many groups shared the name "The Shakes". They began to open for the

''Boys & Girls'' and mainstream success (2012–2014)

The band's first full-length album, ''Boys & Girls'', was released in April 2012. It debuted at number 16 on the national charts as a digital-only release, but climbed to number eight as physical releases were distributed. The album received near-universal acclaim. After a European tour, they opened for

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

over a summer tour and performed at several major music festivals, including

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and Lollapalooza. The album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, "Hold On" was a radio hit (peaking at number one on ''Billboard's''

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative rad ...

chart) and was dubbed the best song of the year by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' credited their "rapid ascent" to "Howard's singular stage presence." The group received three nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards:

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, Best Rock Performance for "Hold On," and Best Recording Package for their debut album, ''Boys & Girls''. After the Grammy's performance, ''Boys & Girls'' returned to the top 10, peaking at number six a year after its release. ''Boys & Girls'' was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 in the United States on March 13, 2013. It has since sold over 744,000 copies in the US.

''Sound & Color'' (2015–2018)

The band began recording their second album in late 2013. They spent over a year in the studio, with no clear end-goal, as they had not written any new songs due to their exhaustive touring schedule. The group's second studio album, ''Sound & Color'', was released on April 21, 2015. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US, making it the band's first number one album. The record's lead single, " Don't Wanna Fight", was a number two hit on the Adult Alternative Songs chart. The album eventually earned three

s, including

Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. H ...

. The band played for the VMworld 2015 Party at ATT park in San Francisco on September 2, 2015 and Barclays British Summer Time in Hyde Park, London on July 8, 2016. In 2018, the band won the

Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance The Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance is an award category at the annual Grammy Awards. It was first presented in 2015. The award was first approved by the board of trustees of the Grammy Awards in June 2014. According to NARAS, th ...

for their rendition of "Killer Diller Blue" in the film '' The American Epic Sessions'', which was directed by Bernard MacMahon. They recorded the song live on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s.

Hiatus (2019–present)

In 2018, the band went on hiatus due to Howard's focus on her solo project ''

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'', which led to a solo tour in 2019. In June 2020, guitarist Heath Fogg released his debut solo project under the name Sun on Shade. In March 2020, drummer Steve Johnson pleaded guilty to domestic violence, harassment and stalking in relation to his ex-wife, following their divorce after three and a half years of marriage. He received a one-year suspended prison sentence and 24 months' probation. On March 24, 2021, Johnson was arrested on suspicion of child abuse and was subsequently indicted by a grand jury on charges of "wilful torture, wilful abuse, and cruelly beating or otherwise wilfully maltreating a child under the age of 18." He has been released on bail. The charge was dismissed in December 2021.

Musical style

Early critical reviews of their debut, ''Boys & Girls'' (2012), noted that the band borrowed from mid-20th century rhythm and blues. Alongside Howard's voice, the songs were compared to artists such as Janis Joplin,

, and Aretha Franklin. Howard herself took inspiration from

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotlan ...

of AC/DC in her vocal style, praising his "soulful" way of singing. As the acclaim mounted, "reviewers speculated" that their sound was in homage to the music produced in

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popu ...

, Alabama nearly five decades prior. Cockrell and Fogg were aware of the Shoals legacy, but Howard was more influenced by bands such as

and artists like

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

. The success of debut single "

" led some to believe the group " astrying to pass themselves off as revivalists, something they never aspired to be." Their second record, ''Sound & Color'' (2015), is steeped in several different genres, and touches on everything from shoegaze to bands such as MC5.

Influence

Alabama Shakes has been cited as an influence for artists such as

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, Childish Gambino, and Beyoncé.

Band members

Members

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *Zac Cockrell – bass *Heath Fogg – lead guitar, backing vocals *Steve Johnson – drums, backing vocals

Touring

* Ben Tanner – keyboards * Paul Horton – keyboards

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Boys & Girls'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

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Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

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, "Killer Diller Blues" ('' The American Epic Sessions'') ,

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Other awards

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NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

for Best New Band , , - , AIM Independent Music Award for Most Played New Independent Act , , - , Libera Award for Best Live Act , , - , ''Boys & Girls'' , Libera Award for Album of the Year , , - , 2014 , "You Ain't Alone" in ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof ( Matthew McConaughey), an AIDS patient diagnosed in ...

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References

External links

* *
Alabama Shakes artist page: interviews, features, performances archived at NPR Music

Brittany Howard Releases New Single (along with Jack White band member Ruby Amanfu
{{Authority control American blues rock musical groups American soul musical groups Punk blues musical groups Rock music groups from Alabama American southern rock musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Grammy Award winners 2009 establishments in Alabama Musical quartets Rough Trade Records artists ATO Records artists Female-fronted musical groups