Alabama Shakes have been a music junkie’s darling since the first note of “Hold On.” They one problem is they are NPR music darlings and like most things I enjoy in life that NPR touches it gets deconstructed to the point of nausea. The second problem is everybody then ran their mouths as fast as they could to notify the masses how much Brittany Howard evokes Janis Joplin. Yes, I have Joplin’s greatest hits album, too. Alabama Shakes are from Alabama as their name suggests, yet rarely have I heard anyone throw out that fun fact.
I had to chance to hear them play and meet them 2 years ago after a sold out performance at The State Room right off the release of their album, “Boys and Girls.” They were amazingly sweet people and genuine in the small time I had to chat with them. Their talent on stage exceeds that. Hopefully, people take notice.
Alabama Shakes new album is called “Sound and Color” and will be out on April 21st.