Stories from Alabama Public Radio
The Red Clay Strays Open for The Rolling Stones
One of drummer John Hall’s shirts says “Alabama music is the best damn music in the damn world.” And the Strays are working to prove it. They sold out their debut at the Ryman Auditorium so fast they added two more shows. It was three sellouts in under five hours.
https://www.apr.org/news/2024-05-30/a-mobile-based-band-opens-for-the-rolling-stones
The Music of the Snake Handlers
COVID-19 hit the live music industry hard in Alabama. Full-time musicians were left with few places to play. Mobile musician and folk artist Abe Partridge had time on this hands and followed a different pursuit. He attended serpent-handling churches across Appalachia* with the goal of painting pictures of some of the pastors. That plan took an unexpected turn when he heard the music at these religious events. It was powerful and possibly not heard by outsiders.
We Worked with the Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Paul Simon…
The studio is the only tour stop in the small cinder block building on Jackson Highway. Standing in the center of the room next to the piano that played on hits such as Paul Simon’s Kodachrome, Brooks tells the history of the building before the Swampers left Fame Studios in the spring of 1969 and built the Burlap Palace. Link to the story about Muscle Shoals Sound Studio on APR.
