I didn’t mean to see Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit 99 times.
Category Archives: Music.
Baroness makes its first stop in Birmingham on Wednesday
Baroness has, somehow, never been to Birmingham. Well, they were once. Their bus stopped here as it was passing through to head to Atlanta. Lead singer John Baizley remembers that. The band is still from Savannah, Georgia by default, and Baizley is the only remaining original member. He spent much of his youth in the Appalachians of Virginia and in Savannah, and that somehow managed to influence his brand of metal.
Gold & Grey is the band’s fifth album, each named for colors. It’s the first to feature Gina Gleason on guitar. Continue reading
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Mike Krol set to make his Birmingham debut
Mike Krol released his fourth album in January, Power Chords. He also got engaged over the past year, to Birmingham’s own Allison Crutchfield, who has spent a lot of time as his labelmate at Merge Records. Continue reading
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The Get Up Kids bring ‘Problems’ to Birmingham
The Get Up Kids returned in 2019 with their sixth studio album, Problems. It’s their first album since 2011’s There Are Rules, but this time, the band never really broke up as they did in 2004. While they each pursued some other projects, they never went far from one another, staying on the festival circuit when called. Continue reading
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Hardy returns to the Magic City
Michael Hardy (known on stage as simply Hardy) moved to Nashville at 19-years-old with dreams of becoming a songwriter. He had grown up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a town of about 8,000 not known for much beyond Marty Stuart and casinos. But it didn’t take long for him to make some noise, penning songs for Florida-Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen among others. Continue reading
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Hayes Carll returns to Birmingham with ‘What It Is’ on Thursday
Hayes Carll is an honorary Alabamian of sorts, having married his longtime partner and Monroeville native Allison Moorer earlier this year. But he’s a Texan at heart. He was raised on Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt before making his way to Nashville, where the couple now resides. Continue reading
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Jo Dee Messina weaves new faith into catalog of country hits on Friday
Jo Dee Messina moved to Nashville when she was 19-years-old. By 1996, she had become a household name among country radio fans with her first single, “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” Her sophomore album, I’m Alright, featured three singles that stayed atop the country charts for multiple weeks: the title track, “Bye, Bye” and “Stand Beside Me.” She was the first female country artist to accomplish the feat. Continue reading
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John Moreland returns to Birmingham with unreleased songs in tow
Alabama has known about John Moreland long before he was collecting praise from the likes of Miranda Lambert and Rachel Maddow. The Tulsa-based singer-songwriter began playing shows at Standard Deluxe in Waverly, Alabama years ago, behind his earlier works like In the Throes.
Much was made of how “sad” that record and High on Tulsa Heat, its successor, were. And when Moreland found love and released his 2017 album, Big Bad Luv, much was made of the contrast in mood; much was credited to finding that love. He spent time in that press cycle distancing himself from those narratives, asserting that the first two records shouldn’t be labeled as “sad” ones, nor should the latter be labeled “happy.” Now two years removed from the last one and with a new one in the can, he’s 34-years-old, and he asserts that age has made him less concerned with how any of it is perceived. Continue reading
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Sarah Shook and the Disarmers return to Birmingham on Sunday
Sarah Shook is punk rock, but not punk rock in the way that the Sex Pistols were punk rock. Shook is punk rock in the way that Johnny Cash was punk rock. The Chapel Hill native has a twang and is backed by the occasional pedal steel, so it’s easy to throw the music into “Americana.” That’s what we do these days when we don’t know how to define a sound and it comes from the South – Americana. Continue reading
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John Paul White brings “Countrypolitan” to Birmingham on Saturday
John Paul White looked to many of his heroes when he sat down to write The Hurting Kind, the follow-up to 2016’s Beulah. Opry legends like Bill Anderson. Guys like Bobby Braddock, who notably co-wrote the George Jones classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and the 2009 Billy Currington hit “People Are Crazy.” White knew that he wanted to make a country record, and he knew that if he challenged himself by writing alongside some of the best, he would quickly learn if his aim was on target. Continue reading
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Blake Ells 