Best of 2015: Records (That Have No Tie to Alabama)
I split this list up this year because Alabama had a special year in music, and Alabama music was an important part of my year. So here are the ten-ish records that I thought were the best of 2015 that had no connection to the state of Alabama.
Filed under Music.
Best of 2015: Alabama Records
Call it a cop out or a crutch or cheating – I don’t particularly care. It’s my blog and I do what I want.
I wrote a book this year – The Muscle Shoals Legacy of FAME – which focused on how my hometown evolved from a studio town to a songwriting town to a town that bred some of the best music that is being created in the South. So if I were ever going to take the opportunity to “cheat,” this year allowed me a valid excuse. And that’s great because folks from Alabama made amazing records this year. There are three records on this list that could and have appeared in top tens from the most respected music publications in the country.
Why We Root
There’s a thing that used to drive me mad. I’d walk into a supermarket wearing an Auburn t-shirt, often not having given my choice of attire any thought, and be told by a cashier, “That’s the ugliest shirt I’ve ever seen.”
I hardly ever found that could be true. The thing that the person actually wanted to say to me was, “I see that you enjoy rooting for Auburn. I enjoy rooting for Alabama. Would you care to discuss college football with me? I believe that my team will be victorious in our next contest.”
The Blue
“There really ain’t no difference
in Michigan and Maine
If you ain’t here to see this I’m missing just the same.” – Jason Isbell, ‘The Blue.’
I realize the absurdity of the notion, but there really ain’t no difference in Boston and Birmingham.
The former is the sixth-largest media market in America, while our Magic City is the 43rd. The former saw the American Revolution play out in its’ streets, while the latter was one of the largest stages of the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960’s. The former is home to the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics, the Bruins. The latter just moved its’ AA baseball team back downtown three years ago.
Boston counts John Adams, Samuel Adams, Aerosmith, Louisa May Alcott and Ben Affleck among its most famous natives, and that’s just among things that begin with the letter “A.” The most notable people from Birmingham are all athletes, but its’ at least an impressive list that includes Willie Mays, Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson and Vonetta Flowers.
Stories and a Lesson From the Road
When The Muscle Shoals Legacy of FAME was released on June 29 of this year, I didn’t go on some sort of full blown book tour or anything like that, but I did make a few stops across the state of Alabama. And that’s an interesting thing; chatting with people that you don’t know about this thing that you have created that they connect with.
When I finished writing the book, I never really looked at it again. It was no longer mine. It belonged to the publisher, it belonged to the people that bought it (many of you) and it belonged to the Shoals community; the latter being my top priority in the effort. When I negotiated that deal, I wanted to find a way to bridge a giant divide from the “Muscle Shoals” story that had been told and the one that we are still living out. There was no blueprint for that, and I felt the best way to create one was to simply speak to the people that lived it, people still living it, people that I call friends.
I think I hit the target. I’ve been told, at least, that the work was partially responsible for new life in the Fiddleworms. And nothing could make me happier.
But I digress.
Tomorrow Will Be Kinder
“Tomorrow will be kinder
It’s true, I’ve seen it before
A brighter day is coming my way
Yes, tomorrow will be kinder.”
Music attorney John Strohm said something on Twitter Saturday, as we all sought answers, as we all grieved the events unfolding in Paris.
“I don’t mean this lightly…but the terrorists messing with a rock show really crosses a psychological line for me. Way too close to home.”
Dylan LeBlanc brings ‘Cautionary Tale’ to Workplay
It feels like Dylan LeBlanc should be older than 25. His debut, Paupers Field, was released when he was just 20-years-old, and the Muscle Shoals singer-songwriter is now readying his third; a much quicker ascent than most of his peers in Northwest Alabama. But he’s always been around it – his dad, James, moved from Shreveport to Muscle Shoals to begin a writing career at FAME when Dylan was young. Because of the move, Dylan has spent most of his life migrating between the two cities.
