"There must be something happening here," to quote Buffalo Springfield. And "what it is ain't exactly clear." But what I think it is, is damn good music, if here is right here in Huntsville, Alabama, the same weekend U.S. News & World Report named the city the best place to live in America. Maybe so, because that very same weekend, that very same city celebrated the opening of a brand new 8,000-seat music venue called the Orion Amphitheater, featuring a world-class lineup of acts with North Alabama roots, including on Friday: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Emmylou Harris, Waxahatchee, and John Paul White; and on Saturday: Mavis Staples, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Drive-by Truckers, and Brittany Howard; and on Sunday: Huntsville musicians Kelvin Wooten and DeQn Sue, Element XI, Translee, The N.E.I.G.H.B.O.R.S., and the award-winning Oakwood University (where Little Richard once attended) Aeolians. Must be something in that muddy Tennessee River water!
I went on Saturday. There is no other word for the place but COOL! And aside from a few rough spots in the landscaping, everything was completed--on time. Not always a given here in the South. Signs were up. Food and booze stands were dispensing. Staff were super friendly. The sound, the lights, everything was topflight, as it should be in a place dubbed "The Rocket City."
Mavis Staples at 82 was still in fine fettle and set the gospel-inspired tone for the evening, with several memorable Staples Singer hits, including "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There," where famous bassist David Hood (now 78 and the last living member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, aka The Swampers) reprised his backup performance on the original recording 50 years ago in 1972. A special moment in Alabama music history!
Next came St. Paul and the Broken Bones, a young, neo-soul group from Birmingham who is keeping the old R&B sounds of the 1960s and 70s alive for current generations.
Then came the Drive-by Truckers, a true southern tradition if there ever was one. Touring contantly since 1996, the band plays kickass, dive-bar, southern rock 'n' roll at its loudest, grittiest best. Jason Isbell was once a singer/songwriter with the band that is now led by David Hood's son Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, originally from the Shoals and once roommates at the University of North Alabama in Florence.
Next came St. Paul and the Broken Bones, a young, neo-soul group from Birmingham who is keeping the old R&B sounds of the 1960s and 70s alive for current generations.
Then came the Drive-by Truckers, a true southern tradition if there ever was one. Touring contantly since 1996, the band plays kickass, dive-bar, southern rock 'n' roll at its loudest, grittiest best. Jason Isbell was once a singer/songwriter with the band that is now led by David Hood's son Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, originally from the Shoals and once roommates at the University of North Alabama in Florence.
Toping off the evening was the new queen of southern funk, Brittany Howard, formerly of the Alabama Shakes and Athens, Alabama. There is simply no one in modern pop music who is comparable. She sings blues, jazz, R&B, and even fellow Alabamian Sun Ra inflected anarchy--all with stunning proficiency and diva-est vocal power and beauty. And when she grabs that guitar and slings its strap over the shoulder of her colorful, floor-length robe you could swear Sister Rosetta Tharpe herself had somehow miraculously descended from heaven to dance joyfully across that bright, new, star-studded stage right here in oh-so-livable Huntsville, Alabama.
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