Red Light Management

NPR Music’s “First Listen” Launches Premiere of Alabama Shakes’ Debut Album, Boys & Girls, Today

April 2, 2012

NPR MUSIC’S “FIRST LISTEN” LAUNCHES PREMIERE OF ALABAMA SHAKES’ DEBUT ALBUM, BOYS & GIRLS, TODAY

 

Beginning Tomorrow, Album Will Be Available Exclusively On The

iTunes Store And “Hold On” Will Be iTunes’ “Single of the Week”

 

Boys & Girls Will Be Available Everywhere, Including Starbucks, On

April 10; “You Ain’t Alone” Will Be Starbucks’ “Pick of the Week” April 17

 

Alabama Shakes Perform On “Late Show With David Letterman” April 12

 

 

NPR Music’s “First Listen” is streaming Alabama Shakes’ upcoming debut album, Boys & Girls, in its entirety this week, at http://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/148918546/first-listen-alabama-shakes-boys-and-girls. The album will be available everywhere on ATO Records – including Starbucks – on April 10, but beginning tomorrow fans can purchase it a week early on the iTunes Store, where they can also download a free copy of “Hold On,” iTunes’ latest “Single of the Week.” “You Ain’t Alone,” another album track, will be Starbuck’s “Pick of the Week” beginning April 17. Rough Trade will release Boys & Girls internationally on April 9.

The band will perform “Hold On” on “Late Show with David Letterman” on Thursday, April 12. The single, which Entertainment Weekly called “a familiar, lived-in classic, overflowing with bluesy charisma and froggy bass tones,” is already climbing the AAA radio chart. You can check out the video for “Hold On,” directed by Stephen Shirk and Chris Hershman, at:

http://youtu.be/Le-3MIBxQTw

Next week Alabama Shakes will be MTV’s PUSH Artist Of The Week. Look for new videos, exclusive interviews, clips, and a webcast of the band’s “MTV Hive Live in NYC” show. Details will be announced shortly at http://www.alabamashakes.com and http://mtvhive.com.

The band will join Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires for a tour that kicks off this Thursday, April 5, at the Georgia Theater in Athens, GA and includes two sold out-shows in New York City (Bowery Ballroom on 4/11 and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on 4/12). Alabama Shakes will play six sold-out dates with Jack White thereafter – including two shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (5/15 & 16) and a two-night stand at Roseland Ballroom in New York City (5/21 & 22). The band will also perform at the Hangout, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo and Newport Folk festivals.

“Singer Brittany Howard’s howler voice and the band’s Stax-garage groove was even more electrifying on stage, but their debut for ATO Records…will suffice until a local date is booked,” said Minneapolis’ StarTrib.com in its roundup of key SXSW performances while the LATimes.com’s “Pop & Hiss” blog marveled:

“The shakes! Alabama Shakes singer Howard is a performer who instantly demands the spotlight. She stomps, she howls, she hollers and she grooves, tackling vintage soul and blues with the rock ‘n’ roll ferocity of Jack White…the band came to SXSW ready to conquer. Howard haughtily saunters around Heath Fogg’s slow-stepping melody on ‘Boys & Girls’ and leads ‘Be Mine’ to a cauldron of passion that is the song’s rousing grand finale of keyboards and guitars. It isn’t always pretty — there’s a roll-up-your-sleeves grit to many of the Alabama Shakes’ songs — but such tuneful efficiency shouldn’t be taken for granted.”

Alabama Shakes – comprising vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, drummer Steve Johnson, and bassist Zac Cockrell – are based in Athens, AL and began playing together when they were in high school. Ben Tanner assists on keyboards. Boys & Girls – produced and mixed by the band – was recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN.

 

Upcoming tour dates are as follows:

 

4/5        Athens, GA        Georgia Theater               w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires

4/6        Carrboro, NC      Cat’s Cradle                    w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/7        Baltimore, MD               Rams Head Live              w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/9        Philadelphia, PA             World Cafe Live              w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/11      New York, NY                The Bowery Ballroom      w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/12      Brooklyn, NY     Music Hall of Williamsburg          w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/14      Burlington, VT               Higher Ground                w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires
4/15      Boston, MA       Paradise Rock Club                     w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT
4/17      Toronto, ON      Lee’s Palace                    w/Lee Baines III & The Glory Fires SOLD OUT

5/15     Nashville, TN  Ryman Auditorium                   with Jack White           SOLD OUT

5/16     Nashville, TN  Ryman Auditorium                   with Jack White           SOLD OUT

5/18     Gulf Shores, AL            Hangout Music Fest

5/19     Asheville, NC   The Orange Peel                      with Jack White           SOLD OUT

5/21     New York, NY Roseland Ballroom                   with Jack White           SOLD OUT

5/22     New York, NY Roseland Ballroom                   with Jack White           SOLD OUT

5/24     Detroit, MI      Scottish Rite Theater   with Jack White           SOLD OUT

@ Masonic Temple

5/25-27            Gorge, WA       Sasquatch Music Festival

6/7-10  Manchester, TN           Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival

6/22     Richmond, VA Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island

7/28     Newport, RI     Newport Folk Festival

###

For more information on ALABAMA SHAKES, contact:

Ambrosia Healy

The Fun Star

ambrosia@thefunstar.com

310.273.8978

Erin Cooney

The Fun Star

erin@thefunstar.com

310.273.8978

or visit:

http://www.alabamashakes.com

http://www.facebook.com/theAlabamaShakes

http://www.twitter.com/Alabama_Shakes

Press materials can be downloaded at:

http://thefunstar.com/