Episode 1083 - Brittany Howard

Episode 1083 • Released December 26, 2019 • Speakers detected

00:00:00Marc:Lock the gates!

00:00:09Marc:Alright, let's do this.

00:00:10Marc:How are you, what the fuckers?

00:00:12Marc:What the fuck buddies?

00:00:13Marc:What the fucksters?

00:00:14Marc:What is happening?

00:00:16Marc:Happy Thursday.

00:00:17Marc:I hope you got everything you wanted.

00:00:19Marc:I hope you're all sated.

00:00:21Marc:Sated and celebrated.

00:00:24Marc:I gotta be honest with you, man.

00:00:25Marc:I'm carrying about three pounds I don't want.

00:00:28Marc:Is that wrong to say?

00:00:28Marc:Right out of the gate.

00:00:30Marc:What the fuck is wrong with you?

00:00:31Marc:Why can't you eat four pieces of tres leches cake and a piece of olive oil cake or three?

00:00:37Marc:And some cobbler?

00:00:39Marc:with vanilla ice cream in six minutes.

00:00:41Marc:Why can't you do all that?

00:00:43Marc:I should have won something at that party.

00:00:46Marc:There should have been an award given when someone said, we didn't even put the icing on that cake yet.

00:00:52Marc:Who ate all that?

00:00:53Marc:Uh, me.

00:00:55Marc:I thought it was done.

00:00:57Marc:It was not supposed to.

00:00:58Marc:It's just not, oh, it's got, you're going to put icing on it.

00:01:01Marc:I'll try it with the icing then.

00:01:03Marc:Yeah, I was that guy.

00:01:05Marc:I was the guy who showed up early when the caterers were still putting out food at friends of mine houses, their house, that a catered event.

00:01:15Marc:My buddy Al Madrigal and his wife, Kristen, do this every year.

00:01:20Marc:And I always show up at if it's a party supposed to start at six.

00:01:25Marc:I'm there about 602.

00:01:28Marc:I made an olive oil cake.

00:01:30Marc:What did you make?

00:01:32Marc:Did you make anything?

00:01:33Marc:I made two olive oil cakes.

00:01:35Marc:Here's what happened, you guys.

00:01:37Marc:Before we...

00:01:39Marc:Really delve into my eating disorder on this holiday.

00:01:43Marc:Why don't we talk frankly about who's on the show?

00:01:47Marc:Brittany Howard is on the show today.

00:01:49Marc:You may know her as the guitarist and singer of Alabama Shakes.

00:01:54Marc:She released her first solo album in September called Jamie, which is great.

00:01:59Marc:It's always the Alabama Shakes records.

00:02:01Marc:Great.

00:02:02Marc:She's an amazing talent, as us older host types say.

00:02:07Marc:This woman is one of the great talents coming up.

00:02:11Marc:She'll be here in a little while.

00:02:12Marc:But getting back to the cakes.

00:02:14Marc:See, now what's happened is I remember from back in the day, like I'm saying this to people who might have been there before.

00:02:19Marc:You guys remember when the Magicals used to cook their own food?

00:02:22Marc:And now they got caterers doing it.

00:02:24Marc:You remember back when the Magicals did their own food cooking?

00:02:27Marc:Kristen's a great cook.

00:02:28Marc:She made the Yule hug.

00:02:29Marc:I'm giving you too much information.

00:02:30Marc:I don't know if she wants this much attention or if Al does.

00:02:33Marc:Al's a great actor and comic.

00:02:35Marc:Been a friend of mine for years.

00:02:35Marc:We don't talk as much as we should.

00:02:37Marc:But when we do talk, we always enjoy it.

00:02:39Marc:Maybe we should just leave it at that.

00:02:41Marc:Why push it once, twice a year?

00:02:43Marc:How much do you need from a person?

00:02:45Marc:So...

00:02:47Marc:Here's what happened to me.

00:02:49Marc:As some of you know, I was in Atlanta shooting some footage for a movie, and I've got this ridiculous beard going, and Lynn just told me that my head looks good long.

00:03:00Marc:My face looks good long.

00:03:02Marc:That can't be true.

00:03:03Marc:I have an enormous head.

00:03:04Marc:I think she's being generous, and now I have this long beard, so it makes my face look longer, and I must look like a strange, some kind of weird, like, is that guy half human, half head?

00:03:17Marc:That's what that is.

00:03:21Marc:Giant head.

00:03:21Marc:So...

00:03:24Marc:Anyways, I ate a bunch of cake.

00:03:26Marc:I ate a bunch of cake in Atlanta because it was leftover on the set.

00:03:30Marc:And I ate it compulsively and quickly.

00:03:32Marc:And it got my sugar Jones going again, right?

00:03:35Marc:So I'm flying back from Atlanta and then I'm on the plane and I'm like, oh, fuck yeah, man.

00:03:39Marc:I forgot I downloaded this New York Times recipe app, the New York Times cooking business.

00:03:43Marc:So I'm on the plane and I'm like, I haven't been using that enough.

00:03:46Marc:Let's take a look at what's going on.

00:03:48Marc:Maybe some holiday ideas.

00:03:49Marc:Ooh, cakes.

00:03:50Marc:When was the last time I made a cake?

00:03:52Marc:Point being, I got home from Atlanta and I just dug in.

00:03:55Marc:I pulled out my old baking pans.

00:03:56Marc:I started going at it.

00:03:58Marc:I wanted to make a perfect olive oil cake because I like olive oil cake.

00:04:01Marc:It seems simple.

00:04:02Marc:But really, in my heart, what I wanted to do was when you have a compulsive eating thing, which anybody does around cake.

00:04:11Marc:You bake the cake because you want to see if you can bake the cake, primarily to eat about a quarter of it and then figure out how not to throw away the rest and get rid of it.

00:04:20Marc:That's the game.

00:04:21Marc:I'm going to bake a cake.

00:04:22Marc:I'm going to eat like a few pieces of it quickly, judge the cake and then figure out what do I do with the rest of this cake?

00:04:29Marc:Do I throw it away?

00:04:30Marc:Do I go give it to my neighbor?

00:04:32Marc:Do I have people over?

00:04:33Marc:Do I put it in my car in case I run into somebody that needs cake?

00:04:37Marc:That happens.

00:04:38Marc:Dude, you need a cake.

00:04:39Marc:Fuck yeah, I do.

00:04:40Marc:You're in luck.

00:04:41Marc:I have one in my car.

00:04:42Marc:So I made two olive oil cakes because the first one I fucked up.

00:04:46Marc:I put one too many eggs in it.

00:04:47Marc:It was still delicious.

00:04:48Marc:I ate a bunch of it.

00:04:49Marc:So you understand what I'm saying?

00:04:51Marc:So that's three pieces of the one that wasn't made properly but was excellent.

00:04:55Marc:Then three pieces of the one that I didn't know what to do with, so I'll bring it over to Al's.

00:04:58Marc:So I ate half a cake.

00:05:00Marc:That's what happened.

00:05:01Marc:And I got over to Al's early.

00:05:04Marc:I sliced the cake.

00:05:05Marc:I took it out.

00:05:05Marc:I didn't bring it as a cake.

00:05:06Marc:I brought it as slices of cake.

00:05:08Marc:And I did, you know, as people walked in and they were looking at things, if they just looked towards where my cake was, I'm like, that's an olive oil cake.

00:05:18Marc:You like that?

00:05:18Marc:I made that one.

00:05:19Marc:Mm-hmm.

00:05:20Marc:Yep.

00:05:21Marc:And there's like all this beautiful food everywhere.

00:05:23Marc:Whole plates of like cold cuts and cold cuts.

00:05:26Marc:What do you call that now?

00:05:28Marc:Charcuterie?

00:05:30Marc:How about a platter of cold cuts?

00:05:32Marc:Nope.

00:05:33Marc:It was charcuterie, which is expensive cold cuts that aren't really cut for sandwiches.

00:05:39Marc:With cheese, breeze, humble, fog.

00:05:42Marc:Is that the one with the blue line in it that won the prizes?

00:05:46Marc:I think so.

00:05:47Marc:Chunks of cheddar.

00:05:48Marc:The point is, I fucking ate everything.

00:05:51Marc:I ate cheese like I've never eaten cheese before.

00:05:54Marc:Waited around for the tacos.

00:05:56Marc:People were eating it before.

00:05:58Marc:What am I talking about?

00:06:00Marc:People.

00:06:00Marc:I did it.

00:06:01Marc:I did it.

00:06:03Marc:I ate stuff before.

00:06:03Marc:I'm eating the meat before the tortillas come out with my hands.

00:06:07Marc:Like I fucking never ate before.

00:06:09Marc:I had a good time, though.

00:06:10Marc:A lot of comics were there.

00:06:11Marc:I saw Burr.

00:06:12Marc:Burr was there.

00:06:13Marc:Casher, Leggero.

00:06:15Marc:Weinbach and his two brothers.

00:06:16Marc:There were three Weinbachs.

00:06:18Marc:Louis Katz was there.

00:06:19Marc:Isn't I outing people?

00:06:22Marc:Brendan Walsh.

00:06:22Marc:Hadn't seen him in a while.

00:06:23Marc:That was fun.

00:06:24Marc:Tom Papa.

00:06:26Marc:Yeah, and then some people I didn't know.

00:06:27Marc:There were other comics there, too, that I feel like I'm missing people.

00:06:31Marc:Always nice to hang out with the crew, meet some new people, eat some food.

00:06:35Marc:So much Tres Leche's cake.

00:06:37Marc:Here's what I'm getting at.

00:06:39Marc:I'm about three pounds uncomfortable.

00:06:41Marc:Not that it fucking matters.

00:06:43Marc:I'm sure there's plenty of people that can relate to this.

00:06:45Marc:How many of us put on a few pounds over the holidays?

00:06:47Marc:Raise them up.

00:06:48Marc:See, look at that.

00:06:49Marc:Almost everybody.

00:06:53Marc:All right.

00:06:55Marc:So I got a Christmas story for you.

00:06:58Marc:You know how you hear a lot of these stories about people, goodwill, you know, like people forgiving debts, people feeding the homeless, you know, nice people going to hospitals and, you know, bringing presents to people with cancer, whatever.

00:07:15Marc:I'm going to share my touching Christmas story.

00:07:19Marc:it's not it's not too sad it's only sad no it's not well depends what your spectrum is for sensitivity on this but like if i told you i got a flat tire on christmas morning would would would that be sad to you or just sort of like that's a bummer i would hope that would be more the response not like oh my god that's terrible mark

00:07:43Marc:I got a flat at Al Madrigal's house.

00:07:45Marc:I got a flat two days ago.

00:07:47Marc:And it was a slow leak.

00:07:49Marc:I didn't know how bad it was going to leak.

00:07:50Marc:And I drove my car to Al's house for the party, knowing that it might run out of air by the end of the party, which it did.

00:07:57Marc:And then I had to change the tire.

00:07:59Marc:But there was a bunch of people there.

00:08:00Marc:And it's amazing how stubborn I am.

00:08:02Marc:There were two teenage boys there with their dad and some other guests who... But I'm changing the tire.

00:08:09Marc:I'm fucking loosening the lug nuts on my own.

00:08:12Marc:I know how to change a tire.

00:08:14Marc:I'm not fucking incapacitated.

00:08:16Marc:I'm not some old guy.

00:08:17Marc:And all of a sudden, I'm surrounded by, like, boys and men who are just hijacking the process.

00:08:21Marc:And I'm like, I got this.

00:08:23Marc:And Al's like, why don't you let them do it?

00:08:25Marc:I'm like, what am I?

00:08:26Marc:What am I, 70?

00:08:28Marc:What am I, incapable?

00:08:30Marc:So I had to just surrender that and let them do it.

00:08:34Marc:These were friends of Al's, and I asked him how much I should tip him.

00:08:37Marc:And he said, you don't tip.

00:08:39Marc:People are just helping you change a tire.

00:08:40Marc:And they're guests of mine.

00:08:42Marc:They're my friends.

00:08:43Marc:We didn't call them.

00:08:44Marc:So anyway, I drove it home.

00:08:45Marc:The next morning, I immediately got a patch.

00:08:47Marc:And then all of a sudden, it's leaking like fuck again.

00:08:50Marc:And I don't know what to do.

00:08:51Marc:And on Christmas morning, it's flat.

00:08:54Marc:So I'm like, fuck it.

00:08:56Marc:Finally, I get to change my own tire without interference.

00:08:59Marc:I just do the manly thing, prove to myself and to others that I can change a tire probably in about 10 minutes.

00:09:07Marc:So I'm going at it in my driveway.

00:09:10Marc:I got my dumb little jack that comes with the car.

00:09:13Marc:Got the tire.

00:09:13Marc:I loosened the lug nuts and took all my body weight almost.

00:09:17Marc:And I'm about to change the tire.

00:09:19Marc:Then the dude across the street, who I don't really know who I talked to, I've made assumptions about.

00:09:23Marc:He's definitely a car guy.

00:09:24Marc:He's got an old truck.

00:09:26Marc:He's got a Corvette.

00:09:27Marc:He drives a motorcycle.

00:09:28Marc:He lives in the house across from me.

00:09:30Marc:I made assumptions about him.

00:09:31Marc:Like he's one of those hot rod dudes.

00:09:33Marc:Like, you know, kind of like a dude, dude, alpha, you know, dude, fucking car guy, guy.

00:09:40Marc:Which, you know, I got no beef with that.

00:09:42Marc:My buddy Dean's one of those guys.

00:09:43Marc:But I just never I never thought that we'd whatever.

00:09:47Marc:I never thought we'd cross paths or that we'd become friends.

00:09:50Marc:I met him.

00:09:51Marc:And but it always seemed like I'll tell you what it seemed like me projecting a personality onto a person and then reacting to that personality as if he's that person.

00:10:00Marc:That guy.

00:10:02Marc:So I'm in the middle of doing my own manly thing with my tire, and he comes walking over.

00:10:07Marc:He's like, what's up?

00:10:08Marc:And I'm like, I got a flat.

00:10:11Marc:I'm going to put the spare on.

00:10:12Marc:He's like, do you want me to bring my jack, the good kind?

00:10:16Marc:You know, the car guy jack?

00:10:18Marc:The kind that's like, you know, I don't remember what you call them, but, you know, the kind they have at tire places.

00:10:21Marc:I'm like, I got it.

00:10:22Marc:He's like, no, you don't.

00:10:24Marc:Those are...

00:10:25Marc:that jack says those are terrible but leave it up i'll go get my jack and we'll just knock it out and i'm like all right okay car guy so he goes and gets his jack and then all of a sudden i'm i'm not doing it i'm not i got you know i was going at it with my jack with the little jack rising to the occasion overcoming obstacles but now at troy the car guy has got my car up

00:10:49Marc:He's got his lug nut thing.

00:10:50Marc:He's fucking taking it off.

00:10:51Marc:He says he's got a patch thing kit at his house.

00:10:55Marc:He's got a compressor.

00:10:56Marc:And he was watching a movie.

00:10:58Marc:He comes out.

00:10:58Marc:The point of this story is not to be judgmental or feel that I was emasculated.

00:11:04Marc:It was that he saw me changing my tire from his kitchen window.

00:11:07Marc:He's in the middle of watching a movie on Christmas morning, comes over to help me change my tire.

00:11:11Marc:It was a very nice thing to do.

00:11:13Marc:And we found out there was a second nail in the tire.

00:11:15Marc:And that's the deeper message here.

00:11:18Marc:i think is that um you know sometimes you get a flat and you get it fixed only to find that your tire had two nails in it what's that about i don't know but it sounds like one of those analogies to me sometimes you think you got one nail in you and you got two so you're still leaking

00:11:43Marc:That's what that means.

00:11:45Marc:Put that in the Buddha book.

00:11:46Marc:Hey, why am I still leaking?

00:11:48Marc:Not your day, man.

00:11:49Marc:Got a second nail in you.

00:11:51Marc:Two fucking nails in the same fucking tire in the same period of time.

00:11:56Marc:Different size nails.

00:11:58Marc:Anyway, that was the Christmas story that my neighbor came and helped me change my tire on Christmas morning and I appreciate that.

00:12:05Marc:I'm very excited to talk to my guest, Brittany.

00:12:08Marc:I was very excited to talk to her.

00:12:10Marc:Brittany Howard's an amazing singer and songwriter and guitar player, too.

00:12:14Marc:And I just was always sort of like, what is up with that person?

00:12:18Marc:And I got an opportunity to find out a little.

00:12:20Marc:So this is me talking to Brittany, who is lead singer and guitarist of Alabama Shakes.

00:12:25Marc:Also, her first solo album, Jamie, was released in September.

00:12:29Marc:It's very good.

00:12:30Marc:They're all good.

00:12:31Marc:She's nominated for two Grammys.

00:12:32Marc:Best rock song and best rock performance for History Repeats, the name of the tune.

00:12:38Marc:And this is me and her talking when she came over that time.

00:12:50Guest:You play SGs?

00:12:53Guest:I play SGs.

00:12:54Guest:I don't really care what guitar I play as long as it's not brand new.

00:12:58Guest:Because in brand new pickups, they bother me.

00:13:00Marc:But the SG definitely has a tone.

00:13:04Guest:Well, mine is actually kind of broken.

00:13:06Marc:Really?

00:13:06Guest:Yeah, so the pickups are kind of corroded, so it has a different sound.

00:13:10Guest:Oh, really?

00:13:10Guest:Which is why I kept playing it.

00:13:12Marc:It's corroded on the inside?

00:13:14Guest:I think so, yeah.

00:13:14Guest:Yeah.

00:13:15Guest:And I told everybody, don't fix it.

00:13:17Marc:Yeah.

00:13:18Guest:Because if you fix it, then I can't play it.

00:13:20Marc:I've got a one of a kind right now.

00:13:22Guest:Yeah.

00:13:23Guest:Don't fuck it up.

00:13:24Guest:Exactly.

00:13:26Marc:But it is kind of weird, because I've owned a couple guitars.

00:13:29Marc:I'm not a professional guitar player, but...

00:13:31Marc:That's one of the ones I don't have is that SG.

00:13:34Marc:And those things, they got a real edge to them.

00:13:37Marc:They got a real bite to them.

00:13:38Marc:And you play the shit out of it.

00:13:39Guest:Yeah.

00:13:40Guest:Thank you.

00:13:41Guest:Yeah.

00:13:42Guest:I guess I do what it's created for.

00:13:45Guest:Yeah.

00:13:46Guest:It can get hot when I need to get hot.

00:13:48Guest:Yeah.

00:13:49Guest:And it can mellow out, too.

00:13:50Guest:Right.

00:13:50Marc:It can, right?

00:13:51Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:13:52Marc:And it's not too heavy.

00:13:52Yeah.

00:13:52Guest:No, that's the thing.

00:13:53Guest:I can't play Les Paul.

00:13:55Marc:Too heavy.

00:13:55Guest:That thing kills my shoulder.

00:13:57Marc:It does, right?

00:13:58Guest:Yeah.

00:13:58Guest:I don't know.

00:14:00Guest:I can't fly away with that thing.

00:14:02Marc:You know who else said that?

00:14:03Marc:The reason he plays SGs is Angus Young from ACDC.

00:14:09Guest:Yeah.

00:14:09Guest:It's hard to move around with a Les Paul.

00:14:11Guest:You got to work out.

00:14:11Guest:They're heavy.

00:14:13Marc:Yeah.

00:14:13Marc:So when did you start playing guitar?

00:14:16Yeah.

00:14:16Guest:I first started playing guitar when I was 11 years old.

00:14:19Guest:That's about when I started.

00:14:20Guest:Yeah.

00:14:22Marc:And did you want to?

00:14:24Marc:Did your mom make you?

00:14:26Guest:No, I really wanted to.

00:14:27Guest:I saw a band play for the first time when I was 11.

00:14:31Guest:And that same instant, I was like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

00:14:36Guest:that's it just watch it it was just a band like from our school playing at this in the old school gym yeah on stage yeah they probably weren't even that good but i remember it being like them being gods really were they like a high school band yeah it was just kids like four years older than me you don't you don't remember what they were playing or anything you just remember it was cool i just remember their band name was stoned phillips

00:14:59Marc:Stoned Phillips.

00:15:01Marc:Yeah.

00:15:01Marc:If there's anyone from Stoned Phillips listening, reach out.

00:15:06Guest:Yes.

00:15:06Guest:And where'd you grow up?

00:15:08Guest:I grew up in North Alabama, a town called Athens, Alabama.

00:15:11Guest:North Alabama.

00:15:12Guest:I have no sense of that.

00:15:14Marc:Just right up top.

00:15:15Marc:But what was the scene there?

00:15:16Marc:I mean, I've heard of Athens, Georgia.

00:15:18Marc:I never heard of Athens, Alabama.

00:15:19Marc:How'd you end up there?

00:15:20Marc:Are your folks from there?

00:15:21Guest:Yeah, I mean, on both sides of my family, we've been there for generations.

00:15:26Marc:Oh, really?

00:15:27Guest:Yeah, just the same area for like 200 years.

00:15:31Guest:Wow.

00:15:31Guest:That's pretty crazy.

00:15:32Marc:Do you know about it?

00:15:34Marc:Do you know about the history of your family?

00:15:36Guest:Not much.

00:15:38Guest:Just a little bit.

00:15:39Guest:Not too, too, too much.

00:15:42Guest:I always ask my dad, too.

00:15:44Guest:Dad, tell me about where we're from and what it's about.

00:15:46Guest:He told me one story that my great-great-grandfather actually owned a lot of land.

00:15:54Guest:which was very unusual for a black man back then where we're from.

00:15:58Guest:So I thought that was pretty cool.

00:15:59Guest:I mean, I owned a lot of acres, like, I mean, 100 plus acres.

00:16:03Marc:Really?

00:16:03Guest:Yeah.

00:16:03Guest:In Alabama?

00:16:04Guest:Mm-hmm, Alabama.

00:16:05Guest:And that's the coolest kind of fact I have, really.

00:16:10Guest:We don't really focus so much on the past.

00:16:13Marc:No?

00:16:14Marc:Yeah.

00:16:14Marc:It's not of interest necessarily?

00:16:16Guest:No, it's just where you're going.

00:16:17Marc:Yeah, yeah.

00:16:19Marc:Where you're going is better.

00:16:20Guest:Yeah.

00:16:20Marc:Yeah, than where everything came from.

00:16:22Guest:Where have I come from?

00:16:22Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:16:23Marc:You sort of cover that on the new record a little bit, don't you?

00:16:26Marc:Kind of spinning out, like getting out of the past and repeating yourself and acknowledging where you are and how you're going to move forward.

00:16:34Guest:Yeah, you know, it's not a new train of thought by any man.

00:16:37Marc:No, but it's one of those ones when you're up against it, you know, getting lost in nostalgia or what could have been.

00:16:44Marc:It is something the brain will do if you let it.

00:16:48Guest:Right.

00:16:49Guest:Yeah, I mean, that's our base nature is to stay where it's comfortable.

00:16:52Guest:You know, we're just human beings and we're still related to the cavemen and that's still part of our brain.

00:16:58Guest:Yeah.

00:16:58Guest:We want to stay where it's comfortable.

00:17:00Guest:But for me, it's so much more exciting to just keep moving forward and keep moving ahead.

00:17:04Guest:Have you always been like that?

00:17:07Guest:Yeah.

00:17:08Guest:Yeah.

00:17:08Guest:I actually have to practice to like being still being present because I'm always flying.

00:17:14Guest:Like I just want to go do the next thing and see how that feels.

00:17:18Guest:And I'm just a person that really craves like experiences.

00:17:22Marc:Yeah.

00:17:22Marc:Oh, really?

00:17:23Guest:Yeah.

00:17:23Guest:No fear.

00:17:25Guest:No, I have fear, but also it's like I'm going to die too, like eventually.

00:17:28Guest:So just let's do something.

00:17:30Guest:Yeah.

00:17:30Guest:Let's do something while we're here.

00:17:31Guest:Right.

00:17:32Marc:Yeah, something good, hopefully.

00:17:34Guest:Yeah, hopefully.

00:17:35Marc:Yes.

00:17:36Marc:So what kind of, what was your family, how many are there of you?

00:17:42Guest:There's me, and there's my mom and my dad.

00:17:45Guest:And that's it.

00:17:47Guest:When I was younger, I had a sister who passed away from a really rare form of cancer.

00:17:53Guest:And that was about 21 years ago now.

00:17:56Marc:Her name was Jamie, and you named the record for her?

00:18:01Guest:I did, yeah.

00:18:02Marc:Do you remember her?

00:18:03Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:18:04Guest:I mean, it's the craziest thing.

00:18:06Guest:I don't know if you have in your life anyone that you're very close to that passed away.

00:18:10Marc:In high school, I knew a guy.

00:18:11Guest:Right.

00:18:13Guest:But they remain with you.

00:18:16Guest:So there's not a day that really goes by that I don't talk to her, ask for advice.

00:18:20Guest:To me, that's a very natural relationship to have with someone who's passed over.

00:18:25Marc:Was she older than you?

00:18:26Guest:Mm-hmm.

00:18:26Guest:Four years.

00:18:27Marc:Four years.

00:18:27Marc:And how old was she when she passed?

00:18:28Marc:13.

00:18:29Marc:13.

00:18:29Marc:Oh, so you were like, you were nine.

00:18:31Guest:Yeah, I was nine years old.

00:18:32Marc:So that's not like, you know, you got memories.

00:18:36Guest:Yeah, I got memories, absolutely.

00:18:38Guest:Good memories, great memories.

00:18:40Guest:And, you know, of course, bad ones too, but it's a waste of time to really focus on those bad memories.

00:18:46Guest:What, nine?

00:18:47Guest:Yeah.

00:18:48Marc:Yeah.

00:18:49Guest:And my sister is someone I celebrate.

00:18:53Guest:And naming a record after her just felt like the only possible scenario.

00:18:59Guest:Yeah.

00:18:59Guest:Because it's something I'm doing for the first time on my own.

00:19:03Guest:Uh-huh.

00:19:03Guest:Producing.

00:19:04Guest:Yeah.

00:19:05Guest:Writing all the songs on my own.

00:19:07Guest:Making all the decisions for the tonality of the record and what's being said and how I'm saying it and how everything's coming across.

00:19:14Guest:Uh-huh.

00:19:14Guest:And that's me.

00:19:16Guest:And then within that, a big part of me was my sister and the memories she left me.

00:19:20Guest:Because all the things she loved, she taught me how to love them.

00:19:23Marc:Like what?

00:19:24Guest:Art, music, instruments, learning.

00:19:29Marc:She knew that much?

00:19:30Marc:That was what she was into when she was that young?

00:19:32Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:19:32Guest:She was brilliant.

00:19:33Guest:Absolutely brilliant.

00:19:34Guest:She was a poet, musician, artist.

00:19:37Marc:she could do anything and she taught me how to do everything because we didn't have a lot of money when i was growing up so my sister's like i'll show you how to have fun yeah we'll go back out here pretend we're riding horses and just run around the yard yeah yeah yeah oh so that's those are great memories yes it is great it's good that like i i as as tragic as it is it's good that you have them you know i talked to um sean lennon in here and like you know he you know he has to kind of nurture

00:20:03Marc:Because he was five, right, when John got shot.

00:20:07Marc:So he has to kind of protect those few that he has and hold them, kind of nurture them so they stay alive.

00:20:16Marc:Absolutely.

00:20:16Marc:Isn't that a trip?

00:20:17Marc:And in the same way he learned about who his father was through learning how to play Beatles songs.

00:20:24Wow.

00:20:24Marc:You guys are on the same label, I think.

00:20:27Guest:ATO.

00:20:29Marc:Yeah, yeah.

00:20:30Marc:I think that's the Les Claypool thing that he does.

00:20:34Marc:But in the same way, you kind of remember your sister is giving you these gifts of interest in these things that she was passionate about so that stays alive.

00:20:43Guest:Yes.

00:20:43Guest:It stays alive, but also saying the name and then not bringing any sorrow or sadness, but it's like saying the name and feeling powerful and empowered by it and saying, like, this is my resistance to falling into being sad and staying in the memory trap and never living my own life because of grief.

00:21:03Guest:And I think naming the record Jamie after my sisters also really helped my parents as well.

00:21:07Guest:Oh, yeah?

00:21:08Guest:Yeah.

00:21:09Guest:Because now there's something attached to it that's not sadness.

00:21:12Yeah.

00:21:12Guest:Oh, right.

00:21:15Guest:And it's me.

00:21:15Guest:I made it.

00:21:16Guest:So they get to look at that and say it and be proud and not have to worry about what people think.

00:21:20Marc:Yeah.

00:21:21Marc:So did you find that the grief just hung over them your whole life of losing her?

00:21:28Guest:Yes.

00:21:29Guest:20 years.

00:21:30Marc:Yeah.

00:21:31Guest:You know, my dad, they're absolutely different people.

00:21:36Guest:They're totally different people, my mother and my father.

00:21:38Guest:My dad, I feel like he dealt with it in his own private way.

00:21:40Guest:And my mother had a much harder time.

00:21:43Marc:Yeah.

00:21:43Marc:They're not together?

00:21:44Guest:No, no, no.

00:21:44Guest:They split.

00:21:46Marc:Yeah.

00:21:46Guest:Same year my sister passed away, they split.

00:21:48Marc:Do you think it was because of that?

00:21:50Marc:Because it couldn't handle the weight of it?

00:21:51No.

00:21:52Guest:I think they're just, despite whether my sister had survived or passed away, I think they probably should have split.

00:22:00Guest:They're just two different.

00:22:01Guest:Yeah?

00:22:01Marc:Yeah.

00:22:02Marc:What's your old man do?

00:22:04Guest:He's a used car salesman.

00:22:05Marc:And what's your mom do?

00:22:07Guest:My mom, she works with animals.

00:22:11Guest:Yeah?

00:22:12Guest:Rescues animals.

00:22:12Marc:Oh, really?

00:22:13Marc:Yeah.

00:22:13Marc:She's an animal person.

00:22:15Marc:Definitely.

00:22:15Marc:Freelance animal rescuer or does she do it for- Freelance.

00:22:19Marc:Anytime there's an animal in need of rescuing, she'll come?

00:22:22Guest:She's got like five German shepherds, two pot-bellied pigs.

00:22:26Guest:A pot-bellied pig?

00:22:27Guest:Like 20 goats.

00:22:28Guest:Goats?

00:22:29Guest:Yeah.

00:22:29Guest:Does she milk them?

00:22:31Guest:No, thank God.

00:22:33Guest:Her goat, she needs to get some more goats in the breeding population because they're coming out weird now.

00:22:37Guest:They are?

00:22:38Guest:Yeah, some of them got three nipples.

00:22:40Guest:Some of them ain't got no nipples.

00:22:42Guest:Does she live on a farm?

00:22:43Guest:Yeah, they got like a farm situation.

00:22:45Marc:It's not an apartment.

00:22:46Marc:No.

00:22:46Marc:Or a house.

00:22:48Marc:It's just crammed with goats.

00:22:51Guest:She needs to be on Animal Planet.

00:22:53Marc:oh that sounds funny if that was the case so like in the spirit like well that well that's interesting because like i've talked to i've had blake mills in here i know blake you know kind of like i talked to him because you know he's kind of an amazing guitar player but he did such an amazing job you know producing uh sound and color your record right you work with that guy and then the i don't like the the first record who did your first record i produced it we did you just did it yeah which sounded great

00:23:20Guest:Yeah, we did.

00:23:21Guest:We were really young, too.

00:23:22Guest:Now that I think about it, that was a very long time ago.

00:23:24Marc:It was, right?

00:23:25Marc:2012?

00:23:25Marc:11, 12, yeah.

00:23:28Marc:Yeah, it's crazy.

00:23:30Marc:Yeah.

00:23:31Marc:So when does it start to... You start playing at 11, which I imagine, in the shadow of losing your sister, had to bring some relief, too, right?

00:23:41Marc:The guitar.

00:23:42Guest:Yeah, me growing up as a child, there was a lot of grief and sadness.

00:23:48Guest:So I think having my own power over my own world through creation, that was my bright spot.

00:23:57Guest:So I would just go in my room and taught myself how to play.

00:24:00Marc:Yeah?

00:24:01Marc:From chord charts or what?

00:24:03Guest:I just listened.

00:24:04Marc:Really?

00:24:04Marc:Just figured I should have.

00:24:05Guest:No guitar lessons?

00:24:06Guest:No, no, no.

00:24:07Guest:Nope.

00:24:08Marc:And you were just on like a borrowed acoustic?

00:24:11Guest:Well, it was my sister's guitar.

00:24:13Guest:She had a guitar from like Make-A-Wish Foundation, I think it was.

00:24:17Guest:It was like one of these old JCPenney Les Paul knockoffs.

00:24:20Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:24:21Guest:To this day, I won't play Les Paul.

00:24:23Marc:So it was electric you started with?

00:24:26Guest:It was electric.

00:24:27Guest:I didn't have an amp for the longest time.

00:24:28Guest:So I just, I mean, I was just, I just wanted to play and I made it happen.

00:24:32Marc:And were you just, were you learning songs?

00:24:36Guest:Yeah.

00:24:37Guest:You know, I started off with the songs I could figure out like Green Day.

00:24:41Marc:Green Day is your first ones?

00:24:42Guest:I learned how to play Longview on somebody's bass because I didn't have... I had smashed that guitar because my mom... This is a terrible story, but I smashed my sister's guitar because my mom was...

00:24:58Guest:It was so precious to my mother, and I don't think my mother was understanding that I am playing the guitar.

00:25:05Guest:I know it belongs to my sister, but this is now my guitar.

00:25:08Guest:So I went and smashed it.

00:25:10Marc:Really?

00:25:10Marc:To teach your mom a lesson?

00:25:12Guest:Oh, God.

00:25:12Guest:It was a horrible thing to do, but I was just frustrated.

00:25:15Guest:I was just so frustrated, and I smashed it, and I was like, now I'll have to get a new one.

00:25:20Guest:Interesting.

00:25:21Marc:How old were you when you did that?

00:25:25Marc:I was like 11.

00:25:26Marc:Yeah, I was a kid.

00:25:28Marc:Do you think it was your frustration because your mom wasn't quite seeing who you were because she was so consumed with losing her other daughter?

00:25:36Guest:I think that was exactly it.

00:25:38Guest:I don't think at the time when I was a kid I even had the comprehension of why I was actually doing it.

00:25:44Guest:I was just angry and I smashed it.

00:25:47Marc:Well, because it's just sort of like, it's that thing.

00:25:49Marc:It's also the thing that you're talking about not doing, which is essentially living in the past.

00:25:56Guest:Yeah, I think that's why, yeah, never thought about it, Mark.

00:26:00Marc:Yeah, I mean, right?

00:26:02Marc:Yeah.

00:26:03Marc:I mean, that could be that moment.

00:26:05Guest:Yeah, I think you're right.

00:26:06Guest:Wow.

00:26:07Marc:I think it might all stem from just- The hanging on to the- The past.

00:26:14Marc:To the grief of losing a daughter, losing a sister, and that moment where you fought back at it was essentially a strangely musical moment.

00:26:27Marc:Yes.

00:26:27Marc:In a way, you trashed your first guitar to get out of the past and to own yourself from your mother's, you know, to free yourself from your mother's, you know.

00:26:38Guest:Well, from the world we were living in.

00:26:40Guest:Yeah.

00:26:41Guest:It was just that world.

00:26:42Guest:And, you know.

00:26:44Guest:What world was that?

00:26:46Guest:Oh, just, you know, the blinds are shut, darken the house, that kind of world.

00:26:50Guest:Oh, yeah?

00:26:51Guest:Yeah.

00:26:51Guest:Yeah, and I didn't even get a new guitar for the longest time.

00:26:54Guest:When I smashed, it was kind of ironic.

00:26:56Guest:I smashed that guitar.

00:26:57Guest:It was literally the only guitar I ever had.

00:26:58Marc:And so you were without a guitar.

00:27:00Guest:Yeah, I had to borrow one from Alabama Shakes guitar player, Heath.

00:27:04Guest:I borrowed his SG because he just had an extra guitar.

00:27:06Guest:And that's... You're a guitar player?

00:27:09Guest:Yeah, I had borrowed a guitar from him.

00:27:11Guest:You knew him when you were a kid?

00:27:13Guest:No.

00:27:15Guest:When I smashed that guitar up, I think the only thing I had left was my music teacher let me borrow an acoustic guitar.

00:27:21Marc:There you go.

00:27:21Guest:So that's all I had.

00:27:22Marc:So you had a music teacher.

00:27:24Guest:Oh, well, like band, like marching band.

00:27:27Guest:Yeah, so.

00:27:28Guest:Yeah, of course I was in marching band.

00:27:32What?

00:27:32Marc:What instruments did you play in marching band?

00:27:34Guest:I played the bass drum.

00:27:35Marc:Oh, yeah?

00:27:36Marc:Marching bass drum.

00:27:37Marc:So you were kind of a nerd kid?

00:27:40Guest:Yeah.

00:27:42Guest:You know, I was like that.

00:27:45Guest:And, yeah, I played percussion.

00:27:48Guest:Was that your first instrument, the drums?

00:27:50Guest:Yeah.

00:27:50Guest:Yeah, because drums are free.

00:27:53Guest:You can drum anywhere using just your hands.

00:27:56Guest:You got rhythm.

00:27:57Guest:Yeah, me and my cousins, we first started making money.

00:28:00Guest:We were real small.

00:28:01Guest:We would play harmonica and buckets, and we would just go to people's doors, knock on the door, and just get to it.

00:28:08Guest:And then be like, give us a dollar.

00:28:10Guest:Really?

00:28:10Guest:Yeah, it was terrible.

00:28:12Guest:Can you imagine some little kids going up and going, whoo!

00:28:16Guest:It didn't sound good, you don't think?

00:28:18Guest:That was horrible.

00:28:19Guest:Couldn't play harmonica.

00:28:20Guest:I could just breathe.

00:28:22Marc:How was it drumming with your cousins?

00:28:24Marc:It was probably pretty good.

00:28:24Marc:Yeah.

00:28:25Marc:Yeah, it was just automatic.

00:28:26Marc:So who were the people you were listening to?

00:28:28Marc:Because when I listen to the records, all of them, there just seems to be... And it's weird.

00:28:33Marc:And congratulations.

00:28:34Marc:You got a Grammy nomination for this record, for your solo record?

00:28:38Guest:I got two of them.

00:28:39Marc:Oh, yeah?

00:28:39Marc:Yeah, two nominations.

00:28:40Marc:Which one's for the best rock performance?

00:28:42Guest:Yeah, best rock performance.

00:28:44Marc:Yeah.

00:28:44Guest:I think it was really interesting that I was nominated for a rock performance.

00:28:48Marc:Well, that's what I was going to ask you.

00:28:50Marc:You've been nominated for, and then the last record won for what, a rock album?

00:28:55Guest:Yeah, it is a hard thing to classify, though, I think, what I do.

00:28:59Guest:I don't think it's obvious.

00:29:01Guest:I got nominated for a best rock performance and best rock song.

00:29:05Guest:Oh, which one?

00:29:06Guest:History repeats.

00:29:07Guest:Oh, great.

00:29:07Guest:Yeah.

00:29:08Marc:Well, I mean, it's sort of, I guess, but that doesn't bother you.

00:29:11Marc:I mean, obviously being beyond categorization is something exciting, but this fact that like, you know, is it Americana?

00:29:17Marc:Is it rock?

00:29:19Marc:Is it soul?

00:29:20Marc:Alternative seems to be a cop-out to me on some level.

00:29:23Marc:Because like if I listen, but I'm also a little saturated in a very specific era of music, you sound like a soul singer.

00:29:30Marc:Do you feel like a soul singer?

00:29:32Marc:I sing for my soul.

00:29:33Marc:Right?

00:29:34Marc:Yeah.

00:29:34Marc:But I mean, in terms of stylistically.

00:29:37Marc:Stylistically, I can.

00:29:38Guest:I can also sound like a lot of things.

00:29:40Marc:Yeah.

00:29:40Marc:Well, I know.

00:29:40Marc:I listened to Thunder Bitch.

00:29:43Marc:Yeah.

00:29:43Marc:It reminds me of the New York Dolls or the Ramones or the first wave New York punk.

00:29:50Guest:That's literally one of my favorite projects I've ever done just because it's so free.

00:29:55Guest:So freeing.

00:29:55Guest:Straight up.

00:29:56Guest:Yeah.

00:29:57Guest:Just don't give...

00:29:58Guest:Don't care.

00:29:59Guest:Three chord rock and roll.

00:30:00Guest:That's it.

00:30:00Guest:Simple, makes you feel something, and then the end.

00:30:03Marc:Right.

00:30:04Marc:Because I've been reading a lot about... I'm going to be in this movie, this Aretha Franklin biopic.

00:30:12Marc:Oh, it's exciting.

00:30:12Marc:It is exciting.

00:30:13Marc:Played Jerry Wexler.

00:30:15Marc:Oh, congrats.

00:30:16Marc:Thanks, man.

00:30:17Marc:Yeah.

00:30:17Marc:But I just read his autobiography, so I'm reading the whole sort of movement from swing jazz to bop jazz to soul music to R&B music to crossover music to Muscle Shoals to that whole scene.

00:30:29Marc:And there's like a vibe with the original band, with Alabama Shakes, just because of the bass player.

00:30:35Marc:There is a vibe and I think a recollection somehow of that place in music history.

00:30:41Yeah.

00:30:41Guest:yeah i think to us collectively when we first started the group alabama shakes um that was the only kind of music we could really agree on oh really we we all liked that kind of music southern soul music yeah just because it had good rhythm section um and me and zach and well all of us really really liked looking at the liner notes on those old records oh yeah because we like knowing who was in the rhythm section yeah because we're all drummers at heart so we're like oh

00:31:07Guest:oh yeah, I love this drummer, oh, Duck Dunn, love Duck Dunn.

00:31:11Guest:Duck Dunn, the bass player, yeah.

00:31:12Guest:Yeah, and we're always looking at the liner notes.

00:31:14Guest:And so we were like, hey, let's do music like this.

00:31:17Guest:We love this music.

00:31:19Guest:We understand this music.

00:31:20Guest:We were educated on this music.

00:31:21Guest:Right.

00:31:22Guest:And that's where it began.

00:31:24Marc:Educated on that music, like because of where you grew up or what you were listening to at home?

00:31:29Guest:I think what we listened to when we were kids.

00:31:32Marc:Yeah, like who in particular stands out to you?

00:31:35Guest:Oh, my goodness.

00:31:38Guest:I go back to doo-wop music because I spent a lot of time with my grandma.

00:31:42Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:31:42Guest:So I was listening to the Crystals and the Marvelettes and all that Phil Spector stuff that he was putting out and all those big, giant reverb vocals, walls of sound.

00:31:54Guest:Martha and the Vandellas.

00:31:55Guest:Yeah.

00:31:57Guest:What was his band?

00:31:58Guest:The Ronettes.

00:31:59Guest:Ronnie Spector.

00:31:59Guest:Yeah.

00:32:01Guest:I love the Crystals especially.

00:32:02Guest:I think they got great songs.

00:32:04Guest:And me and my grandma danced into that in the kitchen while we were making biscuits, knowing all the words.

00:32:09Guest:And then eventually in my life, I run into Zach.

00:32:11Guest:Zach's like, oh, yeah, I know all them songs, too.

00:32:13Guest:Also, check this out.

00:32:15Guest:And we were really into, I mean, the classics.

00:32:19Guest:I mean, Aretha, Otis.

00:32:22Marc:Right.

00:32:23Marc:You can hear that, right?

00:32:24Marc:I mean, I can hear that in the records.

00:32:26Marc:I can hear that underneath a lot of the stuff you do still.

00:32:30Guest:Yeah, and a lot of people expect that I would want to emulate that, but it's just the way it came out.

00:32:36Guest:I didn't know my voice was as strong as it was until we were practicing together because we didn't have a PA system.

00:32:42Guest:So I'm just yelling over all these instruments.

00:32:44Guest:And then we found out, oh, we can do this kind of material.

00:32:48Marc:Because you could belt it out.

00:32:50Marc:You could do it.

00:32:51Guest:It doesn't strike me.

00:32:52Marc:It's weird when I listen to all your stuff.

00:32:56Marc:Usually when I talk to somebody who does music, I try to just spend a day with the music, kind of going through what stays true all the way through.

00:33:08Marc:And it doesn't feel to me like you're doing anything to mimic or copy or even as an homage.

00:33:14Marc:It sounds like this is how you sing.

00:33:17Marc:Yeah, this is how I sing.

00:33:18Marc:Right.

00:33:18Marc:But it's weird that it drops into a groove that is a legacy of something, right?

00:33:23Guest:Yeah.

00:33:24Guest:And like I said before, that had a lot to do with what we could agree upon and what our education was, why we love that kind of music.

00:33:31Guest:And the fact of the matter was that was the golden age for musicians.

00:33:34Guest:Right, especially studio cats.

00:33:37Guest:Yeah, and we love the studio cats.

00:33:38Marc:Yeah.

00:33:39Guest:And we love the pocket.

00:33:41Guest:Yeah, the pocket.

00:33:42Guest:We nerd out about how they get that snare drum to sound like that.

00:33:47Guest:Yeah.

00:33:47Guest:Or, hey, that's not one drum set.

00:33:49Guest:That's a guy over here playing the cymbal.

00:33:51Guest:Right.

00:33:51Guest:And then the drummer's over here on the other side of the room.

00:33:53Guest:We would nerd out about stuff like that, and we were super into it.

00:33:56Marc:That's so wild.

00:33:57Marc:So, like, that's exactly Jerry Wexler's trip.

00:34:00Marc:I mean, because he was a dude that got obsessed with that studio for very specific reasons, and he had a very specific sense of what things should sound like, and he just loved that place, and he loved those guys.

00:34:11Marc:Yeah.

00:34:11Marc:It was, what, Spooner Oldham and Dave Hood, and I forget the other guy.

00:34:14Marc:I should know all the names by now, but it was interesting because he brings, I guess he started with, down there was with Wilson Pickett.

00:34:23Guest:Mm-hmm.

00:34:23Marc:And then he brought Aretha down there.

00:34:25Marc:And these are all white dudes that were doing this.

00:34:28Marc:And there was this sort of weird moment where like, these are the guys?

00:34:32Marc:And they could do it.

00:34:33Marc:And then what really struck me was that Wexler used them for Atlantic sessions all around.

00:34:39Marc:Like, they're all over the place, those guys.

00:34:41Marc:It gives me a respect for them.

00:34:43Guest:Yeah, and that's what we held to the highest standard was how good is your rhythm section and where do you place the other two guitars, being me and Heath Fogged, other guitar player.

00:34:56Marc:And what do you mean place them, like in the studio?

00:34:57Guest:What's our purpose?

00:34:58Guest:No, what's our purpose around the rhythm section?

00:35:01Guest:Oh, interesting.

00:35:02Marc:Yeah.

00:35:02Marc:So where'd you find your guys, like when did you start first playing with people?

00:35:08Marc:In high school?

00:35:09Guest:No, I think I was in my first band when I was either 12 or 13.

00:35:13Guest:That was my number one goal was being in a band.

00:35:17Marc:Because of the guys you saw in the gym.

00:35:19Guest:I was like, that's the coolest possible thing that I could do.

00:35:24Guest:Even now when I think back on how determined and driven I was, I'm just like...

00:35:29Guest:How and where is that?

00:35:32Guest:Or has it transformed?

00:35:33Guest:And I still got it, but it just feels different.

00:35:35Guest:I don't know.

00:35:35Guest:Maybe it's just because I was a little kid.

00:35:37Guest:But I was breathing music.

00:35:41Marc:And you were in your band at 12?

00:35:42Marc:You ever had a band?

00:35:43Guest:Yeah, we were called Kerosene Swim Team.

00:35:45Marc:Kerosene Swim Team.

00:35:46Marc:Terrible band.

00:35:47Guest:Well, you were 12.

00:35:48Marc:Yeah, but we loved it.

00:35:49Marc:What were the instruments of that band?

00:35:52Guest:uh drummer bass oh you have full guitar yeah yeah i was actually taking kids from marching band and just being like do you know how to play drums and they're like well kind of like well come to my house after school i'm gonna teach you how to play drums you're gonna be in my band and then we just had this rotating door of drummers and like all bands should yeah rotating drummer door you know that's how long did kerosene uh what was it kerosene swim team swim team last

00:36:17Guest:Man, it's so funny because we didn't really have no songs.

00:36:19Guest:We just had merchandise.

00:36:22Guest:Like what kind of merchandise at 12?

00:36:25Guest:Just shirts and hoodies.

00:36:27Guest:We had thongs.

00:36:28Guest:We had coffee cups.

00:36:29Guest:Really?

00:36:29Guest:Yeah, we were selling everything.

00:36:30Guest:Who made that for you?

00:36:31Guest:Some website.

00:36:32Guest:Oh, you could just order it?

00:36:34Guest:Yeah, you could just make it.

00:36:35Guest:Yeah, we were selling.

00:36:37Marc:Oh, good.

00:36:37Marc:Well, that's good.

00:36:38Marc:I wonder if anyone's got any of that stuff left still.

00:36:42Marc:And then what happens?

00:36:43Marc:Then what's the next band?

00:36:44Guest:The next band, I think it was called Madam Tandoori's Hammer House.

00:36:49Guest:It was like a prog rock band.

00:36:50Marc:You were in a prog rock band?

00:36:51Guest:Yeah.

00:36:52Guest:Guitar playing?

00:36:53Guest:Yeah, I played guitar in that band.

00:36:55Marc:A prog guitar player.

00:36:57Guest:There was like eight of us in that band.

00:36:58Guest:We were like a trumpet player.

00:36:59Guest:Really experimental stuff.

00:37:01Guest:And it was funny.

00:37:02Guest:We won a talent well and won the talent show.

00:37:04Guest:We got people's choice at the talent show.

00:37:06Guest:And there was this one kid's drunk dad.

00:37:09Guest:And he was just like, whoa.

00:37:11Guest:He's like, man, I love that.

00:37:13Guest:It's not like Rush.

00:37:14Guest:Rush, you got the prog rock guy.

00:37:17Guest:Yeah, so we got that dude's dad.

00:37:20Guest:And then after that, I just did my own thing.

00:37:25Guest:Didn't have a band for a while, just played, wrote music.

00:37:28Marc:Did you play out at that time on your own?

00:37:30Guest:No, no, no.

00:37:30Marc:You were just singing and writing songs?

00:37:31Guest:Yeah, where I'm from, there really wasn't anywhere to play at all.

00:37:36Guest:But eventually, I got into high school, and I met Zach, bass player.

00:37:40Marc:Yeah.

00:37:41Guest:Still play with him to this day.

00:37:42Marc:Yeah, you guys seem tight.

00:37:43Guest:Yeah, that's my brother.

00:37:44Marc:Yeah.

00:37:45Guest:Yeah, we both have a really mutual respect for each other.

00:37:48Marc:Yeah.

00:37:49Guest:Just kind of getting it.

00:37:50Marc:Yeah, because he's on the new record.

00:37:52Guest:Yeah, oh yeah.

00:37:53Guest:I play with him.

00:37:53Guest:I tour with him.

00:37:55Guest:And he's also my best friend.

00:37:56Marc:Yeah.

00:37:58Marc:Because he's playing with some heavies on this record.

00:38:00Guest:Mm-hmm.

00:38:00Guest:And he fits right in.

00:38:01Marc:That's great.

00:38:02Guest:Yeah, talented dude.

00:38:03Guest:And also the funniest dude I've ever met in my entire life.

00:38:06Marc:Yeah.

00:38:06Guest:The dude, God, he's so quick.

00:38:08Marc:Yeah.

00:38:09Marc:Cracks me up.

00:38:10Marc:He's good.

00:38:10Marc:He reminds me of that old-style studio guy from that 70s era or 60s.

00:38:16Guest:He's legit.

00:38:16Marc:Yeah.

00:38:17Guest:Once we started playing together, we both just practiced after school every day.

00:38:22Marc:Just the two of you?

00:38:23Guest:Yeah, just two of us.

00:38:23Marc:You on guitar and him on the bass?

00:38:25Guest:And then sometimes he'd play drums or I'd play drums or I'd play some keys on it.

00:38:29Guest:And we just kind of made our own little songs.

00:38:31Guest:And it was just me and Zach for a long time.

00:38:33Guest:And then we met our drummer, Steve.

00:38:36Guest:He worked at the only music shop we had.

00:38:41Marc:In Athens?

00:38:43Guest:And I just came in.

00:38:44Guest:I saw him playing drums.

00:38:44Guest:I was like, hey, you want to jam sometime?

00:38:47Guest:And he was like, sure.

00:38:49Guest:And he came by and we jammed.

00:38:51Guest:He was like, oh, man, I'd love to be in y'all's band.

00:38:54Guest:And I was like, for real?

00:38:55Guest:Because at the time, he was like the best drummer in sound.

00:38:58Guest:So I was like, whoa.

00:38:58Guest:I was like, Zach, we're cooking now.

00:39:01Guest:We did like a little demo at a studio.

00:39:03Guest:Just as a three-piece?

00:39:05Guest:As a three-piece.

00:39:05Guest:And then Heath, the guitar player.

00:39:07Guest:See, the thing is, Heath was in Stone Phillips.

00:39:10Guest:He was the guitar player.

00:39:11Guest:From the band you saw when you were a kid?

00:39:13Guest:Yep.

00:39:14Guest:And he hits us up.

00:39:16Guest:He has a band.

00:39:16Guest:They're cool as hell.

00:39:17Guest:They're called Tuco's Pistol.

00:39:19Guest:Yeah.

00:39:19Guest:And he was like, hey, I want y'all to open.

00:39:21Guest:I heard y'all's demo.

00:39:22Guest:I want y'all to open for us.

00:39:23Guest:For Stone Philippi?

00:39:24Guest:No, it was a new band.

00:39:25Guest:No, Tuco Pistol.

00:39:26Guest:Tuco's Pistol.

00:39:26Guest:Right, got it.

00:39:27Guest:And I was like, well, actually, if you help us out by playing with us a little bit, we could probably do that.

00:39:34Guest:He's like, all right, I'll do that.

00:39:35Guest:So now we got Heath Fogg, who I thought was like the coolest guitar player.

00:39:40Guest:Because Two Coats Pistol played cool music, especially for Athens, Alabama.

00:39:44Guest:They played Prince, David Bowie.

00:39:45Guest:They played all this stuff, glam stuff.

00:39:48Marc:Covers?

00:39:49Guest:Yeah.

00:39:49Guest:All covers?

00:39:50Guest:Yeah.

00:39:51Guest:But it was awesome.

00:39:52Guest:Yeah.

00:39:52Guest:And so now we got the band.

00:39:54Guest:Yeah.

00:39:54Guest:You stole them from Pico's Pistol.

00:39:57Guest:I did steal them.

00:39:58Guest:And we opened up the show and we had like 30 minutes worth of covers.

00:40:02Guest:We had like three original songs.

00:40:05Guest:First time I ever sang in front of anybody.

00:40:06Guest:It was a bar.

00:40:08Guest:It's called The Brick Deli.

00:40:09Guest:It's in Decatur, Alabama.

00:40:11Guest:And they sell sandwiches.

00:40:13Guest:They sell beer.

00:40:14Guest:And they got a little stage in the corner.

00:40:15Marc:And you did it?

00:40:17Guest:So I was so nervous.

00:40:19Guest:And somebody else had played.

00:40:21Guest:They left.

00:40:21Guest:And so here we come walking on stage.

00:40:23Guest:And everybody's looking at us like crazy.

00:40:24Guest:Because we look so different from each other.

00:40:28Marc:Does Zach have the beard and stuff already?

00:40:30Guest:I think he had a mustache at that time.

00:40:31Guest:Like one of them curly ones.

00:40:33Guest:And a golfer cap.

00:40:35Guest:So he's going up there.

00:40:36Guest:And then here's this big tall black woman going up there.

00:40:39Guest:And then here's Heath who looks like a nice guy.

00:40:41Guest:And then there's Steve in the back with a Celtics jersey on.

00:40:43Guest:A drum set.

00:40:44Guest:And people were looking at us like, what is this about to sound like?

00:40:48Guest:And we started a set with a James Brown cover, and we just hit him like that.

00:40:52Guest:And people were just, what?

00:40:54Guest:Sat up in their seat, what the?

00:40:56Guest:30 minutes flew by, I don't even remember it.

00:40:58Guest:But you killed, huh?

00:40:59Guest:Oh, people were standing up in the end, clapping.

00:41:01Guest:And I was like, I can't believe it.

00:41:03Guest:They like it.

00:41:04Guest:And then the best part, Mark, at the end of the night, I walk off the stage and they hand me some money.

00:41:12Guest:It was $200.

00:41:12Guest:And I was like, what's this for?

00:41:15Guest:And I was like, do I split this?

00:41:17Guest:They're like, no, that's for you.

00:41:18Guest:And I was like, what?

00:41:20Guest:I didn't pay my utility bill with this.

00:41:23Guest:What about the rest of the guys?

00:41:25Guest:Everybody got paid.

00:41:26Guest:Everybody got paid $200.

00:41:27Guest:Really?

00:41:28Guest:Yeah, which is, like, crazy.

00:41:29Guest:That is crazy.

00:41:30Guest:That's great.

00:41:31Guest:I mean, that was, like, probably the only time we ever got paid that good, you know, during that time period.

00:41:34Guest:But, hey.

00:41:36Marc:That's nice.

00:41:37Marc:It's a good way to sort of give you incentive, right?

00:41:39Guest:Well, it was supposed to be a one-off, Mark.

00:41:41Guest:Right.

00:41:42Guest:We weren't going to stay a band.

00:41:43Guest:It was just supposed to be, like, a thing.

00:41:46Marc:So what was that conversation?

00:41:47Marc:I mean, what was, like, Heath, how did that kind of evolve?

00:41:52Marc:Because, like, now that you mention...

00:41:54Marc:why you liked him in that second band, Two Coast Pistols.

00:41:58Marc:There is some, especially on the second record, you can hear that type of rock music moving through some of those songs.

00:42:07Marc:There's almost a sort of a Bowie-ish kind.

00:42:11Marc:I can't remember which song I'm thinking of.

00:42:13Marc:Yeah, Dunes.

00:42:14Marc:Yeah.

00:42:15Marc:And it just strikes me that you kind of, the chemistry between you guys and the respect and that he comes from that type of music, he's got a mind for it.

00:42:26Marc:It kind of worked out, huh?

00:42:28Guest:It all worked out.

00:42:28Guest:I mean, that's the thing.

00:42:29Guest:Right after the show, we all kind of stood and like, sounds like a scene from a movie, but we were all staying in a circle, putting his money in our pockets.

00:42:37Yeah.

00:42:37Guest:And we looked at each other and I was like, well, guys, that was really fun.

00:42:41Guest:And Heath was like, yeah, that was awesome.

00:42:43Guest:And we all looked at each other and was like, we should do this again.

00:42:46Guest:And that's kind of how Alabama Shakes started.

00:42:48Guest:We just kept playing, kept writing original songs.

00:42:53Guest:And that was that.

00:42:54Guest:And we just, word of mouth, we played with other bands and we actually got shows.

00:42:58Guest:We would drive all the way five hours to play one show, get paid $100 for all of us.

00:43:03Guest:And then we just did it because we were...

00:43:06Marc:Making music.

00:43:07Marc:That's real band shit.

00:43:08Marc:Yeah, that's real shit.

00:43:10Marc:Yeah.

00:43:10Marc:And now, how long did you continue to play a few covers?

00:43:15Guest:Yeah, we always played covers just because it was fun.

00:43:17Guest:You know, we played some Zeppelin.

00:43:18Guest:I really like Led Zeppelin a lot.

00:43:20Guest:I really like that kind of music a whole lot.

00:43:22Marc:Yeah, which tunes?

00:43:23Marc:Which Zepp tunes?

00:43:24Guest:How Many More Times.

00:43:25Marc:Yeah.

00:43:26Guest:We played some Live and Love and Made.

00:43:29Marc:Yeah.

00:43:33Guest:Lemon Song.

00:43:34Marc:Yeah.

00:43:34Guest:The Crunch.

00:43:36Yeah.

00:43:36Guest:Yeah.

00:43:37Guest:Is that what it's called?

00:43:38Guest:The grunge?

00:43:38Guest:The crunge, yeah.

00:43:39Guest:The crunge, yeah.

00:43:40Guest:The crunge, yeah.

00:43:40Marc:But you liked the Zeppelin.

00:43:42Guest:I love Zeppelin.

00:43:42Marc:Yeah.

00:43:43Guest:I also played ACDC, Let There Be Rock.

00:43:45Marc:Yeah.

00:43:46Guest:And I played that whole solo.

00:43:48Guest:You did?

00:43:49Guest:Oh, I made myself stay up and learn the whole thing.

00:43:51Guest:Angus' wakes?

00:43:52Guest:Yeah, because I was like, if they see a tall black woman playing this solo, they're going to call us back.

00:43:58Guest:So I was like, I got to learn it.

00:44:00Guest:I got to learn it.

00:44:00Guest:And I stayed up and I learned all of it until my fingers hurt so bad.

00:44:04Guest:But it made me a better guitar player.

00:44:05Guest:You played Let There Be Rock?

00:44:07Guest:Hell yeah, I did.

00:44:07Guest:What?

00:44:09Guest:Yep.

00:44:10Guest:In the beginning.

00:44:11Guest:In the beginning.

00:44:12Guest:Yeah.

00:44:13Guest:Also, we played Fairies Wear Boots, Black Sabbath.

00:44:17Guest:So we're doing those kind of classics.

00:44:21Guest:rock song.

00:44:22Guest:Hard rock.

00:44:23Guest:Yeah.

00:44:24Guest:And then also we were doing James Brown.

00:44:26Guest:We were doing Loretta Lynn.

00:44:29Guest:And we were taking those songs and kind of making them how we can make it.

00:44:32Guest:Kind of like that garage rock kind of ode to doo-wop though.

00:44:37Marc:Sure.

00:44:38Marc:And also by doing that you sort of give yourself this interesting musical education.

00:44:46Marc:Right?

00:44:47Marc:Absolutely.

00:44:47Marc:Because by integrating all of that stuff

00:44:50Guest:into your voices into your voice and into the band's voice then you know it all informs the originals right yeah yeah exactly and i learned so much about music just from the other guys like steve would be like i really like this song space trucking by was it deep purple yeah and i was like come on

00:45:08Guest:Let's give it a shot.

00:45:09Guest:You know what I mean?

00:45:12Guest:Yeah.

00:45:12Guest:And that is what formed, that's what started happening when we were going to record Boys and Girls.

00:45:17Guest:It was just kind of like a garage rock take on some of that music from back then that was actually a lot more...

00:45:26Guest:produced produced yeah yeah mainstream big rock sounds so then but it's weird because i don't like i don't feel like do you feel like that first records a garage record it seemed pretty tight to me and kind of like soulful and didn't seem didn't feel like it felt tight i just well we played tight but i just remember how it felt when we were performing the shows right it was very rock and roll yeah yeah yeah yeah you know we used to be drinking back then and everything yeah

00:45:53Guest:But then there was Sound and Color, and Sound and Color was actually a record that I really took a lot of the reins on because we had been touring so hard.

00:46:03Guest:The guys kind of took a break.

00:46:05Guest:I think one of them had some kids.

00:46:08Guest:You think?

00:46:10Guest:I can't remember.

00:46:10Guest:Somebody was having a child.

00:46:12Guest:Yeah.

00:46:13Guest:And it was just, you know, I'll just put it this way.

00:46:15Guest:Everybody deserved a break.

00:46:17Guest:We had been working our asses off touring so much.

00:46:19Marc:Touring that record.

00:46:20Guest:So hard.

00:46:21Guest:And I just kind of forgot to take a break and I went straight into, maybe I took a month off, but went straight into writing material for Sound and Color.

00:46:30Guest:And it was just kind of different.

00:46:31Guest:Everything was different.

00:46:32Marc:What was the thought?

00:46:33Marc:What was different about it?

00:46:34Marc:Like what changed?

00:46:37Marc:You felt like you had more experience, I imagine.

00:46:39Marc:You felt like you had some sort of skill set and a following.

00:46:43Guest:I think just being curious, wanting to make something that I was excited by.

00:46:47Marc:Yeah, so what was the approach?

00:46:49Marc:How did you know it was different?

00:46:52Guest:It was because I was multi-tracking a lot of the songs myself, like doing demos.

00:46:57Guest:But the difference was I would have everything fleshed out.

00:46:59Marc:All the parts.

00:47:01Guest:All the parts.

00:47:02Guest:And I would have this song, and then I would just put it away, and then I'd do another one, and then I'd do another one.

00:47:07Guest:And then I'd be like, this one, I want to write a string section on it.

00:47:10Guest:And I was just creating in such a different way.

00:47:13Guest:I was staying up all hours of the night, just getting weird.

00:47:16Guest:I built like a...

00:47:17Guest:I built like a spaceship studio setting down in my basement.

00:47:21Guest:There was a bat that lived in my basement and I didn't even get rid of him, just let him live in there.

00:47:25Guest:Yeah, sure.

00:47:25Guest:Yeah.

00:47:26Marc:He ate the- He brings something.

00:47:27Guest:Yeah, he ate the bugs and- So how- Yeah.

00:47:31Marc:How does Blake Mills get involved in this?

00:47:33Guest:You know, I really loved Blake's record Break Mirrors.

00:47:40Guest:I thought that was just like the coolest sounding record and I really loved his songwriting style.

00:47:44Guest:I thought it was really unique.

00:47:45Guest:And that weirdo guitar he plays.

00:47:47Guest:Love his guitar playing.

00:47:49Guest:But the thing I loved the most about Blake was his attention to detail.

00:47:52Guest:Yeah.

00:47:52Guest:Because I love details.

00:47:55Guest:Right.

00:47:56Guest:And so hearing him and how he made everything important.

00:48:00Guest:Yeah.

00:48:02Guest:We wanted to find a producer really for someone who could get us organized and get us, so to speak, light a fire under our ass.

00:48:10Guest:We were kind of just chilling.

00:48:12Guest:I had some stuff, but we were mostly just chilling, which felt great because we had been on a very long tour.

00:48:18Marc:But you put together a few demos.

00:48:20Marc:You put together a handful of songs, right?

00:48:23Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:48:24Guest:I'd say I had most of the record.

00:48:26Marc:Yeah.

00:48:27Marc:Yeah.

00:48:27Marc:Because on that record, because you can hear with Blake, I know he's real sort of a perfectionist and kind of anal about stuff, but it's interesting because, like you said, everything stands out, but there's almost a shape to the bass notes.

00:48:41Marc:He's got some sort of strange ear, doesn't he?

00:48:44Guest:He has a wonderful ear.

00:48:46Marc:I mean, it's like insane.

00:48:48Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:48:48Guest:Yeah, he's one of a kind for sure.

00:48:50Marc:And did he play it all on the record?

00:48:52Marc:No.

00:48:52Marc:A bit?

00:48:52Marc:No?

00:48:53Guest:He just really... I think he might have done some percussion on one of the songs.

00:48:56Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:48:57Marc:Yeah.

00:48:57Guest:Which is funny.

00:48:58Marc:So at that point, like working with a guy like that and having the experience of sort of collectively producing the first album, which is just kind of raw rock approach, you started to feel...

00:49:10Marc:Like you wanted to tackle it, you started to understand production a little better from doing it like in the basement with the bat and then working with Blake and then going into a solo record, you're like, fuck it, I'm going to do it.

00:49:22Guest:Well, I will definitely say I was also producing on Sound and Color.

00:49:26Guest:We were producing together, all of us as a group.

00:49:31Guest:And the songwriting and all the parts and I had produced most of the record.

00:49:38Marc:Yeah.

00:49:39Marc:I guess it's hard for me to understand exactly how it all works.

00:49:42Marc:Yeah, me too.

00:49:43Marc:Because there's an engineer, there's a producer, and then there's another producer.

00:49:49Marc:I don't know what's credits and what isn't.

00:49:51Guest:I don't know either, really.

00:49:52Guest:I think that was always kind of confusing to me as well, because I actually, until that point, thought that all bands wrote their own music.

00:50:00Guest:I had no idea that...

00:50:01Guest:People didn't write their own music.

00:50:03Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:50:04Guest:So when I went in there, it was a bit of a struggle getting used to someone giving me some ideas.

00:50:11Guest:Being Blake?

00:50:12Guest:Yeah.

00:50:13Guest:It was just because I'm not used to it and just trying to figure that out.

00:50:17Guest:But then it really developed into just a really healthy respect of each other's minds, and it turned out to be something wonderful and, for me, life-altering.

00:50:28Marc:How long did it take to record a record like that?

00:50:31Guest:I can't remember.

00:50:32Marc:A while?

00:50:34Guest:Maybe a month.

00:50:35Marc:Really?

00:50:36Guest:Maybe.

00:50:36Guest:Yeah, it's kind of hard to remember at this point, but I think a month, maybe.

00:50:39Marc:It was life-altering for you just in terms of where it... The attention it brought the band, or...?

00:50:46Guest:There was that, but it was also the type of songs we were doing.

00:50:49Guest:I felt freer because I didn't want to be soul revival band because there's so much more to, well, I'll just speak for myself.

00:51:00Guest:I'm sure to the other guys as well, but there's so much more to me musically that's more interesting than staying there.

00:51:06Marc:Did you feel like there was a threat of you staying there, that there was some people that wanted you there?

00:51:10Guest:Yes.

00:51:11Guest:Yeah, I think people love putting things in boxes and they love being able to figure it out.

00:51:15Guest:So they would look at me and be like, oh, yeah, big black woman sings soul music.

00:51:20Guest:That makes sense.

00:51:21Guest:But I was like, but that's not all of who I am.

00:51:23Guest:So when we started doing Sound and Color, there was more of my expression that got to be free.

00:51:28Guest:Songs like Gemini, songs like Dunes.

00:51:30Guest:I wrote that song to completion after I watched a movie.

00:51:35Guest:You know, like being able to- I watched Dune?

00:51:38Guest:Yeah, I watched Dune.

00:51:39Guest:I didn't like it, but I did get that song.

00:51:43Marc:A lot going on in that movie.

00:51:45Guest:Yeah, there's too much going on in that movie.

00:51:48Guest:But yeah, being free.

00:51:49Guest:And then furthermore, doing this record now, being totally free.

00:51:55Marc:Jamie.

00:51:55Guest:Yes.

00:51:56Marc:Well, I mean, working with Robert Glasper and with the drummer, what's his name, Nate?

00:52:03Marc:Nate Smith.

00:52:04Marc:I mean, these are real jazz dudes.

00:52:09Marc:And how did you get involved with them?

00:52:11Guest:It goes back to the beginning.

00:52:14Guest:My passion is rhythm sections.

00:52:17Guest:Right.

00:52:18Guest:My passion first and foremost is players.

00:52:21Guest:I love musicians.

00:52:22Guest:I wouldn't really consider myself a musician.

00:52:26Guest:Yeah.

00:52:26Guest:But I can pick up an instrument and use it as a means to an end.

00:52:29Guest:Sure.

00:52:30Guest:I like just creating things.

00:52:31Guest:Yeah.

00:52:32Guest:And so I've been following Nate for probably three years now.

00:52:35Guest:Just him as a drummer.

00:52:36Guest:Yeah.

00:52:36Guest:Love drummers.

00:52:37Yeah.

00:52:37Guest:And to me, he's my favorite drummer in the whole world.

00:52:41Marc:Really?

00:52:41Guest:I think he's the greatest drummer in the world.

00:52:43Marc:Now, what determines something like that?

00:52:45Marc:Because I listen to drummers.

00:52:46Marc:I'm sure I listen to them much different than you do.

00:52:48Marc:But it took me a while to really appreciate the differences and the nuances.

00:52:52Marc:So what about his drummer?

00:52:54Marc:What does he do?

00:52:55Marc:What's his signature thing that he does that makes you go like, this guy's the guy?

00:52:58Marc:Have you ever heard him play?

00:52:59Marc:I heard him on your record.

00:53:00Marc:I think I've heard him with... I don't know who else he's played with.

00:53:04Guest:He has his own group called Kinfolk.

00:53:06Guest:But just any drum shot video he's doing, the thing I love the most about Nate Smith is the way he expresses himself through drums.

00:53:14Guest:It's not like, look at me.

00:53:17Guest:I can technically do all this stuff.

00:53:19Guest:It's like the way he does it.

00:53:21Guest:The way he does it to me feels like the dirt of the earth.

00:53:24Guest:Like original, you know, talking about like goat skin strapped to like a...

00:53:30Guest:log like original drum like original what it's about gets in people yeah he has a lot of emotion in the way he expresses himself through the drum skins and that's why i relate to nate smith and why i wanted him and asked him to be on this record wow and it's the same thing with robert glasper robert has a very big personality you should have him on the show actually

00:53:50Marc:I'd like to.

00:53:51Marc:I've been spending a lot of time the last couple years really kind of trying to get into jazz deeper.

00:53:57Marc:And there's that amazing new movie out about Blue Note Records, Beyond the Notes.

00:54:03Marc:And he's all through it.

00:54:05Marc:He's a new Blue Note guy.

00:54:06Guest:He's connecting a lot of young people.

00:54:08Guest:That's right.

00:54:09Guest:Back to jazz.

00:54:10Guest:Right.

00:54:10Guest:Through hip hop, too.

00:54:11Guest:Yeah, exactly.

00:54:12Guest:Yeah.

00:54:13Guest:Because it all makes sense.

00:54:14Guest:It does.

00:54:15Guest:It's all connected.

00:54:16Guest:Yeah.

00:54:16Guest:And I wanted Rob on it because Rob was doing, first of all, I love his playing.

00:54:20Guest:I love his personality.

00:54:21Guest:I love who he is.

00:54:22Guest:Yeah.

00:54:22Guest:He loves what he does.

00:54:23Guest:Yeah.

00:54:24Guest:And I wanted some of that energy on this record.

00:54:26Guest:Uh-huh.

00:54:27Guest:And I really wanted him, you know, I wrote a lot of parts that needed to be how they were.

00:54:32Guest:But then there was also a song, 13th Century Metal, where he just went in.

00:54:35Marc:Yeah, that's a trippy song, man.

00:54:36Marc:What's the story on that song?

00:54:38Guest:It's funny.

00:54:39Guest:We're working on another song, and we had set up these keyboards.

00:54:42Guest:We were looking for a funny, wonky sound.

00:54:45Guest:And we said, hey, Rob, go in there and mess with that keyboard.

00:54:48Guest:Let's get some sounds off that keyboard real quick.

00:54:50Guest:And he just goes in and just starts playing it.

00:54:52Guest:Eight minutes later, we had the whole song.

00:54:56Marc:Oh, my God.

00:54:57Marc:And why that title?

00:54:59Marc:I mean, not that it matters.

00:55:01Marc:It just sounds like that to me.

00:55:02Marc:13th century metal?

00:55:03Guest:Yeah, you're playing some Gregorian chords.

00:55:06Guest:You know what I mean?

00:55:07Guest:It's trippy, and then the guitar is coming at the end, and it's really chaotic.

00:55:11Guest:Right.

00:55:11Guest:oppressive yeah that's wild yeah the thing is like i love music i know that sounds so cheesy and corny and goofy but i just it does something to me that when i hear it i see things i visualize things i go elsewhere i just really am taken to a different place and and it elevates me like listening to it can change my entire uh perception of what i'm going through really just a song yeah

00:55:38Guest:Yeah, it's really, really important to me.

00:55:41Guest:And it's entertaining, of course, music is entertaining, but it's also like something else is going on.

00:55:46Marc:It feels that way, you know, because when I watch you perform and sing, like, I get emotional.

00:55:51Marc:And I'm not even that big a words guy.

00:55:54Marc:Like, you know, it's not about the words.

00:55:56Marc:It's about what you put into it.

00:55:59Marc:And there's like a rawness to it and an honesty to it that's almost overwhelming for me.

00:56:07Yeah.

00:56:07Marc:I get moved.

00:56:11Marc:I have to listen to an album three times before I can even hear words.

00:56:15Marc:I hear melody, I hear rhythm, and I hear hooks, I hear guitars, I hear all the other instruments, but words are very hard for me to focus on.

00:56:25Marc:Because if I'm going to focus on words, I'm not listening to any of the other stuff.

00:56:28Guest:First thing I hear is, what's this drum beat doing?

00:56:32Guest:What's that bass player doing?

00:56:34Guest:What's the point of these guitars?

00:56:36Marc:What's the point of these guitars?

00:56:37Guest:People just be putting guitars on everything, just solos and put this on here and put this part over here.

00:56:43Guest:What's it doing?

00:56:45Guest:What's it doing?

00:56:46Guest:I feel like there's not a lot of people who are asking that question, what's it for?

00:56:49Marc:Well, you're very deliberate about the guitar parts.

00:56:52Marc:There was one I was just listening to.

00:56:54Marc:I don't know if it's on the new one or if it's on the other one.

00:56:57Marc:I think it's on the Sound and Color where it's almost like it's a guitar run underneath.

00:57:05Marc:It's playing the rhythm to a degree, but it's a note-for-note thing that repeats itself.

00:57:09Marc:It's like a big arc of a riff.

00:57:11Marc:I don't remember what song it's on, but it's a very decisive kind of guitar trip going on there.

00:57:17Guest:Yeah.

00:57:18Guest:It's just supposed to inform you how you're supposed to feel when you're about to listen to these words.

00:57:22Guest:Everything's connected.

00:57:23Marc:But what about your sense of melody?

00:57:25Marc:Does that just happen naturally?

00:57:26Guest:Yeah.

00:57:27Guest:The melody, it has to feel good to sing, and it also has to carry my message, whatever I'm trying to relate to somebody.

00:57:34Guest:I got to be singing like that.

00:57:36Guest:On this record that I just put out, Jamie, I sing so many different ways.

00:57:40Guest:Because to me, everything's like a little vignette.

00:57:43Guest:It's like, this is how I feel right now.

00:57:45Guest:But sometimes I feel this way.

00:57:47Guest:Sometimes I'm outraged.

00:57:48Guest:13th century metal.

00:57:50Guest:I have no singing to do.

00:57:52Guest:I just got to tell you what I got to tell you.

00:57:54Guest:There's songs like that.

00:57:56Guest:And then there's songs where I feel small, feel juvenile.

00:57:58Guest:A song like Georgia makes me feel like a child.

00:58:01Guest:And I have to sing it like a child.

00:58:02Marc:Where'd that one come from?

00:58:04Guest:How do you mean?

00:58:04Marc:The song.

00:58:05Marc:Did it come from a childhood experience or the thoughts of it?

00:58:08Guest:No, it was just sort of like a fantasy world.

00:58:11Marc:Oh, the emotions were childish.

00:58:12Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58:14Guest:It's just a fantasy world.

00:58:15Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58:16Guest:And that's how I came at things.

00:58:18Guest:I came at it like this because I'm like...

00:58:21Guest:that's how I may be able to get people to feel where I'm coming from.

00:58:27Marc:Uh-huh.

00:58:28Marc:Yeah.

00:58:28Marc:It's like a doorway into you.

00:58:31Guest:Yeah.

00:58:32Guest:Which, when you say that, it makes me sound like I'm giving myself some kind of extra importance, but...

00:58:37Guest:I don't know.

00:58:38Guest:It's not about that because people ask me, well, why'd you do this record?

00:58:43Guest:I'm just like, making records is kind of what I do.

00:58:47Guest:I don't have a great answer.

00:58:49Guest:Why'd you do that?

00:58:50Guest:I don't have a great, brilliant, philosophical answer.

00:58:53Marc:Yeah, well, I think getting back to the child thing, it's interesting you say that because when you offer that part of yourself up, when you show your childish emotions, especially if somebody like...

00:59:05Marc:Like me, I think there's the emotional honesty of showing your childishness emotionally is probably the realest you can be in a way.

00:59:17Marc:Because I know emotionally I'm a fucking child.

00:59:21Marc:Most of us are.

00:59:22Marc:Right?

00:59:24Marc:So if there's an opportunity where I can show that without being found out in a way or actually engaged in an interaction where I'm behaving childishly, there's a real honesty to that.

00:59:37Marc:It's almost heartbreaking and beautiful if you have that within you to show it.

00:59:44Guest:Yeah, I feel like...

00:59:46Guest:ideally if everyone was running around being more like children in a how do I say this in a more positive joyous way right open way like yeah yeah embracing the yeah um well let's say

01:00:05Guest:The world would probably be a lot more fun to be in.

01:00:07Marc:That's for sure.

01:00:08Guest:But it seems like everyone's running away from being a child.

01:00:10Guest:They don't want to be a child.

01:00:11Guest:They don't want to act childish.

01:00:12Guest:They don't want to cry when they need to cry because they're scared.

01:00:15Marc:Well, that's one thing.

01:00:16Marc:But I think that there's a childishness.

01:00:17Marc:Like the one thing I noticed about myself, I don't know where your anger is, but if you have childish emotions,

01:00:27Marc:And you rage like a child, but you're a grown adult.

01:00:31Marc:That's scary.

01:00:32Guest:Well, yeah, but now you got to take care of that little kid in you that's angry.

01:00:35Marc:I know.

01:00:35Marc:But you're grown.

01:00:36Marc:I know.

01:00:37Marc:Yeah, I know.

01:00:37Marc:It's crazy, isn't it?

01:00:38Marc:Right.

01:00:38Marc:Because I find myself, I used to rage out and throw tantrums.

01:00:42Marc:And I'm like, if you're five...

01:00:44Marc:You know, this is manageable.

01:00:45Marc:You can get by.

01:00:46Marc:Right.

01:00:46Marc:But, you know, you're 45, dude.

01:00:49Marc:And it's, like, toxic.

01:00:51Marc:Yeah, you can't go get by with that one.

01:00:53Marc:Somebody's going to pull your card one day and beat you down.

01:00:56Marc:Yeah, my card got pulled a couple times.

01:00:59Marc:But, yeah, you know, and that's the kind of work I'll do with my creativity, too, is to process that stuff.

01:01:06Guest:Yeah, I think that's the same thing as what I'm doing, is processing out loud in front of everyone.

01:01:12Guest:Right.

01:01:12Guest:Night after night.

01:01:13Marc:Right, but music is magic, so you got that.

01:01:16Marc:You know what I mean?

01:01:18Marc:It's not just talking.

01:01:19Marc:There's a magic to it.

01:01:20Marc:So you surround your expression of these emotional truths with beautiful sounds, melodies, drums, all that stuff, and it goes in that way.

01:01:29Marc:If you were just up there talking, going like, I'm fucked up.

01:01:31Marc:It's like, all right.

01:01:33Marc:Yeah.

01:01:33Marc:This isn't entertaining.

01:01:36Marc:I would go to that show.

01:01:38Marc:That's as honest as you can get.

01:01:40Marc:Yeah.

01:01:41Marc:I'm fucked up and here's why.

01:01:43Marc:This is it.

01:01:44Marc:Thank you for coming.

01:01:47Guest:Yeah, you know, being a...

01:01:49Guest:Being a musician up there, I don't really like the talking part where you gotta be like, hey guys, welcome to the show, waka waka waka, all that stuff.

01:01:57Guest:I don't like that stuff.

01:01:58Guest:I'm not real good at that.

01:02:00Marc:Very few musicians are.

01:02:02Guest:I'm actually kind of a bashful person.

01:02:04Guest:I like to laugh, I like to have fun, but I don't like giving group speeches.

01:02:08Guest:But when you're singing, you have the vibrations and you have all this information.

01:02:14Guest:Everything's information.

01:02:16Guest:And then I'm also saying what I'm saying to you.

01:02:18Guest:And everything gets to resonate to this giant crowd of people who also are having their own feelings and creating their own energy within this auditorium and theater.

01:02:27Marc:And there's a symbiotic thing going on.

01:02:31Guest:But it's a crazy feeling.

01:02:32Marc:I bet.

01:02:33Guest:Yeah.

01:02:34Marc:You're playing in big houses now, right?

01:02:36Guest:Yeah, pretty big.

01:02:36Marc:Yeah?

01:02:37Guest:Yeah.

01:02:38Marc:You mean a lot of your heroes?

01:02:42Guest:I have.

01:02:46Guest:Heroes.

01:02:47Marc:Because, you know, you get higher up the rung in show business.

01:02:49Marc:All of a sudden you're hanging out with those people where you're like, oh, my God.

01:02:53Guest:Yeah.

01:02:53Marc:That person.

01:02:54Guest:It's so interesting.

01:02:56Guest:My heroes are people you wouldn't really expect.

01:02:58Guest:Yeah.

01:02:59Guest:Like there's someone named Georgia Ann Muldrow.

01:03:02Guest:She's a producer.

01:03:03Guest:She makes music herself.

01:03:05Guest:And she's someone who really inspires me.

01:03:07Guest:Yeah.

01:03:08Guest:Her honesty, her childlike nature.

01:03:09Guest:She's so open.

01:03:11Guest:Where'd you get hip to her?

01:03:12Guest:My keyboard player told me about her a few years ago.

01:03:15Guest:And once I started listening to her music, I was like, I, when I was growing up, I'm not accustomed to seeing female producers.

01:03:23Guest:The first female producer I could think of was Missy Elliott.

01:03:28Guest:I was hugely inspired that she was doing everything by herself.

01:03:30Guest:And I'll never forget her saying into the camera thing with MTV Cribs.

01:03:34Guest:She's like, if you want to make real money...

01:03:37Guest:you gotta write it produce it and sing it and make your own videos and she's like that's where it's at and i was like okay i'll do that that sunk in yeah and um so georgia is a hero that um i think goes unsung oh great yeah yeah

01:03:56Guest:So I got to be on the road with her and play with her and watch her do her thing, sing with her.

01:04:03Guest:That's just elevated my mood to a thousand percent.

01:04:06Marc:That's great.

01:04:07Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:04:08Marc:That's a hero.

01:04:08Marc:To actually get to work with the people that you respect is great.

01:04:11Guest:Yeah, and seeing her do her thing, man.

01:04:13Guest:And it's like the heroes, everybody would expect like, oh yeah, you got to meet, I don't know, like Sammy Hagar or whatever.

01:04:22Guest:Sammy Hagar.

01:04:23Guest:I don't know.

01:04:24Guest:No, I just don't think of any musical heroes.

01:04:27Marc:Paul McCartney.

01:04:28Guest:Oh, okay.

01:04:29Guest:But Paul, he's a cool guy.

01:04:31Marc:Yeah.

01:04:32Marc:It's funny too.

01:04:33Guest:I like the Beatles and stuff.

01:04:34Guest:I didn't grow up on the Beatles like a lot of people older than me did.

01:04:37Guest:The Beatles to me was like de facto, like this is music, this is hits, this is what music's supposed to, this is like one of those pinnacles that was there.

01:04:46Guest:I kind of took it for granted in a way because it wasn't new.

01:04:48Guest:right like it was always there it's familiar it's just yeah it's an ever present i kind of took it for granted but yeah but then i started listening to beatles more and i was like wow this is just sick i really like john lennon yeah i like his songs a lot and um then i met paul mccartney i didn't know what to expect yeah and he was like the coolest dude to hang out with i hung out with him one night he was up later than me i left club at 2 a.m he was still there yeah

01:05:12Guest:Till like 4 a.m., just chilling.

01:05:14Guest:And then I got to sing with him, and he was just the nicest, most disarming, just cool, chill dude.

01:05:20Marc:Yeah, I met him once.

01:05:21Marc:I interviewed him publicly, and I was sort of surprised.

01:05:24Marc:Yeah, yeah, he's fun.

01:05:25Marc:Well, yeah, because you've got to figure, that guy's been a public personality since he was like 20.

01:05:29Guest:Yeah, he's made for it, too.

01:05:31Guest:Yeah, but it's his whole life.

01:05:35Guest:Yeah.

01:05:35Guest:If you were in the Beatles, which one do you think you'd be?

01:05:38Marc:Well, that was weird, because I was always a John person.

01:05:41Guest:Yeah, okay.

01:05:43Marc:Because I grew up with them.

01:05:44Marc:I'm still not that age, because when I bought those records, I was in high school in the 80s, so they was done.

01:05:52Marc:But I definitely knew the Beatles, and I had their records.

01:05:56Marc:But I was a John person, and when I got the opportunity to interview Paul, there was really part of me was sort of like, oh, man.

01:06:05Marc:but I'm fucking John guy you know like when am I going to talk to this other dude you know like I was I really thought that like oh Paul alright I guess I'll do it yeah but it was amazing exactly he's a fucking Beatle yeah exactly what do you like singing with him

01:06:22Guest:That was fun.

01:06:23Marc:Yeah.

01:06:23Guest:It was fun as hell.

01:06:24Guest:Yeah.

01:06:25Guest:I was nervous because here's the funny story.

01:06:27Guest:We were playing Get Back.

01:06:30Guest:Yeah.

01:06:31Guest:There was solo in it, right?

01:06:32Guest:Yeah.

01:06:32Guest:I was like, I'm about to go out here at Lollapalooza.

01:06:34Guest:Like 80,000 people out here.

01:06:35Guest:And I had it in my head that I was going to be the one playing the solo.

01:06:39Guest:Yeah.

01:06:39Marc:On the guitar?

01:06:40Guest:Yeah.

01:06:41Guest:So I practiced it front, backwards, upside down, every way.

01:06:43Guest:Because I was like, I bet out of 80,000 people, about 20,000 play guitar.

01:06:48Guest:And if I get up here and bungle this solo, they're going to boo me.

01:06:53Guest:So I practiced till my fingers hurt.

01:06:54Guest:And I had this solo.

01:06:55Guest:I mean, I couldn't have messed it up.

01:06:56Guest:Could have done it any kind of way, underwater.

01:06:58Guest:And I go up there, and they're like, Brittany Howard going to sing with me.

01:07:01Guest:And I come out.

01:07:02Guest:And I'm like, whoa, the stage is lit up.

01:07:03Guest:It's got all these disco lights on it.

01:07:05Guest:So I'm distracted.

01:07:06Guest:Whoa, this is cool.

01:07:07Guest:Get up there, start singing the song.

01:07:09Guest:Time for a solo.

01:07:10Guest:Crank my guitar up, go to play, and I hear somebody else's tone playing my solo.

01:07:16Guest:I look over, and the guitar player got the solo.

01:07:18Guest:I'm like...

01:07:18Guest:Hey, man.

01:07:21Guest:I got it.

01:07:21Guest:Stop.

01:07:23Guest:Stop playing that song.

01:07:24Guest:I got it.

01:07:25Guest:We just, you know, we just both played it.

01:07:29Guest:We both played it.

01:07:30Guest:The dual lead.

01:07:31Guest:Yeah, because I wasn't backing down.

01:07:32Guest:I had practiced too hard.

01:07:35Marc:Did you guys laugh about that?

01:07:37Marc:Did you know it happened?

01:07:38Guest:I don't even think he noticed.

01:07:39Marc:Oh, really?

01:07:40Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:07:41Marc:That's exciting, man.

01:07:42Marc:So you guys played at that, what was that, La Palooza?

01:07:45Guest:La Palooza, yeah.

01:07:46Marc:La Palooza, you played there?

01:07:47Marc:Mm-hmm.

01:07:47Marc:And the main stage, too?

01:07:49Guest:Mm-hmm.

01:07:49Marc:That's big, right?

01:07:50Guest:Yeah, it was really big, really big, really big deal.

01:07:53Guest:You know, with Alabama Shakes, we've done a lot of crazy things, a lot of things I never thought I would do, such as moving out of the South.

01:08:00Guest:Where are you living now?

01:08:01Guest:I live in Towson, New Mexico now.

01:08:03Marc:I grew up in New Mexico.

01:08:04Guest:No kidding, where did you grow up?

01:08:05Marc:Albuquerque.

01:08:06Guest:Yeah, I live in Taos.

01:08:07Marc:Wow, what the hell's going on in Taos now?

01:08:10Marc:I don't know.

01:08:11Marc:I can't even imagine.

01:08:12Marc:I used to ski there when I was a kid.

01:08:14Marc:I know there's things going on up there, like people are living around there.

01:08:18Marc:My recollection of the town was just a ski town, you know?

01:08:21Guest:You know, when you travel as much as I do and you go to all these cities, all these cities, you want to go somewhere naturally beautiful.

01:08:29Guest:Sure.

01:08:29Guest:So that's why I found this beautiful house.

01:08:33Guest:It's not an earth ship.

01:08:34Guest:It's like an underground house.

01:08:35Guest:It's an underground house?

01:08:37Guest:Yeah.

01:08:38Guest:Yeah.

01:08:38Guest:It's called a berm house.

01:08:39Guest:It's just literally just the tops covered with earth.

01:08:42Guest:Beautiful house.

01:08:42Guest:Yeah.

01:08:43Guest:It's wild.

01:08:43Guest:Beautiful view in a mountain.

01:08:44Guest:Yeah.

01:08:45Guest:I have elk in my yard like daily.

01:08:47Marc:That's beautiful.

01:08:48Guest:I like to keep it very chill when I'm home.

01:08:53Guest:And then when I'm on the road, it's all crazy.

01:08:54Guest:Fireworks, all this stuff, you know.

01:08:56Marc:No, Taos is beautiful.

01:08:57Marc:It's kind of a hassle to get there, though, isn't it?

01:09:01Marc:What, are you flying to Albuquerque and then drive?

01:09:03Guest:Yeah, but I'm moving now.

01:09:05Marc:You're moving now?

01:09:06Guest:I got to move, dude.

01:09:06Guest:I can't be doing this my life, which makes me happy at work, and at the end of a tour, taking the whole day just to get back home.

01:09:16Marc:So you're getting out of Taos.

01:09:17Guest:Yeah, that's the idea.

01:09:19Guest:Okay.

01:09:19Guest:That's the idea.

01:09:20Guest:I don't want to, but I'm going to die.

01:09:23Guest:I'm going to kill myself doing this stuff, like going all the way back and then all the way back again for like staying home for two days, but one of them days was just traveling.

01:09:31Marc:Right, you stay home for two days and you got to drive two and a half hours to the airport, three hours.

01:09:35Guest:And then make my connections to the place I'm going to.

01:09:37Marc:Yeah, that drives are rough.

01:09:38Guest:Oh, yeah, and forget about it if you're going overseas.

01:09:40Guest:It's just crazy.

01:09:41Marc:From Albuquerque?

01:09:43Guest:Mm-hmm.

01:09:43Marc:Yeah.

01:09:44Marc:No, you got to connect three times.

01:09:45Marc:Three connections.

01:09:46Marc:Yeah.

01:09:46Guest:Can't do it.

01:09:47Marc:Fascinating stuff.

01:09:53Marc:So what's going on with, okay, so you're touring this record, the solo record now?

01:09:57Guest:Mm-hmm.

01:09:58Guest:Yeah, just finished up a tour last night in Oakland.

01:10:01Marc:How'd that go?

01:10:01Guest:It was awesome.

01:10:03Marc:Great.

01:10:03Guest:It was awesome.

01:10:04Marc:And you're touring with Robert and Nate?

01:10:06Guest:I'm not touring with Robert.

01:10:07Guest:Oh.

01:10:08Guest:I am touring with Nate.

01:10:09Guest:Uh-huh.

01:10:10Guest:I have an eight-piece band.

01:10:12Guest:Uh-huh.

01:10:12Guest:Everybody's necessary.

01:10:14Guest:I got two guitar players, Brad Allen Williams, Alex Shakur.

01:10:18Guest:I got two key players.

01:10:19Guest:I got Paul Horton.

01:10:21Guest:I got Lloyd Buchanan.

01:10:22Guest:I got two singers with me, Sinead Johnson, Carita Law, and then I got Nate Smith on the drums and Zack Cocker on bass.

01:10:29Guest:Rhythm section.

01:10:30Guest:Yeah, rhythm section.

01:10:31Guest:It's solid now.

01:10:32Guest:It's solid now.

01:10:33Guest:I love my band.

01:10:34Guest:I love what I do more than ever.

01:10:35Marc:That's great.

01:10:36Marc:And now is there, I guess it's a dumb question, but is there any hard feelings when you do the project outside of the shakes?

01:10:46Marc:Are you just moving on?

01:10:47Marc:Is that done or you don't think about it like that?

01:10:50Guest:I don't really think about it so much like that.

01:10:52Guest:I think of it kind of fluidly.

01:10:54Guest:Like with me leaving the shakes is really, really hard because by nature, I don't ever want to hurt anyone.

01:10:59Guest:Right.

01:10:59Guest:And it was a hard decision choosing myself or choosing my brothers because they are my brothers.

01:11:05Guest:Yeah.

01:11:06Guest:And I didn't know how to do it in a way that wasn't going to hurt someone.

01:11:11Guest:And I thought, you know, honesty is the best policy.

01:11:15Guest:And so I had to speak on it, how tired and exhausting it was to always be the one working.

01:11:25Guest:And...

01:11:26Guest:I had just determined that I've spent so much of my time working, I haven't really enjoyed why I work in a long time.

01:11:35Guest:And so I had to tell them.

01:11:36Guest:And we sat down and we talked about it.

01:11:38Guest:I mean, we spent half a day just sitting there talking about it.

01:11:40Guest:And me just trying to tell them that it's not anybody's fault.

01:11:45Guest:It's not anything anybody did.

01:11:47Guest:It couldn't have been helped.

01:11:48Guest:I think it's just the natural way of things.

01:11:50Guest:And at first when I was talking to them about leaving the Shakes, I had no intentions of making a record.

01:11:57Guest:I just wanted to go on like a road trip.

01:12:00Guest:I just wanted to go live wherever I wanted to live and just have my own life without my decisions affecting anyone else.

01:12:06Guest:It was very symbiotic being in a band.

01:12:09Guest:Anything I do, they get asked about, and anything they do, I get, you know?

01:12:14Guest:So I think at the end of it, everyone understood.

01:12:18Guest:It was really definitely loving, did it in the most loving, honest way I possibly could.

01:12:23Guest:And then I went on that road trip and I looked at new places to live and made my own decisions for myself.

01:12:30Guest:That was a big shift.

01:12:31Guest:Yeah, it was a big shift because I'm not the kind of person that's like, I'm not a selfish person.

01:12:35Guest:I usually think of myself last.

01:12:37Guest:Yeah.

01:12:38Guest:Because that's just how, that's just, you know.

01:12:40Guest:Yeah.

01:12:41Guest:That's how a lot of women are raised in this country, actually.

01:12:43Guest:Yeah.

01:12:43Guest:So thinking of myself first is very strange and I felt kind of guilty about it.

01:12:48Guest:Yeah.

01:12:48Guest:Because it makes it sound selfish, but it's not selfish.

01:12:50Guest:It's just being good to yourself.

01:12:52Marc:Sure.

01:12:52Marc:And also, like you said, you know, this is it.

01:12:54Marc:You live once.

01:12:55Guest:Yeah.

01:12:56Marc:As far as we know.

01:12:57Marc:Yeah.

01:12:57Marc:And, you know, when you want to keep moving forward and experience new things and have that kind of freedom and, you know, only answer to yourself.

01:13:05Marc:It's a great choice to make.

01:13:07Guest:So that's so.

01:13:10Guest:And here we are on a road trip.

01:13:12Guest:That's where I made a decision.

01:13:13Guest:Like, well, what am I going to do?

01:13:15Guest:Yeah.

01:13:15Marc:I was like, shit.

01:13:16Guest:Yeah.

01:13:17I'm not good at anything.

01:13:18Marc:What, were you really thinking about doing other things?

01:13:22Marc:I mean, were you going to start a farm?

01:13:25Guest:Yeah, there's going to be a fly fishing guy.

01:13:26Marc:Oh, fly fishing.

01:13:28Marc:Okay.

01:13:28Marc:Yeah.

01:13:29Marc:Well, I mean, but was there a moment though where you were sort of like, I'm done, I can't do music right now.

01:13:33Guest:Yeah, yeah, definitely.

01:13:35Guest:Definitely.

01:13:35Guest:I was just like, oh my God, I'm so tired.

01:13:37Guest:I never in my life ever want to do it for the wrong reasons, which is money.

01:13:42Guest:I don't want to do it for money because that's when I dilute everything I love and the reason I live is to do this.

01:13:49Guest:So I can't possibly do that.

01:13:51Guest:So eventually somewhere on a road trip I was like, God, I guess I have to, I guess I'm going to make a record.

01:13:59Marc:Yeah, you're going to reckon with me.

01:14:01Guest:Yeah.

01:14:02Guest:And that's where it got started.

01:14:03Guest:That's where it all began.

01:14:04Guest:And like you said, now I'm sitting here before you talking about it.

01:14:07Marc:Well, it's a great record.

01:14:09Marc:Thank you.

01:14:10Marc:And I'm a big fan.

01:14:11Marc:I find what you do very raw and moving and new and exciting.

01:14:15Marc:I like it all.

01:14:16Guest:Thank you so much.

01:14:17Marc:It was great talking to you.

01:14:18Marc:Great talking to you.

01:14:19Marc:Thanks for coming.

01:14:19Guest:I'm a huge fan of the show, by the way.

01:14:21Marc:Oh, I appreciate that.

01:14:22Marc:Yeah.

01:14:22Marc:Thanks for doing it.

01:14:23Guest:Yeah, of course.

01:14:29Marc:Wow, that was cool, right?

01:14:31Marc:Talking to her?

01:14:31Marc:It was for me.

01:14:32Marc:Did you enjoy listening?

01:14:34Marc:The new record, or like, well, get any Alabama Shakes record, and her newest is a solo album called Jamie, and she's nominated for two Grammys, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for History Repeats from Jamie.

01:14:50Marc:And that was awesome.

01:14:53Marc:I enjoyed that.

01:14:53Marc:Happy Christmas.

01:14:54Marc:Happy Hanukkah.

01:14:56Marc:Make sure you don't hurt yourself in the new year.

01:14:59Marc:And now I'm going to play some music that I recorded a little earlier, and it took me like an hour to land on this groove, which I imagine I've done before.

01:15:08Marc:Monkey!

01:15:08Marc:All right, listen.

01:16:17Marc:Boomer lives.