By Brent Thompson 

He’s still the hardest working man in show business – his calendar stays full. On Sunday night, Warren Haynes and his band – bassist Kevin Scott, drummer Terence Higgins and keyboardist Matt Slocum – performed to a captivated audience at Birmingham’s Iron City. In addition to solo material, Haynes pulled from his catalog of projects that include Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers Band and Phil Lesh & Friends. Highlights of the two-set evening included “Sco-Mule,” “Man In Motion,” “Patchwork Quilt,” ” Soulshine” and a cover of Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic.”

 

 

By Brent Thompson

Guitarist/vocalist Slim Dunlap is best known for his days in The Replacements, having played on the band’s Don’t Tell A Soul and All Shook Down albums. But following his days in the beloved ‘Mats, Dunlap released two acclaimed solo records – The Old New Me and Times Like This. Long out-of-print, the albums have now been re-packaged and remastered on a new double-CD entitled Every Little Word (Curation Records). Overseen by Dunlap’s family and Peter Jesperson (a well known figure in The Replacements’ camp), the project brings Slim’s recorded output back into a well-deserved spotlight. Start with “Cozy,” “Partners In Crime,” “The Ballad Of The Opening Band” or the beautiful instrumental “Love Lost” and you’ll be instantly hooked. Enthusiastic fan Bruce Springsteen stated that Dunlap was “a really unique guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the deepest and truest rock and roll souls I’ve ever heard. He has two fabulous solo albums out that I would tell everyone to run out and get.” If you already own the two Dunlap albums, you’ll want to own this remastered collection, thanks to the work of Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. For the most avid fans, the vinyl companion Every Little Word – The Best of the Bonus Tracks is scheduled for a March 2026 release. Slim Dunlap passed away in 2024 after 12 debilitating years, the result of a massive stroke.  But his music endures and, thanks to Every Little Word, it has never sounded better.

www.curationrecords.com

By Brent Thompson

“I love singer/songwriters, but I could not be more proud to be in a band of six dudes. Every night, we’re trying to lay it on the line for each other and trying to create an environment where people can just let loose and enjoy themselves,” Clay Street Unit vocalist/guitarist Sam Walker says. On Friday, February 13, the Colorado-based sextet – Walker, Scottie Bolin, Jack Cline, Brad Larrison, Brendan Lamb and Jack Kotarba – will release its full-length debut, Sin & Squalor. Produced by Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous Stringdusters, the album captures Clay Street Unit’s unique blend of folk, bluegrass, country and Americana. On Thursday, February 12, the band will perform at Saturn. Recently, Walker spoke with us by phone from his Denver home.

Southern Stages: Sam, thanks for your time today. I just realized that you have an Alabama area code!

Sam Walker: Yeah, I grew up in Montgomery.

Southern Stages: Where are you based now?

Walker: I live in Denver, Colorado.

Southern Stages: Is anyone else in the band from Alabama?

Walker: Just myself. I moved out here after college and a couple of the guys went to school out here at CU Boulder. I met one of the guys and it was kind of like a domino effect – two of us started playing, then there were three of us, four of us and five of us. Now we’ve got a full outfit – it’s six of us from all over the country. we call Denver our home base, but only one of us was born and raised here in Denver.

Southern Stages: Sounds like Denver has been a good fit for you.

Walker: Yeah, it’s going on 10 years, so it feels like home now.

Southern Stages: We are really enjoying Sin & Squalor.

Walker: We appreciate you guys giving a listen to it.

Southern Stages: We are glad you guys will be in Birmingham around the time the album gets released.

Walker: We’ll be at Saturn on the 12th and that evening – around 11:00 – it’ll hit streaming platforms. It comes out officially on Friday the 13th.

Southern Stages: Even though the material is new to us, you’ve been living with it for a while. At this point, are you exhausted, excited, relieved or something else?

Walker: You just covered a lot of the boxes [laughs]. I think more than anything we’re excited and proud – we’re “ready” is the biggest word I’d use. We’re just ready to get this music out there and share with the people who have listened to us and, hopefully, get it to some ears of some folks who haven’t. We’re ready to tour this record and share these songs with the world.

Southern Stages: How did the album’s material take shape? Are these mostly newer compositions, older ones or a mixture of both?

Walker: That’s a great question. You know the famous saying – you have your entire life to write your first record and 18 months to write your second. It’s definitely been a labor of life more than anything. Some songs started when I moved out here 10 years ago and they’ve evolved and developed over the years. Some I wrote in my mid-20s after a pretty big breakup and a life-shifting event where the band started to become a more serious part of my life. A good handful of the songs were collaborations with our mandolin player, Scottie Bolin. Meeting him a couple of years into the band really pushed the trajectory of the writing and the music – he pushed the deliberate nature of what we needed to get into and holding each other accountable and exploring different avenues. So, it’s been a few different iterations of where we were as writers. The biggest component through it all is that there’s one narrative and one voice that ties it all together. It’s all coming from the same place and the same organism.

Southern Stages: If you will, talk about the band’s writing process. Do you get in a room and play until something happens, does one person bring an idea to the other members or are there other ways of doing it?

Walker: it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation – it changes every song. Sometimes Scottie will come in with a song 95% finished and I’ll tweak two things, and we’ll take it to the band. It takes on a life of itself when you add the pedal steel, the drum line and everything like that. It starts like a toddler and grows up as the band’s introduced to it. Everybody gets their own flavor and their own influence on it. Some songs get finished in three hours and some songs sit there for three months – it may feel like the best thing we have, but it’s not ready at the moment to be the song it’s going to be one day.

Southern Stages: Do you still have some completed songs that weren’t included on Sin & Squalor?

Walker: Yeah, certainly. We just try to take it step-by-step and decide what songs are ready, what songs we feel confident about and what songs feel like what we’re trying to represent and what we want to get accomplished. So, we definitely have some that are in the live rotation, some that are in the vault that we’ve written that have been changed and will change again. I was actually sitting down this morning and doing some big-picture planning for record two – revisiting some old stuff and fleshing out some newer stuff. It’s starting to get in that exciting phase of the new record.

Southern Stages: How would you describe your personal writing process?

Walker: I’m kind of a maniac. I’ve got a journal right here with plenty of ideas and I’ve got scrap pieces of paper and sticky notes all over the place. My computer notes are crazy, my phone notes are crazy – I’ve got it everywhere.

Southern Stages: Some say – thanks to Spotify, iTunes, satellite radio and other modern outlets – that this is a great time to be an artist as music is so easily accessible. Others say – for that same reason – that the current climate creates an overload that makes it difficult to be found among the crowd. How do you feel about the current state of the industry?

Walker: It’s never been more accessible, but it’s also never been more saturated. There have never been more people with a guitar and a microphone at their house and they can get a song out in 24 hours. Once people can access it, there’s the sustainability of it because of how much music constantly comes out. Every Friday, bands are releasing records and there’s so much product to be consumed. You can put your life and effort into a project and it gets swept up with the way the Internet works these days. It’s harder to stay topical and to put something out that people will latch onto and keep listening to.

Southern Stages: I assume you will you have some family and friends in the audience at Saturn.

Walker: My folks live in Birmingham now, so I sure hope they’ll come out [laughs]. I’m hoping to see some familiar faces and some college buddies.

On Thursday, February 12, Code-R Productions presents Clay Street Unit at Saturn. Cris Jacobs will open the 8 p.m. show. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.saturnbirmingham.com.

 

By Brent Thompson

As an Alabama-based outlet, we know firsthand the pride that exudes statewide for the musical importance of Muscle Shoals. And while the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals gave us a film version of the story, there hasn’t ever been a book released that seemed to do it justice. Well, that all changes on November 25 with the release of Land of a Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951-1985 (Malaco Records). Author and six-time Grammy nominee Rob Bowman (Soulsville, U.S.A. – The Story of Stax Records, The Last Soul Company) has penned an exhaustive – but never uninteresting – account of the “Hit Recording Capital of the World.” Yes, it clocks in at nearly 800 pages and 30 chapters, but there is a lot to be covered and Bowman does it well. Stemming from interviews with more than 100 key Shoals figures, Land of a Thousand Sessions reminds us that Muscle Shoals – the catch-all name for the tri-city area of Muscle Shoals, Florence and Sheffield – had two distinct musical chapters during its recording heyday. First, soul was the order of the day led by Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, The Staple Singers and Percy Sledge. Then, rock and country took over when The Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Boz Scaggs, Willie Nelson and Rod Stewart came to town. So, the next time you hear “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “I’ll Take You There,” “Kodachrome,” “Old Time Rock and Roll” and “Tonight’s The Night,” just remember that each song traces directly back to a hallowed – if somewhat unlikely – scene in northern Alabama.

www.malaco.com

By Brent Thompson

Many artists boast about being in touch with their fans, but David Wilcox has always taken it to the next level. In nearly a 40-year span of recording and touring, the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter has built a loyal fan base like few others. In addition, Wilcox started his “Custom Built Songs” concept several years ago which – as the title implies – finds him writing personalized songs for his fans. In August, he released his latest album, The Way I Tell The Story, on Freshly Baked Records. On Saturday, November 22, Wilcox will perform at the Woodlawn Theatre. Recently, he spoke with us by phone from his Asheville, N.C. home.

Southern Stages: David, thanks for your time. We are really enjoying The Way I Tell The Story. How did the album take shape?

David Wilcox: There’s a lot of new ones and there are about three that are a couple of years old. I love how it came together – it was such a fun project. I listen to a lot of singer/songwriters and every once in a while somebody will come out with a record that’s so good and I’ll think, “Oh man, they must have been through some shit”[laughs]. I listen to my new record and I realize that, “Oh, yeah – it’s my turn.” Life gets tough and music gets good.

Southern Stages: Over what time period was the album recorded?

Wilcox: Probably a year and a half.

Southern Stages: If you will, tell us about the recording process.

Wilcox: I have figured out the best way for me is to play it live and I usually start with that. I record my tracks, sometimes with a drummer. On this record, we recorded some with a little band – some of my favorite players on bass, guitar and drums and that was really fun – the energy was so inspiring.

Southern Stages: Where was the album recorded?

Wilcox: It was recorded here in Asheville at a lovely studio that’s unfortunately closing. It was a great place.

Southern Stages: How would you describe your songwriting process?

Wilcox: I love to start with a conversation. I love to be talking about something with a friend and realize that I don’t have a lot of clarity. To me, the process of writing a song is the process of getting clarity – it’s the process of knowing my heart. It usually starts with an interesting conversation with a friend and I’ll get asked my opinion and think, “I don’t know – let’s see.” I realize that it needs some further discovery.

Southern Stages: If you will, tell us about “Custom Built Songs.”

Wilcox: These custom songs that I’ve been doing for a while are really satisfying to me. A song will come with a need to hold them accountable to something they’ve decided or maybe it’s a healing song about something that happened. When I write the song, I’m listening to their heart and I’m using the skills that I have to try and clarify and maybe see the issue in a different light. It’s given me this window into other people’s lives and it’s very fun.

Southern Stages: When you write a custom song, do you ever get tempted to hold a song back for your own catalog?

Wilcox: There’s one that I’ve recorded so far, but there are probably 60 custom songs – maybe more my now – and I think it would be a great thing to have them on the website with the stories behind them. They’re very different from the usual kind of songs because they are written for one person specifically, so you don’t have to tell the whole story because they kn0w the story. You just have to get to the heart of it.

Southern Stages: How many years has this concept been around?

Wilcox: I think the custom songs have been around for six or seven years.

Southern Stages: Some artists tell me that – given modern outlets such as YouTube, Spotify and satellite radio – this is a great time to be in your position as listeners can access and purchase your music immediately. Other artists say, for those same reasons, it can be a challenging time to be found among the saturation. How do you feel about the current industry climate?

Wilcox: I got really lucky with the timing that I got my record deal. I kind of got the best of both worlds – I have the ability to get that nice ride on the company and get good promotion from A&M (Records) and then, when my career naturally slides downhill [laughs], I have the ability to be in community with the people who found my music and they want to stay in touch and it’s easy for me to stay in touch.

Southern Stages: As a guitarist, are you a “gearhead” that combs music stores while on tour?

Wilcox: I have a real love of getting a fantastic guitar sound and it’s an endless quest. Every time there’s a new thing, I’ll test it out and see if it’s for me. I really love the challenge and practice of finding the best tone I can.

Southern Stages: Even though you recently released an album, do you continue to lay down song ideas?

Wilcox: Definitely. The voice message is the real key for songwriting for me these days. It’s always a steady process. I love the process of writing even more than finishing. I would love to be in the middle of a song rather than having just finished it because the longer I’m working on it, the longer it’s working on me and I love how songs change me.

On Saturday, November 22, David Wilcox will perform at the Woodlawn Theatre. Advance tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $30 and can be purchased at www.woodlawntheatrebham.com. 

By Brent Thompson

On November 11, The Lemonheads brought the Love Chant tour to WORKPLAY. Over the course of 25 songs, the trio – Evan Dando, John Kent and Farley Glavin – played fan favorites (“It’s a Shame About Ray,” “Into Your Arms,” “Drug Buddy”) alongside material from its latest release (“Cell Phone Blues,” “Deep End,” “In the Margin,” “Togetherness Is All I’m After”). The show also included a five-song set of Dando performing solo. The tour coincides with the release of Dando’s memoir Rumors of my Demise. www.thelemonheads.net

By Brent Thompson

It doesn’t seem possible that Joan Osborne’s debut album, Relish – which included the hit single “One of Us” – is now 30 years old. But here we are and it’s time to celebrate it. On Thursday, November 13, Osborne and Lisa Loeb – who is also celebrating the 30th anniversary of her album, Tails – will perform at the Alys Stephens Center. Osborne has kept busy in her career, both as a solo artist and as a member of Trigger Hippy and Phil Lesh & Friends. Most recently, she and an all-star cast of fellow musicians released the live album Dylanology. Osborne recently spoke with us by phone from her Brooklyn. N.Y. home as she was about to embark on her current tour.

Southern Stages: Joan, thanks for your time. If you will, tell us about Dylanology.

Joan Osborne: It came out in the spring of this year and it’s a live album – Dylanology Live. It’s a recording of myself and the band and some special guests – including Jackie Greene, Robert Randolph and Amy Helm – performing all Bob Dylan songs. The recording was made back in 2018 and I kind of discovered it last year. I listened to it again and said, “Wow, we should really put this out,” so we put it out in the spring of 2025. My last record of original material as a solo artist is (2023 release) Nobody Owns You.

Southern Stages: The Dylanology lineup is incredible – you, Jackie Greene, Robert Randolph and Amy Helm.

Osborne: We had a released a studio version of Bob Dylan songs in 2017 and this was a tour behind that. Rather than just me going out and playing the songs by myself, I really wanted to put together something special so we invited these guests and had a full band – it was really a fun tour. I’m glad we had the presence of mind – or at least somebody did – to record it and it came out sounding really good.

Southern Stages: How did you come across the recording several years after the show?

Osborne: When COVID happened, I did a search through my archives and mostly they were physical archives of CDs and tapes in closets. But I also was checking what I had in the computer and, for some reason, I missed this one at the time during COVID. It got me into the habit of going back and checking what I had. I was looking through the Bob Dylan material that I had recorded and this live thing came up. I’m usually my own worst critic, but I felt like this was really something I could be proud of and there was no reason for it to be sitting in my archives.

Southern Stages: How long did the tour last?

Osborne: It was not a very long tour. It was just a couple of weeks, so I’m glad that we were able to record this show. We also did some shows of Dylan material as a trio and we’ll still do that sometimes. Only a relatively few people were able to see it live, so that was another reason to put the recording out – so that people can try to feel like they were there.

Southern Stages: How did the tour with Lisa Loeb come together?

Osborne: I wish I could take credit for it, but my agent and Lisa’s agent were talking and they said, “This is a moment where both of these artists are having a 30th anniversary of their debut records and the records that most people know them by,” so they saw the opportunity to do this. I had worked with Lisa a little bit in the past and we had sort of run into each other at various times over the years. We were on the same bill at Lilith Fair so we kind of knew each other, but we had never actually toured together. When they brought up this idea, I said, “That’s great – does she want to do that?’ She wanted to do it, so it’s going to be a very unique and once-in-a-lifetime thing to be doing this. I haven’t played some of the songs from the Relish album for many years, so I’m digging back into that record and wanting to celebrate that material and give the fans something special with this tour.

Southern Stages: How will the shows flow? Will you take turns opening and closing the shows? Will you perform onstage together?

Osborne: We did a couple of shows as a trial run back in the summer, and it was one of us coming out first and the other coming out and doing their set. We didn’t have any time to put together a moment on stage where we’re both performing, but I really hope and expect that it’s going to happen with this tour because we’ll have a little more time to see each other at soundchecks and backstage. I think there are some moments where we’ll be onstage together – at least I hope so.

Southern Stages: Your career has included a lot of diverse projects – I think of it as a parallel to Bruce Hornsby’s career. With that said, how do you comprise your live set lists these days?

Osborne: First of all, it’s a great compliment to be compared to Bruce Hornsby – he’s an amazing artist and I really love him. As far as putting together a show, there’s no way that I can touch on everything I’ve done in 30-plus years of my career in one show. We do try to give people the fan favorites and we try to touch on different things. More and more these days, I’m focusing the shows on a particular event or a particular record. On this show with Lisa, it’s the 30th anniversary of Relish. When we are doing some other touring this year, it’s the Dylanology material. For me, it’s a lot easier to focus on a particular theme and that way I can construct a show that really makes sense. I think it’s also cool for the fans because you want people to come back again and again and you want to give them a fresh, new experience every time. I’m continuing to write and record – I’m always exploring and I want people to enjoy that, too, so it’s not just one thing that I do. It’s, “Here’s the ongoing journey and you’re part of it, too. ”

On Thursday, November 13, Joan Osborne and Lisa Loeb will perform in the Jemison Concert Hall at the Alys Stephens Center. Advance tickets to the 7 p.m. show can be purchased at www.alysstephens.org.

By Brent Thompson

Renowned string Band Kitchen Dwellers opened its current tour at Saturn on Wednesday, October 29. The quartet – Shawn Swain, Torrin Daniels. Joe Funk and Max Davies – is touring in support of its latest and most ambitious release, Dante’s Inferno. Over the course of two sets, the band held the audience in a frenzy. The Kitchen Dwellers tour is extensive with dates already booked into May 2026.

By Brent Thompson

Chin Chin, the ninth album by the self-described “folkestra” Ezra Bell, is a musical love letter to Ben Wuamett, the band’s lead singer and lyricist. Wuamett passed away in 2024 while working on the project that would ultimately become this release. But Chin Chin (ONErpm Records), has more in common with a New Orleans jazz funeral than a death march. Stylistically, the octet is as diverse as ever and its sound is still definably indefinable. Elements of jazz, blues, vaudeville, and rock are poured into a sound that comes through like a street-performing ensemble playing for its collective life. In addition to the buzz that the recent single “Let Me In” has garnered, the album includes the previous single “Tommy’s Lullaby,” released just weeks before Wuamett’s death. In the end, Chin Chin is a collection of songs that sounds reverent and relevant at the same time.

 

By Brent Thompson

It’s the highlight week of the year for music lovers. Every September, artists, industry folks and fans descend on Nashville for AmericanaFest, an event rife with performances, meetings and plenty of surprises. Any place with four walls and a floor can be turned into a venue and that’s a good thing. This year’s event took place from September 9-13 and we were there to soak it all in.