Ep. 255: Brittany Howard | How Alabama Shakes Went From a Garbage Truck to Playing with Prince

Today's guest is Brittany Howard — four-time Grammy winner, the voice of Alabama Shakes, and one of the most singular artists of her generation. But her real story isn't the accolades or the sold-out rooms. It's a single-wide trailer, a junkyard full of animals, and a garbage truck — and a woman who never once chased any of it.

From a Cotton Patch trailer park to Paisley Park, Brittany built a career by refusing to do it the way you're supposed to. She carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: an obsessive craftsman's ear (she'll stab an amp with a screwdriver to find a tone), an unbudging authenticity (she showed up to the deal that changed her life hungover, in her pajamas, in a mail truck), and a total indifference to the machine (0% involvement in her own charts, streams, and licensing).

This is one of the more honest conversations we've had about staying true to yourself in music.

And The Writer Is... Alabama Shakes!

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A special thank you to our sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers Association. Your support means the world to us.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

2:09 Is hunting for tone a fool's errand?

4:02 "Happy accidents" — taste vs. preference

6:22 Stabbing an amp with a screwdriver for the perfect tone

9:02 Born in a single-wide in Cotton Patch trailer park

10:53 "Are we rich now?" — a junkyard, 96 cats, 26 dogs

12:53 Picking up guitar out of necessity (she wanted to play bass)

17:00 Recording songs at 12 on Audacity, alone in the woods

18:45 The At the Drive-In shirt — meeting Zach

19:33 Mom: "I didn't know you could sing" / "Me either"

20:46 Her first song ever

28:59 The label meeting: hungover, in pajamas, in a mail truck

32:22 Writing "Hold On" in a garbage truck

33:27 Making up the whole song live on stage at The Brick

37:06 How a record deal did (and didn't) change how she lived

44:01 "Do I have any money?" — buying her first house

46:07 Meeting Shawn Everett & Blake Mills for Sound & Color

52:51 Talking to Prince on the phone — and his list of rules

54:17 Playing "Gimme All Your Love" with Prince — "did he change his mind?"

56:49 How Alabama Shakes came back together

59:15 Rapid fire + "Leave music to the people who love music"

Credits

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Edited by Jad Saad

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.