Alabama Shakes

Alabama Shakes is a Grammy-winning American hipster blues rock band formed in Athens, Alabama in 2009. The band currently consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson. The group rose to prominence in the early 2010s with their distinctive and soulful roots rock sound.

The band began their career touring and performing at bars and clubs around the Southeast for two years while honing their sound and writing music. They recorded their debut album, Boys & Girls, themselves in Nashville while still unsigned. Online acclaim led ATO Records to sign the band, which released Boys & Girls in 2012 to acclaim. The album had a hit single, "Hold On," and was nominated for three Grammy Awards. After a long touring cycle, the band recorded their second record, Sound & Color, which was released in 2015 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

The band began recording their second album in late 2013. The group listened to anything and everything for influence, without regard for its public reception in the end They spent over a year in the studio, with no clear end-goal, as they had not written any new songs due to their exhaustive touring schedule.

The group's second studio album, Sound & Color, was released on April 21, 2015. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, making it the band's first number one album. The record's lead single, "Don't Wanna Fight", was a number two hit on the Adult Alternative Songs chart. The album eventually earned four Grammy Awards, including Best Alternative Music Album.

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