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Paul Thorn
The son of a preacher man, Mississippi-raised Thorn spent much of his childhood in church, participating in multiple weekly services with his father as well as at neighboring African American congregations, where he became entranced with the music whose infectious spirit is captured on the new album.
Don’t Let the Devil Ride collects soulful songs originally cut by black southern gospel groups and features guests the Blind Boys of Alabama, The McCrary Sisters, the Preservation Hall Jazz Horns, and Bonnie Bishop.
The album was recorded at three temples of sound: the Sam C. Phillips Recording studio, whose namesake gave another son of Tupelo his start; at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, where Thorn worked as a songwriter for legendary producer Rick Hall early in his career; and at Preservation Hall, where horn players from the celebrated jazz venue lent songs a New Orleans vibe. The new release marks Thorn’s first time recording gospel music after a dozen albums in roots-rock mode, though his upbringing has previously been reflected in his creation of a body of strikingly original songs. In his own songwriting, Thorn often addresses the foibles of human relationships, although he doesn’t favor the sacred over the profane.
As an accomplished painter, former professional boxer, and seasoned skydiver, Thorn has never shied away from new challenges, but cutting a gospel record was just like going home.
Thorn soon met his longtime songwriting partner Billy Maddox, who had strong ties to the musical hub of Muscle Shoals. The duo began writing under contract for Rick Hall, owner of the legendary Fame Recording Studios, where Thorn cut demos of their songs.
As a performer, Thorn was playing solo gigs in Tupelo for $50 a night and further supplemented his factory income with boxing. He learned to box from his paternal uncle Merle, a one-time pimp celebrated in “Pimps and Preachers,” Thorn’s autobiographical song about his two mentors.
The songs on Don’t Let the Devil Ride, co-produced by Billy Maddox and Colin Linden, likewise fall into that same comfort zone. The other songs stretch back much farther, but their themes – of redemption, taking stock of one’s life, and resilience in the face of troubles – are universal, making them readily adaptable to the fresh takes here. Nashville’s McCrary Sisters, for instance, lend a buoyant feel to “You Got to Move,” a northeast Mississippi standard, best known through a solemn slide guitar take by Mississippi Fred McDowell.
The sisters’ father was a founder of the Fairfield Four, a capella gospel singers whose live radio broadcasts on CBS in the ’40s and ’50s were extremely influential. Fellow guest artists the Blind Boys of Alabama, founded in 1944, were founders of the “hard gospel” quartet style that dominated the era from which many of the songs on this record where drawn. Also joining Thorn on vocals is Texas-born Bonnie Bishop, who attributes her soulful singing style to spending her formative years in Mississippi.
Both Maddox and Thorn were longtime friends with Hall and the Phillips family, and Maddox says that recording in Memphis and Muscle Shoals was a natural extension of the whole process and the only proper way to honor this particular body of work.
Happy Holidays from FAME Studios
At FAME Studios, we continue to share our passion for the unique and iconic Muscle Shoals sound. We couldn’t have predicted the enthusiasm our revitalized efforts would generate, but our ongoing celebration of the enduring musical legacy that springs from Muscle Shoals, Ala., is winning new fans, far and wide, day after day.
We’re working to bring you the full Muscle Shoals experience with our recently released album, revamped website, new merchandise, and tours of the iconic FAME Studios, as we promote the heritage of this small-town, one-of-a-kind sound.
And you have the opportunity to make yourself a part of the magic. Come take a tour of our legendary studio and soak in the soul of Muscle Shoals.
P.S. Save the date! In 2019, we’ll be celebrating FAME’s 60th anniversary with a very special show this summer. Stay tuned — there’s more to come!
ON SALE NOW
Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound Bundle
For fans — new and old — of the Muscle Shoals sound, enthusiasts of the Americana genre, music history buffs, and those who simply want to wear or share their love for all things FAME, new merchandise including hats, T-shirts, mugs, guitar picks and more, is available on famestudios.com/store/
Curated by Rodney Hall and producer Keith Stegall, the 16-track tribute album spotlights the one-of-a-kind Muscle Shoals sound — a distinctive blend of gritty, edgy, classic southern rock and soul mixed with the soulful energy and authenticity the FAME Studio inspired in artists who recorded there.
And now, for a limited time, in celebration of the reboot of the FAME website, our recently released Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound tribute album and FAME’s revitalized website, and with heartfelt gratitude for our legion of fans who have joined us in promoting and memorializing the unique and enduring musical legacy of small-town Muscle Shoals, Ala., we are offering the Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound Bundle. Pay homage to the indisputable heartbeat of the iconic Muscle Shoals sound with this collection of items bearing artwork from the album cover. Your bundle includes a T-shirt, postcard, CD, coffee mug, koozie and fridge magnet. Visit our store to order today.
Gratitude for our team and community of supporters
FAME is a family, both literally and figuratively. This season is a time to reflect on all that we have accomplished together and a chance to say Thank You to our team, the partners we collaborate with, the industry, the field of the recording arts and, of course, the listeners we serve. We carry the vision for honoring the past and looking ahead to the future of the Muscle Shoals Sound and carrying that vision of progress and creativity into the new year.
Your friends at FAME
Jason Isbell re-releases his FAME recorded debut album “Sirens of the Ditch”
New West Records is set to release Jason Isbell’s Sirens Of The Ditch (Deluxe Edition) on July 13. Originally released in 2007, the album was co-produced by Isbell and his former Drive-By Truckers bandmate, Patterson Hood.
Sirens Of The Ditch was recorded at FAME Recording Studio in Isbell’s hometown of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Isbell is joined by Brad Morgan of the Drive-By Truckers on drums, and former Drive-By Truckers member, Shonna Tucker on bass. Several musicians pop in for cameos including the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section players David Hood (Patterson’s father) and Spooner Oldham on “Down In A Hole,” John Neff of Drive-By Truckers on “Dress Blues,” and Patterson Hood on “Shotgun Wedding.” Sirens Of The Ditch (Deluxe Edition) features four previously unreleased songs from the original sessions at FAME, recorded by Jimmy Nutt and Rodney Hall.
Sirens Of The Ditch (Deluxe Edition) will be available across digital platforms, on compact disc, as well as 180g vinyl. There will also be a limited, clear vinyl LP version available at independent retailers as well as a limited, split brown & cream colored version exclusive to Vinyl Me Please.
Sirens Of The Ditch (Deluxe Reissue) Track Listing:
1. Brand New Kind Of Actress
2. Down In A Hole
3. Try
4. Chicago Promenade
5. Dress Blues
6. Grown
7. Hurricanes and Hand Grenades
8. In A Razor Town
9. Shotgun Wedding
10. The Magician
11. The Devil Is My Running Mate
12. Whisper (Previously Unreleased)
13. Crystal Clear (Previously Unreleased)
14. The Assassin (Previously Unreleased)
15. Racetrack Romeo (Previously Unreleased)
Gregg Allman’s Swan Song recorded at FAME Recording Studios
Find out more about Gregg Allman’s decision to record at FAME Recording Studios in this excerpt taken from Gregg’s website. To read the full article and listen to the album, click here.
“ A further key to Allman’s vision for Southern Blood was his decision to record at the world-renowned FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. Alongside its own fabled history, the legendary studio occupied a momentous place in Allman’s personal back pages.
“A constant discussion during all of my nearly 15 years working with Gregg was his desire to return to Muscle Shoals,” Lehman says. “He always would talk about how he needed to get back to FAME Studios to bring him full circle.”
“Muscle Shoals is hallowed musical ground,” says Was. “FAME was the place where Gregg’s brother Duane first started making waves in the music world and where the earliest seeds of The Allman Brothers Band were sown in a back room during their first, seminal rehearsals. Duane’s presence is still ubiquitous in that building. Recording there was Gregg’s way of making his spirit a part of this album, in the same way that his spirit continued to be part of Gregg’s life.”
Hear producer Don Was talk about recording with Gregg at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL in this sneak peak of the documentary, “Back To The Swamp: The Recording of Southern Blood”.”
Part of legendary Blind Boys of Alabama’s “Almost Home” album recorded at FAME Recording Studios
In the seven decades since the Blind Boys of Alabama first began singing together, America has witnessed a World War, the civil rights movement, and the Summer of Love; the moon landing, Vietnam, and the fall of the Berlin Wall; JFK, MLK, and Malcolm X; the invention of the jukebox, the atomic bomb, and the internet. Through it all, the Blind Boys’ music has not only endured, but thrived, helping both to define the sound of the American south and to push it forward through the 20th century and well on into the 21st. Praised by NPR as “pioneers,” the group has transcended barriers of race and genre to become one of the most acclaimed and celebrated groups in modern music. From the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind, where the original members met as children, all the way to The White House – where they’ve performed for three different presidents – the band’s story is, in many ways, America’s story, and that story is at the heart of their emotional new album, ‘Almost Home.’
Recorded over four different sessions helmed by four different GRAMMY-winning producers in four different cities, ‘Almost Home’ recounts the band’s remarkable journey, primarily through original songs written for them by an outstanding collection of artists including Valerie June, the North Mississippi Allstars, Phil Cook, John Leventhal, Marc Cohn, and Ruthie Foster among others. The record blends the sacred and secular, the traditional and innovative, the past and present.
‘Almost Home’ grew out of the recognition that the band’s original lineup is down to just two remaining survivors: long-time group leader Clarence Fountain and current leader Jimmy Carter. Both men were born in Alabama during the Great Depression, and while Carter is still active and regularly touring with the group, Fountain’s health precludes him from traveling much these days, though he does appear on the album.
The album opens with the captivating “Stay On The Gospel Side,” which sets the stage perfectly as it traces Fountain’s roots all the way back to childhood and recounts the band’s insistence on remaining true to their origins. Written by John Leventhal and Marc Cohn (with an additional credit to Fountain, since the title came from his exact words), the track is one of a trio of songs produced by Leventhal (Rosanne Cash, William Bell) and recorded in New York City, and it showcases the stunning range of joy and pain contained in the group’s beautifully weathered voices. On “Pray For Peace,” which is the Blind Boys’ version of a song submitted by the North Mississippi Allstars and recorded in Nashville with producer Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White), the group offer up a foot-stomping, electrifying gospel blues for our troubled times. Meanwhile, the Cris Jacobs’-penned “I Kept On Walking,” recorded at FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals with Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin (Faith No More, Buckwheat Zydeco) producing, is a rave-up about persistence and resilience in the face of struggle and doubt, and the folky “Train Fare,” written by Valerie June and recorded in Seattle with long-time Blind Boys producer Chris Goldsmith (Charlie Musselwhite, Ben Harper), looks back on all the good works of the band’s career as their ticket to the afterlife.
Given the age of the surviving original members, it’s not hard to hear the subtext of the album. In lines like “my work is done and I’m finally going home to see my maker,” the band acknowledges that they’re closer to the end than the beginning. But rather than resting on their laurels, they’re adding a new chapter to their legacy, creating some of the finest work of their career as they solidify their place not just in musical history, but in the very fabric of American culture. The original members of the Blind Boys of Alabama may be ‘Almost Home,’ but it’s clear they intend to keep on singing, spreading peace, joy, and love until the very last note.
James LeBlanc
Singer-songwriter James LeBlanc was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. James picked up the guitar at age seven, inspired by his father James Sr. By the time James was 18, he knew he wanted to make a life and living in the music business. After many years of struggles, trials and tribulations, James finally got an opportunity when he was “discovered” by Rick and Rodney Hall. They were and still are the proprietors of FAME Studios/Publishing Co. in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. James signed a production agreement and a publishing contract with FAME. Soon thereafter, he began getting songs recorded by the likes of Martina McBride, Bryan White, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Thompson Square and more. James co-wrote the hit song “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” for Travis Tritt. He also co-wrote the hits “Relentless” for Jason Aldean and “Learning How to Bend” for and with Gary Allan. James’ songs have been on records which have sold over 25 million copies. “I’m ready for what comes next! I’m so excited to be a part of the FAME/Dreamlined Entertainment team!” James is working on his forth album which should be out this spring.
Gary Nichols
For the past half-century, Muscle Shoals, Alabama has produced some of the finest musicians of our day. From W.C. Handy to Percy Sledge and the immortal Muscle Shoals Rhythm Sections otherwise known as “The Swampers”, Muscle Shoals has always been a hotbed of talent.
Gary Nichols is the next in line of the great Muscle Shoals songwriting performers. Even though he is only 30 years old Gary has been playing professionally for nearly 20 years. The hotshot instrumentalist, singing wonder and songwriting champ fits the classic definition of a “guitar slinger,” but he’s no novice.
This is a role he was born to play. Gary has been playing guitar and singing since the age of 6. As a teenager, Gary played with his uncle Larry Condrey, who subbed on gigs for the legendary Muscle Shoals guitar great Travis Wammack.
Angela Hacker
I am a proud mother of the most awesome son. I have amazing family and friends in my life and I am so blessed to have them.
Music is my passion. It has always been a huge part of my life. Being surrounded by my family who were all singers and musicians, my brother, sisters and I were born with the love for music. I wrote my first song at the age of 10. At the age of 13 I won my first school talent show and I was hooked.
I am so lucky to be able to do what I love. I have signed with Rick Hall at Fame Recording and Publishing Company in Muscle Shoals, Alabama as a writer. I have been fortunate to have written with some great writers such as, Billy Lawson, James Leblanc, Walt Aldridge, Gary Nichols, James Slater, Kris Bergsnes and the late Ava Aldridge.
My style of Country, R&B and Rock and Roll has strongly been influenced by the Muscle Shoals Sound.
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
When Jason Isbell was a teenager in the Muscle Shoals area, many musicians took him under their wing. He got to know session bassist David Hood, the father of Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood, because Hood was in the Florence, Alabama area and played around town on Friday and Saturday nights in local restaurants and bars. By this time, Patterson Hood and his future Drive-By Truckers co-founder, Mike Cooley, were older and had moved out of town. Isbell would go watch David Hood and others perform. It took a while, but once he finally got up the nerve to tell them he played, they’d have him sit in with them, which resulted in friendship and mentorship.
Around 2000, Jason submitted demos and eventually got a publishing deal with FAME Publishing of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, when he was 21 years old. He worked for FAME 15 years, up through the “Southeastern” album. Jason has recorded many of his albums at FAME as well. Including the Drive By Truckers “Dirty South”, his solo debut “Sirens of the Ditch”, “Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit” and “Here We Rest”. Jason has also produced a couple tracks at FAME, “Christmas in Dixie” on the Blind Boys of Alabama as well as a duet with John Paul White on “Old Flame”. Both of which were included on a tribute to the country supergroup Alabama.
Isbell has stated on the importance of his northern Alabama roots: “I definitely don’t feel like I would be the musician that I am, or the type of songwriter, had I not come from that particular place,” he says now. “The soul music that came out of there, and a lot of the soul-influenced rock and roll and country music that came out of the studios in north Alabama in the ’60s and ’70s had a big influence on me.” Isbell said that working at FAME Studios was everything to him, that it was a gateway towards the music that he wanted to play.
Here’s the story of the band name, because it’s a good story and deserves telling, and the telling says what needs finishing here. Jason begins, “There is a mental treatment facility here in Florence, AL called The 400 Unit. About once a week they would drive downtown and take, I guess, the six or eight healthiest people in the facility and let ’em go downtown. Give ’em all like $15 apiece to go get some lunch. You’d immediately recognize who it was and why they were there; they all had nametags on, saying kinda strange stuff to everybody. And trying to get a sandwich at the same time.
“When I started thinking about a band, and how we get to a new town and everybody gets $15 and gets out of the van, goes out and tries to get a sandwich, it kinda reminded me of that.”