Alabama 3

They don’t make bands like Alabama 3 anymore. Emerging out of the haze of the late 1980s South London acid house squat scene, their pioneering combination of soulful, bluesy country rock with the irresistible pulse of techno gave them a sound all of their own. By the end of the century they’d found a global audience by giving The Sopranos its indelible theme tune Woke Up This Morning, and were taking their ecstatic 12-piece live show to venues all over the planet. Alabama 3’s story started, as many good stories do, at a rave in Peckham. It was there that Rob Spragg (aka Larry Love) met Jake Black (aka The Very Reverend D. Wayne Love), and the pair soon started making music together. “D. Wayne Love used to DJ and I would MC,” recalls Love. “We’d mix in Robert Johnson, Mahalia Jackson and blues stuff with techno.” At the height of Britpop, they were signed by Geffen for a million dollars and went on to release their seminal debut album ‘Exile on Coldharbour Lane’ in 1997. Over the last 20 years the band have toured extensively throughout the USA, Europe and Australia, as well as appearances at major festivals including the main stage at Glastonbury, T in the Park, TRNSMT, Bob Dylan at Croke Park, Beautiful Days, Bearded Theory, Electric Picnic, Oxygen, Secret Garden Party, Latitude, Isle of Wight, SXSW and Byron Blues Festival. In November 2023, Alabama 3 returned with their vital fourteenth studio album, a stirring soundtrack for our times titled ‘Cold War Classics Vol. 2’, which layers darkly comic social commentary over the sort of tunes designed to help you dance your worries away.