Everyone needs to see the Alabama Shakes live. I’m serious. They are that good.

Miek and I saw them at The Paradise in Boston this past weekend. The crowd was wild for Brittany Howard and her incredible band. A band truly worthy of all the hype.

Brittany was a combination of Aretha’s sass with James Brown’s funkiness. Like a Stax record that meant business with intrinsic humility, soul, power and skill. That’s what happens when you form a band with the quiet kid who wears band t-shirts to class. That’s what happens when you write songs with your high school friends on someone’s basement floor.

We met the bass player as we were sitting in the lounge. We told him that we had discovered the Alabama Shakes by Shazamming a song playing before a Drive-By Truckers show. He said “That’s really cool!” and meant it and shook our hands. You just don’t get that anymore.