If you think Alabama Shakes is the name of a super cool place to get a milkshake – like my 5-year-old thought – you are mistaken; even if it would be a cool name for a restaurant. Alabama Shakes is only one of the hottest American blues rock bands in the country, with a Grammy to prove it. The band features four members, a classically amazing sound, and some serious talent. I bet you’ll never guess they formed their band in Alabama, but don’t worry; it’s our job to bring you the big news like that. Alabama Shakes has a distinctive sound, some amazing talent in every aspect of the band, and they are embarking on tour. We thought that you might want to get to know them a little better before you pick up your tickets.

One band member is an amazing teacher

Brittany Howard is not only an amazing singer, she’s an amazing teacher. If I told you that she did not take any lessons growing up learning to play either the guitar or the piano, would you believe me? She is 100% self-taught, and she is proud of that. She was just a young girl who wanted to try something new, learn something and make herself proud, so she taught herself. And that was long before the days of Google and YouTube, so we are actually just convinced she’s a genius and not mentioning it in her interviews.

Their fans are most important

When you are a musician and you are making a life for yourself on the road, you have a lot of priorities, and you have a lot of things you love. Some musicians love the fans, the perks, the extras that come with being a star. Others, such as this group, prefer their fans. They want their fans pumped up, they want them excited; they want them to be the best of the best and they want to prove themselves to their fans every single time they perform. Their fans are most important, and they want to give the best of themselves to each one.

The band consists of high school sweethearts

Well, we don’t know about your traditional high school sweethearts, but all four members met while they were in high school, at least one of them statistically has to be a sweetheart and we don’t know what they did in their free time back in the day. I mean, not to start any rumors or anything, but we’re just trying to point out that this is a group of people who went to high school together and have been friends since they were young and impressionable teens. That’s big.

They are true Southerners

Listen, there is nothing in the world better than a true southerner. You’ve got southern grace, charm and hospitality. These are gentlemen that stand when a lady enters or excuses herself, they open doors, they say ma’am and sir, they respect their mothers and grandmothers, and they know how to have a good time. Every single one of the members of Alabama Shakes is a true southern gentile, and each one is proud of it.

Brittany Howard likes to blow things up

I mean, we probably wouldn’t recommend that she make this well-known in places such as airports and whatnot, but she always loved to experiment with chemicals growing up. She liked to experiment, she was good at chemistry, and her family kind of hated that she liked to do this in, of all places, the treehouse her family built. You know, hindsight is 20/20.

They aren’t afraid of change

This is one band that is not afraid of change. So many people are terrified to become famous for one thing and then change it up for another. However, Alabama Shakes wants to stay true to who they are and perform what they want to perform. It’s why they have change up their sound on their latest album. Some fans knew it was coming, some were shocked. You might love it; you might hate it. Either way, though, you cannot ignore the sheer talent these four have together.

They have no problem with genre confusion

To be clear, other people have a huge problem with genre confusion. They aren’t sure where to put Alabama Shakes on the list of places and people who sing, but the band loves it. They think that it adds to their mystique, it adds to their charm and it makes people remember who they are and what they do better than anyone else.

Their music is lyrically famous

We love a good soundtrack, and perhaps that is why we think it’s so amazingly awesome to be featured on one. Alabama Shakes isn’t on just one, however; they lend their music to a number of the most famous movie soundtracks in the world, including “12 Years A Slave,” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” and even television shows such as “True Blood.”

They prefer small town life

While many of us love a big city, Brittany Howard says she loves her small town life more than anything. Why? Because she loves the fact that there is time to get bored at home. Boredom, to her, means she is about to become very creative. When you are constantly going, doing and seeing, you might not have time to sit, create, feel and think. We appreciate that about her. While we love a big city and a small town, we have to say that we have killer respect for anyone with any sort of creative juices – and we don’t care where they find them.

Brittany loves to receive mail

The most exciting thing in the world is to open the mailbox and find a piece of bona fide snail mail, and we all know it. I love it more than anything when my 98-year-old grandmother sends me photos and letters, and when she sends my kids each their own letter, which she does weekly. They love it, I love it; it’s the best. Brittany Howard likes the same thing, and we adore her.

Photo by Getty Images

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