Alabama Gear Up for Southern Drawl Tour
"It's like a dream. We're really looking forward to this," says the band's Teddy Gentry of their upcoming tour and performance with the Nashville Symphony.
Alabama are set to launch their Southern Drawl Tour later this week in Nashville, Tenn. at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra backed by an 80-piece orchestra for three sold-out concerts. The tour runs through October with the Country Music Hall of Famers visiting over 35 cities, something they are very excited about.
Sounds Like Nashville recently spoke with Alabama’s Teddy Gentry about the tour kickoff, the band’s latest single with Alison Krauss and how the trio have continued to perfect their harmonies over the years.
“It’s quite an honor to get an opportunity to play with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra,” Gentry tells us over the phone. “It’s like a dream. We’re really looking forward to this.”
While Alabama has recorded with string players previously in the studio, Gentry says to get play with the musicians live in concert is exciting. While Alabama have yet to rehearse with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, he’s not too worried and promises it will be “an explosion of sound.”
“We know they won’t mess up on their parts so it’s truly us that’s got to make sure we get our parts right,” he laughs.
Alabama have been touring the country for decades and show no signs of slowing down. Gentry says the band puts all they have into each live show and they gain energy from being on the stage and often feed off their fans’ energy as well. While their fan base spans a variety of age groups, Gentry admits he’s surprised their music has made its way to younger fans.
“Some of these kids weren’t born when we were having hits. When the music is passed down it’s really special to see the kids getting into our music and showing up to the shows,” he adds. “It’s very unexpected yet very pleasing.”
Gentry further explains that he and his bandmates have worked hard over the years to make sure they cut timeless music. This wasn’t the only thing they’ve worked at though, as the singer and bassist says he and cousins Randy Owen and Jeff Cook continually practice to maintain their flawless harmonies.
While Gentry shrugs off the compliment of the band having perfect harmonies, he says it took a lot of practice to get to where they’re at today.
“We thought there was something special from the very first time we sat down and sang together. The time it took to get it better and better every year, we worked at it a lot,” he confesses. “We sang a lot together. When we got to Myrtle Beach, night after night, six nights a week, six hours a night playing and singing together. We had to learn how to entertain the crowd, sing our songs and then we had to incorporate original material into the show, it had to be strong enough to hold up on its own. It was a learning process. It took us years of working on it and we’re still working on it now.”
Last year, Alabama released Southern Drawl, their first album of new material in 14 years. Gentry says the band will play a few songs off the album in their set including new single “Come Find Me” which features Alison Krauss. As Gentry explains, the collaboration happened after he was asked to sing harmonies on Krauss’ forthcoming album. In appreciation, Krauss said for Gentry to let her know if she could ever repay the favor.
“Come Find Me” is a song about being on the road and away from someone you love and Gentry says he knew immediately that the approach to the song would be perfect for Krauss to sing on.
“She was gracious enough to come in and play a little fiddle and also sing on it,” Gentry says. “We’re all big fans of hers. It was a lot of fun to work with her. She’s a sweetheart.”
In addition to a new tour, Alabama were recently named the newest artists to be inducted into Nashville’s Walk of Fame. Last year, the band was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, something Gentry says is “very humbling” to be alongside some of his musical heroes.
“We’re very appreciative to the fans that put us there, that buy our records, came to shows. To sustain in a business over a long period of time, I think that’s a big tip of the hat to Randy and Jeff and he whole crew, the whole organization,” he concedes. “The longevity that we’ve had has been remarkable.”
Alabama will perform on May 12-14 at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
