Larry feels the love ahead of Alabama 3's Highland return
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What is it that keeps the Alabama 3 coming up to the Highlands?
The London legends, whose eclectic melding of genres has been blowning away crowds for 20 years, have become stalwarts of the region, with multiple appearances at Rock Ness, Belladrum, the Ironworks, Loopallu and the Raigmore Motel – among others – under their belt.
If you ask vocalist Larry Love though, the answer is simple – “You love us up there!
He explained: “Scotland has always been understanding – we mix country and western, blues and techno music, and it takes an educated audience to sort of understand that. With the tradition of folk music up there, I think that adds to our appeal.
“But yeah, I think it’s an appreciative audience that can get totally pished on whisky!”
And the region’s been the source of the group’s best gigs – and best stories. “I think just for lunacy, Rock Ness was my favourite gig up here,” Larry said.
“We got accused by – you know Dappy from N-Dubz? One of his crew got on the bus and started getting off with our singer Aurora. He left his phone on our bus and he was expecting us to drive back – he’d tracked where the phone was. He said ‘I’m calling the police on you, it’s theft!’
“Then these police cars arrived – we were three hours away from the festival then, going back to London!”
As the genre-hopping group return to the Highlands this Saturday – police thankfully not in tow – to raise a bit of hell, they’ll also be marking the 20th anniversary of the release of first album Exile on Coldharbour Lane.
That album would catapult Alabama 3 to success, with single Woke Up This Morning finding global fame with its use as the theme song for the Sopranos – still regarded as one of the best television shows of all time.
It’s an achievement that’s caused a lot of reflection across the band – new tour “Exile to Blues is serving as a retrospective of their last twenty years – and it’s something that Larry is “really proud of”.
“Yeah – it’s an album that still stands up after twenty years,” he explained. “At the time, the NME gave us 1/10 for the album. They said we were a pile of s****, said it’s not working, it was too literary. Mixing Americana with techno at the height of Britpop – they didn’t really like us.”
But that mixture of musical styles has led to some interesting places, musically. The group operate a Brixton studio that gives young people from all genres the chance to record – an initiative that led to the group getting an award from Lambeth council.
It’s also led to some interesting encounters. “This grime crew turned up in our studio and we had our pedal steel guitar player there – y’know pedal steel guitars, you know what I’m on about? He didn’t – he took one look at it and went ‘Man, what the f*** is that?!’ Never seen one before!
“Y’know our pedal steel guitar player had never worked with a grime crew, but it was beautiful! They looked at each other like aliens!
“It’s just nice to bring people together, y’know, and record these musicians.”
And it’s that flexibility and that willingness to try new things, he feels, that has given Alabama 3 such longevity. “It’s quite weird – our template has always been country and western with acid beats. It’s quite a wide genre mixed together, which allows us to get away with quite a lot.
“Most bands are stuck with an indie genre or something, but with such a stupid collision of styles, we can get away with whatever – it’s stood us in good stead, really.”
Alabama 3 come to the Ironworks on Saturday, with support from Stetsonhead. Doors open at 7.30pm, and tickets cost £20. For more information go to www.ironworksvenue.com
