Photo by Alyx Chandler.
Alabama Rose
Brittany Ayres is the voice behind Alabama Rose, a band that will be releasing their first EP album in Southside on March 10.
“If Wanda Jackson and Elvis had a baby and that baby was babysat for an extended period of time by Jefferson Airplane and The B-52’s, [Alabama Rose] would be that baby,” Brittany Ayres, who also goes by her previous stage name and current band name, Alabama Rose, said.
On Friday, March 10, Alabama Rose will be celebrating the release of their first EP album, “Good Times for Bad Girls,” at the Nick.
After traveling, touring solo and then working independently on her music in the Tennessee Valley, Rose has made her way back to Southside, working at Mason Music with some of her bandmates. She previously went to UAB and lived in Birmingham for a total of about 10 years.
“Five years ago, the music scene wasn’t there, but this was the place I settled in when I really wanted it to happen,” Rose said. “Now, Birmingham has all the right things.”
In September 2015, she officially partnered with Collin Zuckerman, Adam Blevins and Jacob Robertson, along with the help of her producer from Nashville, to form the permanent rock ’n’ roll band Alabama Rose. She said the band definitely has a soulful, bluesy sound.
“At the end of the day, I’m a blues musician. I tried to fight it, but I’ve finally found the real sound of my voice through it,” Rose said.
Alabama Rose performed their first show at Kellypalooza, a music festival in Ohatchee, Alabama, where they received three encores. Since then, they’ve played at selective Birmingham locations, including Saturn, the Nick and other venues.
Recently, they just finished recording their six-song EP album completely live on vintage equipment. Rose is the creative liaison behind their first music video, which is to be recorded soon.
She got the band name from a bar, Alabama Rose, in the small town where she grew up in, West Jefferson. She said it used to be a booming coal mining town, but it doesn’t even have a red light anymore. The bar — which she was told that she wasn’t allowed to go to — was down the street she grew up on. She used to sneak off anyway to play pool and listen to new music. She heard Creedence Clearwater there for the first time on a jukebox.
“It was the little rebel shack that never would quit, and I was the little rebel,” she said.
When it burned down several years ago, she paid homage to it with her stage and band name, a name that is now known around the do-it-yourself bars and downtown Birmingham.
“Us kids, we used to be the little punks at cave 9,” Rose said. “We grew up, but we didn’t stop loving what we loved.”
They are currently “shopping the EP out” on some record labels, but nothing has been decided yet.
Alabama Rose is the third band up on March 10 and will play around midnight, followed by Bohannons, the main act. There will be a small-scale release of physical copies of “Good Times for Bad Girls.” Digital copies are available on Bandcamp.com, with preorder available.
