Birmingham Music Scene Thriving: What Has Made The Difference

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The state of Alabama has a long and prestigious music history. W.C. Handy, the Temptations, the Commodores, Cleve Eaton and Hank Williams have all called Alabama home and are just a few of the artists from the state to achieve national and international fame. But the emergence of the Birmingham music scene in particular has turned heads on a national scale in the last decade.

National publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Atlantic have each showcased Birmingham's music scene over the last several years as a vibrant — but perhaps untapped — well of talent set to make a splash on the national and international stage.

Musical talent is not a new product from the Magic City. Bands like Verbena, Brother Cane and Telluride had major-label recording contracts and hailed from Birmingham, but the challenges those artists faced in the 80s and 90s are not nearly as prevalent today.

What Has Changed

Despite being home to four universities, Birmingham has never had a college radio station. College radio helped launch the acclaimed music scenes in cities like Athens, Austin and Seattle, and is particularly vital to local musicians seeking exposure.

In 2010, that changed to an extent, when Birmingham Mountain Radio launched as an internet radio station. The station features an AAA format and also includes a steady rotation of local music, including a two-hour weekly show dedicated to local music. When the station started airing on the FM dial at 107.3 in 2013, the exposure for local artists increased exponentially.

"Radio stations that meaningfully highlight local musicians can create momentum behind them. The exposure creates awareness in the community and ultimately can help these musicians establish a much larger fan base," Jeff Clanton, the Birmingham Mountain Radio station manager and co-owner, told Patch . "This then allows them to play bigger, more profitable shows, sell more records and merchandise and ultimately have the cache to grow regionally and hopefully, nationally."

Clanton added, "Radio can create buzz and buzz is one important component to local musicians seeing success on a larger level. On the flip side, local music is so important to a community minded radio station like BMR because it keeps us connected to the community we serve. And, when we can help local musicians grow and prosper, that gives us credibility not just on a local level but nationally as well."

Birmingham Mountain Radio's local music festival, the Southbound Festival, which ran from 2012 to 2016, proved to be a "coming out party" for national and international recording artists St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones have toured extensively over the last eight years, even opening for the Rolling Stones. They have also been featured on the Late Show with David Letterman, CBS: This Morning and NPR's Morning Edition.

One obstacle that Birmingham musicians often faced in the 80s and 90s was a lack of venues that featured a regular rotation of local original music. Although The Nick in Birmingham's Southside has been a staple in the city for several decades, for a while, it was the only venue that hosted original local music on a regular basis.

That changed in the mid 2000s when more venues became open to hosting live original music, and booking local bands.

Exposure to the masses would seem easier these days with social media and websites such as Soundcloud and Bandcamp. But one factor that has helped the Birmingham music scene in regard to exposure is that independent record labels have sprouted in the city over the last decade. Labels such as Communicating Vessels and Cornelius Chapel have been a strong promoter of local music by distributing and marketing the music beyond the immediate market.

"The labels in town give artists a place to go to have their music released the right way," Wes McDonald, who runs Cornelius Chapel Records, told Patch. "We take care of the distribution, manufacturing, PR, advertising, and a mountain of clerical not-so-fun stuff that has to be done in order to release music in an effective way. Most artists don't know how to do this stuff. I didn't know until I got involved in Cornelius Chapel. And I'm still learning myself."

The need for a label, especially one that is local and independent, is evident even more today than it was years ago, McDonald said.

"You don't just upload the music to the internet and you're done. There are literally a hundred things to do for each album release. It's a four or five month commitment for each release. Obviously, we can't release everything that is submitted to us. I hate telling people no, especially when I know and like them personally. I've had to do this several times for different reasons and it sucks to tell someone they can't be in your little club. We just can't release all the albums that we'd like to release because there is only so much time and VERY little money to go around. We have to do the best we can with what we've got. But, someone has to do it in order for at least some of the music that deserves to be heard to be heard."

Recording Music

There was a time when a musician had to likely get out of Birmingham in order to record an album, or to get signed with a record label. With the addition of local labels has also come the influx of local options when it comes to recording studios.

Lester Nuby, a local musician-turned-producer whose Ol' Elegante Studios produces hundreds of records a year, said recording a record is easier than ever now, which has helped grow the local music scene as well.

Nuby would know, as his band Verbena was signed to Capital Records in the late 90s. The band ended up leaving Birmingham and moving to Los Angeles to be closer to the record label offices and the studios in which they were recording. It was a different time then, and Birmingham had less to offer in the way of music business resources.

"The difference is night and day," Nuby said. "Two decades ago, we were at the very beginning of having the technology to record successfully in a less expensive environment. Not to say that cool records were not being produced 20 years ago, but the playing field has been leveled. These days, anyone that buys a computer can make an album."

Nuby added, "But it’s just like it used to be – if 100 people have a piano, they don’t write the same song. And some of the people can’t play piano at all! And just because you have a computer doesn’t mean that you should make a record."

The Future

The music scene in Birmingham is still growing, as artists like Matthew Mayfield, Will Stewart, Lee Bains & The Glory Fires and St. Paul and the Broken Bones continue to tour nationally and overseas.

But local music also needs to maintain a following, which in Birmingham is hard when there is more to compete with.

"In my opinion, the general population of Birmingham has no idea how rich the local musical landscape is," McDonald said. "They're fine with whatever their DSP playlists serves up to them. We have some of the best music in the world coming out of this town and hardly anyone notices, for the most part. But, by God if Alabama doesn't win a national championship this year, the world might come to an end. There are other things that deserve attention around here. This is our music, our art, our culture. Embrace it. Support it. Appreciate it. Be a part of it. Hell, it's practically free."