MUSIC Sweet home Alabama

Ciara Moynihan

The much-anticipated 40th Westport Arts Festival is just around the corner, bringing its usual heady mix of comedy, drama, visual art, music and the etherial and unexpected. High on this year’s list of must-see offerings for music lovers is Alabama 3 Acoustic and Unplugged, who will perform in Hotel Westport on Saturday night, October 3.

This stripped-down ‘Acoustic and Unplugged’ format sees four of the renowned Brixton, London-based country acid-house band – Larry Love (vocals), Aurora Dawn (vocals), Rock Freebase (guitar) and Harpo Strangelove (harmonica) – bring a new dimension to the songs made famous by Alabama 3. Don’t expect acid house: Think country/gospel/delta blues, but played with a raucous rhythm designed to get people dancing. Aurora Dawn adds a dash of soul – or, as it says on the cover of the band’s latest album ‘Revolver Soul’, this is ‘soul music with a gun against your head’.

The technologically pared-back versions of the songs allows the band to pay tribute to the musicians who have inspired them, especially the old Delta blues players. Guitarist Rock Freebase (real name Mark Sams) explains that their sound echoes the greats, with a rhythmic nod to the present day: “I’ve developed a style of guitar, that combines elements of both (Fred) MacDowell and (Bukka) White, with a hint of banjo picking, and tried to give it a more modern, urban twist.”

Fans of The Sopranos will be familiar with the Alabama 3 sound – their song ‘Woke Up This Morning’ was the hit show’s theme track. Another of their songs, ‘Too Sick to Pray’ featured in the action film ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’, starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie.

While the full band has already graced the main stage at Glastonbury Festival, the unplugged line-up due to play in Hotel Westport headlined the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival and brought the house down, with one reviewer declaring, “Gentle folk types were converted to the Alabama 3 unplugged with the same enthusiasm which the Glastonbury crowds have taken to the full band … it is no wonder they have been hailed as the best live band in the UK.”

Back in February 2011, the band released the acoustic album, ‘There will be peace in the valley...when we get the keys to the mansion on the hill’. Much acclaimed, it has been described as ‘back porch music for frontline people’, and no doubt the Westport gig will see that back porch lit again.

Should you need more convincing, the band issues an invite to would-be revellers, in its own inimitable style: “We want to make you feel good. We know you’ve had trouble in your life, real bad trouble. We know you’ve got debts. We know you’ve had your heart broken so many times you’re still finding pieces of it in your pillow. Maybe you’ve done some good things in your life, maybe you’ve done some bad things. We forgive you. Forgive yourself. Then dress up real sexy and come and party with us … We’ll look after you.” No doubt they will.

Local support

Alabama 3 Acoustic and Unplugged will be supported on October 3 by Fresh Evidence, a young, up-and-coming R&B band from Westport. Their influences range from blues musicians like Howlin’ Wolf to no-nonsense rockers like AC/DC. The band is made up of Paddy Warde on guitar and vocals, Luke McKeown on bass and vocals and Thomas Cannon on drums.

The Westport Arts Festival runs from Wednesday, September 30, to Sunday, October 4. For more on the festival’s full line-up of music, visual arts, family-friendly activities, poetry readings, street theatre, puppet shows, cinema and more, visit westportartsfestival.com.

Doors open in Hotel Westport on Saturday, October 3, at 9pm. Tickets, €22 each, are available from Westport Town Hall Theatre (www.westporttheatre.com). For more on Alabama 3, visit www.alabama3.co.uk, and for more on Fresh Evidence, visit their Facebook page.