Red Colored Vinyl - Grammy-winner Mike Farris’ upcoming release, The Sound of Muscle Shoals, finds the Nashville artist releasing his first album jointly through legendary Alabama imprint Fame Records and Mississippi’s Malaco Records. For his follow-up to 2018’s Silver & Stone, Farris made the pilgrimage to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for an album overseen by award-winning executive producer Rodney Hall (son of legendary producer and record man Rick Hall). The album is the culmination of all of his musical influences and life lessons learned, captured in a location that holds deep meaning for him. “Working with Mike Farris on this album has been an incredible journey—his soul, grit, and passion embody everything that makes this music timeless,” says Hall. “Capturing that spirit in the place where it all began and releasing it on FAME Records is a full-circle moment for Muscle Shoals music. This album is not just a tribute to the sound; it’s a living, breathing testament to its future.” The Sound of Muscle Shoals, produced by Farris, will be released digitally, on CD and on limited-edition red vinyl. The first single “Heavey on the Humble” has premiered at PopMatters. “I think there are some great musical moments on it,” Farris tells PopMatters. “Muscle Shoals still has its roots grounded, and I feel like that’s where I needed to be to be making my kind of music these days. My surroundings have a great effect on me. It feels like some kind of magical and deep vortex.” Recorded in creative collaboration with members of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and other session stalwarts of ‘The Shoals’ recording scene — Clayton Ivey (keys), Will McFarlane, Kelvin Holly, Wes Sheffield (guitars), Jimbo Hart (bass), and Justin Holder (drums) — they captured lightning in a bottle, conjuring up the intrinsic magic of the “Muscle Shoals Sound” and wrapping it around Farris’s heartfelt and hardscrabble blue-eyed soul vocals and songwriting. The Sound of Muscle Shoals finds Farris at his best, intertwining the threads of gospel and rock ‘n’ roll, of faith and fire, the spiritual and earthly, bringing what Rolling Stone Country described as his “supersized voice filled with the electricity of Saturday night and the godly grace of Sunday mornings.”
