Brittany Howard
Brittany Howard
Brittany Howard is an American musician, best known as lead vocalist and guitarist of American rock bands Alabama Shakes and Thunderbitch...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth2 October 1988
CountryUnited States of America
cool felt finding music trouble
I always felt out of place. I wasn't a cool kid, but I wasn't a nerd, either. I had trouble finding my place. But when I found the music, I had a place of my own.
bored chill compared handful home netflix watch
I was a handful as a kid. I get bored easily. Now I'm pretty chill compared to back then. When I'm on the road, I watch Netflix and, at home, relax or fish.
bought broken certain internet kept learning mine music saw sixth strings teacher tune
We had a music teacher in sixth grade, and I saw her tune her guitar. I said, 'Whoa. There's a certain way to do this.' I bought a packet of strings - some of mine were broken - and had her tune it for me. For a while, I just kept it like that. But I got the Internet finally, when I was 14, and started learning.
comparison female hear people roll singer sound
People hear a powerful female singer in a rock and roll band, and they say, 'Janis Joplin.' I think people just make that comparison because it's easy. But I don't think I sound like her at all.
mess next preserve singer time weaker
When I first started, I was much weaker of a singer because I wasn't used to singing so much. Now I've learned, when I'm singing on stage, not to go over. You can go over and mess yourself up. I used to do it all the time, wouldn't know how to preserve it for the next show.
hard minutes people sleepy
We're from Athens, Alabama. That's my town. People think it's Muscle Shoals, but they have no idea. It's a quiet, sleepy little town, about 45 minutes from Muscle Shoals. It's really hard to be a band in Athens; there are no venues.
awkward bit etiquette needs
Where I'm from, we don't do the kiss-on-the-cheek thing. Sometimes we can feel a bit awkward in England. Someone needs to let me know what the rules are because I don't want to be rude. I need a little more etiquette coaching.
maybe setting terrible
I have a terrible lifestyle. And I don't really see it changing. Maybe in 10 years I'll see it differently - I'll want to see my great-grandchildren and live forever. But right now, young Brittany is not setting things up for old Brittany. And young Brittany does not care.
banging favorite piece standing tom waits
One of my favorite things about Tom Waits is not only his songs, but when he does do live shows, it's the theatrics involved. It's like Kabuki theater, really old-fashioned theatrics. Like, standing on top of a piece of plywood lying on some cinderblocks and clapping his hands, banging on a bucket.
good people telling work
My dream was to not work for anyone. There's only so many things I was good at - and how am I not going to work for anyone? I just don't want people telling me what to do.
drum guess hear hours playing realizing room sit trying
There's not a whole lot to do in Athens. When I was 13, I just started entertaining myself by writing songs. I'd sit in my room for 10 hours playing the same song, stacking vocals, trying out different drum beats, realizing no one would ever hear this but having so much fun. I guess I got my voice from just doing that so often.
audience everybody fact gets monkey motions pay somebody stage wants
You play with the audience, and they play back with you. They get into it, and then everybody gets into it. I don't want to be like a monkey on stage and just go through the motions because then it wouldn't be fun anymore. I just pay attention to the audience and appreciate the fact that somebody wants to see us. That gets me psyched.
children real party
When I was a child I accidentally made a chemical bomb. I also ate my grandfather's heart pills. I got my stomach pumped for that one. I got over that so by the time I hit my teens I was kind of mild. Now I'm like an old lady who occasionally parties real hard.
talking songwriting talking-to-yourself
Songwriting is like talking to yourself when there is no one to talk to,