What Now with Brittany Howard

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we are devastated, heartbroken, terrified, and furious. We have very few words of hope or help today. We just want you to be kind to each other and take care of your little corner of the world the best you can. I'm going to mourn today and tomorrow and however many days I need until

Brittany and I chatted about.

Her growing up in a junk yard, haunted houses, treating her voice like an instrument for her storytelling, becoming a unicorn, and what animals we're going to have on our later in life farms. Those farms might become in sooner than I planned. Brittany was truly a delight. I hope you enjoy it. It's coming up right after the break. This woman is a Powerhouse was born in Athens, Alabama. Singer, songwriter, producer,

Do you want to hear about the haunted house?

Yeah?

Okay.

I lived in this haunted house for seven years, y'all, and people always ask me why didn't you leave?

And I says, because I ain't got no money.

You know, the ghost was doing things like slamming cabinet doors, flinging open my bedroom door, flinging open my bathroom door. There's a there's an instance of growling, whispering in the air. Yeah, yeah, seven years.

But I also loved that you originally lived there with a bunch of family members, so everyone just assumed somebody in the house was doing it, and then everyone left except for you, and you were like, oh.

Yeah, no one else is here, exactly right. I started blaming it on the raccoons outside. I was like, oh, it must be a raccoon that is wiggling a nail loose that opened the cabinet. I was trying to be very logical about the whole thing.

And then an invisible raccoon whispered in your band made's ear. He ran out of the house, and you were like, time to go.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

My bandmate, Zach, we were in this little rehearsal room I had in there and we were going over the song.

He just stops playing and I was like, why'd you stop? We were doing good.

He's like white like and he was like, something just whispering in my ear. I'm out of here, and.

I was like me too, I'm leaving too.

But you made beautiful music there, yes, And then Sound in Color. You were staying up all night and there was a bat in the studio. Yeah, okay, and then Jamie, you were in a greenhouse during a heat wave with no Ac.

Yeah, one hundred four degrees.

And then the last album was very peaceful. So what does that mean?

I don't know progress. I'm gonna try a pattern of peace. Okay, see what happens.

I think we all should Yeah, starting next Tuesday. Okay. You had incredible success with Alabama Shakes, but you decided to go solo. And your first solo album, Jamie, was incredibly personal. You named it after and debtie it to your sister, who died at age thirteen. There are songs

I feel like, you know, I grew up in a small town. I felt like I was seen, but not in a positive way. I didn't have like a lot of positive encouragement to be who I was. You know, I feel like it took me a long time to be like no, I have a story, of an interesting story, of a good story to tell.

I think it took me.

A long time to be proud of who I was, well proud enough to share it with the world, you know, because that's very vulnerable. But that was an inspiration behind it, just using my voice and authentic, just telling people who I am. And I think that's like a It's like a trail that I'd like to keep blazing.

Yeah you're Yeah, thank you. And we often find that the more specific we are, the more relatable it is, which feels counterintuitive, but in fact, people need to hear our very specific, very personal stories to feel less alone, which is the most powerful way to speak to the larger masses. Your high school friend and bandmate, Zach Cockrell, actually played on both of your solo albums, So why couldn't you make them with the band? Did it feel like those albums only could have been solo albums?

Yeah, you know, I just needed time to do everything in my own way because I had never really done that. I'd always had kind of like a delegation of the guys like what do you think about this?

What do you think about that?

And not wanting to sing anything that gets under anybody's skin too much, you know. I was kind of It's not like anybody made me do that. That's just what the position at the I put myself in. And then I thought it was very freeing to walk away. Instead of it being like such a negative thing. It was like, Okay, now I'm on my own I can make my own mistakes or I can have my own victories. If the ship sells great. If the ship sinks, that's my fault.

Yeah? We love that, right. I think also, you're in such a different position after those Alabama Shakes albums than when you started. You told Terry Gross on Fresh Air about leaving the band and writing about your sister. You said quote, I think there was a lot of healing that happened after I took my time away from the Shakes, because I finally got to slow down and look at how much life had changed, and the change was remarkable.

You know, you can have a lot going on it. It all looks right, like, everything looks great. You have this great opportunity. Everybody around you saying yeah, just keep going. But I wasn't very happy, which was confusing. Like you said, I came from a place where the fact that I started making music and the world heard it was just unfathomable.

I never could have imagined that what happened for me.

So then to be, like you said, at a height of success, like that and just feel overcome with it. Just felt like a lot of pressure in a way to not mess it up, and.

So I just ran away.

I didn't run away, I just kind of started over again in a way, and I was like, if I'm going to do this, I really really want to do this my way. I want to tell my story. I want to be who I authentically am, you know. And like the guys in my band, I love them so much. They're so supportive of that, and they heard me out. And it's a really difficult decision to make, but I knew it was the right one, even if it was really scary.

Yeah, your sister died from retino blastoma, which is a condition that you also suffered from. You survived, you have partial blindness in one eye as a result. How did that experience change you? And did you have any survivor's guilt recognizing that you both suffered it, but you were the one that made it.

Yeah, when I was younger, I did.

When I was younger, I definitely had survivor's guilt because if you all could have met my sister, absolute genius, you know, like she was the clean one in the house, reading books and her sheets, were nice, and her bed was made, and her room was always vacuumed and organized. She had a little cassette tape organization system, and she had all kinds of glowing the dark purses and stuff, and I don't have any of that stuff going on. I had lego blocks in my floor at all times.

You look up to your big sister.

And she also just showed me the world of show me the world of music and art, poetry, and that we had all these things at our fingertips, even though we didn't have a lot, you know, a lot of material goods. And I idolized her so like losing her and me going on. You know, the way I saw myself at the time was like the less able one. And I struggled with that for like many many years, struggled with a lot of anger because take it like a a.

Disease like cancer, taking somebody so young.

I thought that was very unforgivable of God, and I couldn't really wrap my head around it. So for a long time, I was just kind of like I felt like I was in the desert trying to figure life out. But as I got older, I realized, like, just because someone's not here we can't see them, that doesn't mean they're not still guiding you. And I very much feel like me and my sister are close in that way to this day. And now I feel like I got like an invisible angel with me at all times.

You know, I feel much more powerful.

That's really cool. Said it made you angry, and you said when you used to sing, your early performances were basically an opportunity to belt out anger in public. You were angry for yourself from growing up on the junk yard. You were angry about people who told you you didn't look like a lead singer. You were angry for the judgment your parents dealt with. You were angry for ancestors you never met because of the racism that they faced. Are you still singing from a place of anger?

Yeah, in a way, for sure.

I'm still angry about a lot of stuff, Like the world's not fixed, Like I see a lot of stuff going on that is crazy and heinous and absolutely immoral. There's still a lot of stuff I'm angry about, but at least I have outlet you know what I mean.

It doesn't like fester. I can say something or I can do something.

I have a lot of opportunities now that I didn't have before to feel like I'm a powerful person that can actually create change.

You know. Even just being at the summit like this right now, it's just like something. I think.

It is so powerful, especially for all of these women to be together and to hear each other each other stories and support each other.

It's very powerful thing.

Yeah, it does feel different to feel like you have a voice and an opportunity to change things, even in small levels compared to the largeness of the problems that exist.

Yeah.

Sure, but the anger can still be there. It's motivating, it's useful. But there's a lot of meditative sound bowls on the new which would make me think a little less anger. It's hard to combine anger and meditative sound bowls exactly.

Yeah. I was trying to get right, you know.

Okay you were Maybe if it sounds peaceful, I'll feel that way.

Yeah.

I was like, you know, I see all these people getting into this kind of stuff. Let me go like on a little adventure and I liked it. Yeah, yeah, I liked it. I found out that the sound bowls really can like help you just reset and put you on a different vibe. Like if you show up stressed out and you listen to the album, it's got all these beautiful, real sound bowls on it, and you'd just be sitting in traffic, just chill, cool, cucumber.

It's a vibe.

Yeah.

I don't do gummies often, but I did gummies once and went to a sound bowl thing. I saw a different astral plane.

Was it almost too much?

It's almost too much? More? With Britney Howard right after this, you saying Jonny Ma chills both sides now with Herbie Hancock at the Kennedy Center Honers in twenty twenty one. If I can't convince her just pop out with that song tonight, then y'all need to look it up, because

You know, I don't go anywhere I don't belong. I don't belong in places that want to change who I am or what I'm trying to create.

You know, I would never go.

Wait pause on that. That is a word.

Damn, I just come up with that.

I know that was good. Somebody write that down real quick. Okay, Okay for real though, because that's easier said than done.

Well, you know, like I said, I've had a unique opportunity and I just decided, you know, when I went out on my own. Like I said earlier, I'm going to do things the way that I want to do them. And if it doesn't work out, I guess it wasn't meant to be. You know, I just don't want to beg anybody to be something I probably don't even want.

You know what I'm saying, because.

You know, you're worth. So it's like, if you don't want me for it, then that's on you, not me.

Yeah. To me, it's like, I guess that's my sign to create my own label and do my own thing.

Yeah, yeah, I can relate in ways I won't say out loud here. You have described your on stage style as inspired by jazz musicians son raw great, perfect, I've seen it. It's beautiful, and your everyday style as Australian Zoo tour guide. So I think I know the answer based on the last question. But as a labeler manager ever tried to dictate your on stage or or off stage brand and persona?

I mean, I mean probably for the better. Honestly, It's true. I love looking like a Zoo guide. It's like it's like it's just that's my dream job. Like yeah, like Steve Irwin and yeah Autumn, Like that's I want to be with them.

Okay, I love it.

I love it.

Your voice is truly another of the instruments you play. It is incredibly versatile. You can belt, you can have a deep alto, you can sing in falsetto, you can sing quiet and introspective. Do you know a certainty when you're writing a song, which of your voices you will bring to each part? Or do you play around and see how the story changes when you change the voice you bring.

Yeah, you know, it depends.

It depends on if I create the music first, or if I already have lyrics. Like some sometimes lyrics just show up, especially like in opportune times, like a time where I can't possibly get to a pen and I'm like in a bathroom at a bar, and I got my little voice memo up and I'm like, okay, So like the drums be like this, and then the bass is gonna be like this.

Boom boom boom, boom boom, and then the.

Guitar is like the back of the bar is like don't stop, shut up.

And then I'm like, tomorrow, that's gonna make sense. It's gonna make sense.

But you know, the voice is an instrument, and that's the way I use my voice. I don't need to build all of the time. It's not always appropriate, especially like for the story I'm trying to tell. When the way I use instruments is to convey emotion, you know, it's not just a razzle dazzle or to be the best or anything like that. It's just like, Okay, I want to convey feeling small but hopeful, and that sounds like maybe like a falsetto, or I want to sound nostalgic.

You want you right there?

How'd you know I could tell.

I'll sing later though, Okay, okay, I mean you're paid too, so yeah.

That'd be weird if later you were like, I'm gonna do spoken words.

But yeah, that's usually how I decide.

It's like do I want to sound more like stringy or do I want to sound more like Barrett's own sex kind of moment.

It's just like instrumentation.

Yeah, but it's also really fun because if you wanted to, you could cover your own songs like just doing the opposite and completely change the way they're received in a way. That's really cool.

Great idea.

Thank you. Yeah, I'll take my cut whenever that sells big, all right, I'll get you one point perfect, I'll take it. I mentioned the Kennedy Center Honors. You also perform for Eddie Murphy's Mark Twain Prize. You performed at the White House. You played for Prince by Request at Paisley Park. You played per Sir Paul's request with him at Lollapalooza doing

I mean, it feels surreal. You know.

These are people that I always looked up to and was inspired by and hope I could get this close to them, you know, as far as like creatively speaking, and to be celebrated by them is nuts.

I can almost barely speak on it.

It's like it's like so massive for me that I can barely consciously hold it so like, I just I don't know. It's one of those things like every once in a while on a beautiful vista, I'll look out and I'll think about my whole life, you know, every once in.

A while sound bowls in the background.

And just think like, wow, it's been incredible so far. I wonder what's gonna have and next.

You get nervous in those moments with those with those artists.

Sometimes I never know when I'm won't be nervous, Like I thought I would be nervous to do this, but I'm not very nervous.

I think I'm coming off pretty natural.

Yeah. See, you seem good. Yeah, you seem good. Do you have a good Paisley Park story. There's a great story of he invited a w NBA team to his house after they won the title, and they showed up and he was already on the keys, and then he just performed for a while and then started riding his motorcycle around and disappeared.

Yeah, there is a basketball goal in Paisley Park game blouses.

Yeah I know about that. Yeah, okay, so but he didn't say it while you were there.

Absolutely not. No, we didn't talk much, but I get there. I guess. The craziest story is, like I only heard about this after he passed away, and of course, like after my own experience with him. But apparently he has disability to disappear into thin air. And I was telling someone about it. I was like, yeah, Prince called us back and he was like, can I play this song we had called give Me All Your Love?

Can I play that with you? I really like that song? What key is it in? Like? Sure? Yeah, So we're playing Paisley Park.

Comes the time where the song's going on and Prince is nowhere to be seeing, and we get to like the middle of the song and I'm like, I guess just loop it.

I don't want to miss the opportunity to play with Prince.

So we're looping the section of the song, and finally he just pops on the stage. It's wearing a green velvet jacket, playing a green guitar, and he just starts shredding like it was awesome, you know, And then I started we double solo a little bit and I was.

Like, this is amazing.

And then the song's done after like a while, and he kisses me on the cheek and I was like wow, and then he jumps off the stage and disappears in thin air. Yeah, Like I was like I had a next song to do, but I kept being like, where did he go? There's nowhere to disappear to over there, like how did he do it? And so I heard later like, yeah, Prince does that, He'll disappear.

I've ever seen that clip that's like, have you guys seen this? I think it's at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He throws as a guitar up in the air and then never lands. Watch the clip. I'll send it to y'all later, each one of you individually.

I believe it.

I literally almost said I'll put it in the show notes, because that's what we do on my show. We'll put it in the show notes. We'll send you the link. It's insane. You have to watch it. I'll find it later. Okay, that's I love that that.

He just disappeared, just vanished. And you know, he's a really funny guy too.

Yeah. I don't know if everybody.

Knows that, but he's a great comedic tim and great sense of humor, very low voice.

He called me on the phone, He's like, did you like that?

And you know that was either Prince or Shack. I'm not sure.

I did it best I could.

Yeah, and I was like, all of a sudden, I turned into like a little girl and I was like, yeah, that was so fine.

Thank you so much.

We got to take another break more with Brittany coming up next. Speaking of voices, you made your voice acting debut in Thelma, the Unicorn Netflix movie about a mini pony who longs to be a star and her dream comes true when she disguises herself as a unicorn. The character was written with you in mind and designed based on you, right down to the hair. Did you learn anything about yourself by watching yourself as a cartoon unicorn?

Yeah, like I actually learned that I'm just like the unicorn, except the little unicorn has like a little more energy than I do.

Okay, that's all I did to do the voice. I just like more excited. You know.

I did see myself in Thelma, and I learned something through the process, which was, like, I don't feel very comfortable being vulnerable because there's times in a movie where I gotta be like scared or like unsure or like please don't do this, Like I'm I'm just not like that in my daily life. So I really struggle with doing that. So like I feel like I learned something about that, you know. And also when it was when the opportunity was presented to me, I was like, oh,

Can do it, Just like, do it? Do it, Just do it, because I'm so glad I did it.

I didn't know I could do it, and I found out that I could, And now it kind of changed my perception on who I am, Like, oh, yeah, I can do things that are scary. You know.

That's a lesson I learned a couple of years ago, and I had to tell myself, like, with certainty, whatever comes your way, if someone else thinks you can do it and they offer it to you, or the opportunity comes.

Just do it.

And like particularly because men do that.

All the time, right, Just do it.

Just do it, Nike, Thanks sponsor. Okay, so the future. In twenty eighteen, you said about stepping away from Alabama Shakes, it's important to go where your heart tells you. Never feel like you're trapped into something, especially as a creative person. I had to follow. I guess you would call it the muse. I had to follow where it was coming from, and it was just away from that. I had to do it. And then earlier this year, you said, the door is not closed on a reunion. Is that Are

You probably find out via internet?

Okay, the internet. Yeah, that's usually how I find most things, though.

Yeah, it'll probably pop up on Instagram or something, yeah, like the Mews. Like I said, like, it's just a conversation. Like lots of people ask me about that. Obviously it's been like ten years, you know, and I'm cool with that. My response is and will remain to be, like, when that itch comes back up, that's a conversation I'm gonna have with the guys. You know, they're both really cool about it. And if we feel like creating together, we'll create it.

You know. Doors not closed.

Yeah, yeah, I know you just released a new album, so it's so mean of me to even ask you a sorry, But do you have a timeline in your head of when the next one comes? Or is it enjoying touring reacting to this one and waiting until the music comes and tells you it's time for another.

You know, usually for me, I've noticed the pattern is like every three years doesn't have to be that, but I just don't know that. For me to make music, I have to have actual life experience. I have to have things going on. I have to have feelings about things.

You know.

To me, yeah, music comes out of thin air, but it's also like in response to emotion. So I just kind of live my life. And the more life I can live, I think, the better album I can make.

Yeah, you know, this most recent album, there's a lot of breakup songs and when I have a breakup, yeah, that was clear. But there was one song that one of your one of your friends said, you walked into the studio and you just you didn't have much down yet, and you just said kind of turn on the mic and see what happens and went for it. And that that's ended up being so much of the recording. This

This is something I've actually learned recently.

Going in unprepared is so much more fun than I thought it would be to me. That's terrifying, like going in with like four songs into studio you paid like thirty thousand dollars for and you're just like, hope, I get it. You know, it's scary, But I have learned to go in there and just let whatever comes to you happen.

Those are always my favorite songs, the.

Ones that I didn't go down like to the finest detail, every single part.

Can you tell us which ones on the new album stand out to you in that way so we can listen for it?

Yeah?

Sure, Like I have a song called Samson that really happens like that, red Flags happened like that.

There's a lot of songs on this album that just.

Red flags coming either.

Yeah, yep. I thought it was the time to address it. And I got a.

Song tonight that I'll perform too. It's called to Be Still, And it was one of those things. The guitar player Brad Allen Williams, he was just playing this beautiful chord pattern and I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm feeling something, you know, And I go outside and I come back and have the lyrics, and then I opened my mouth and was saying the melody and it just happened within a matter of minutes, and I really loved that song.

I'll do that for you all tonight.

Yes, And that's the beauty of being solo too. You don't have to say what do y'all think of this? It's like, yeah, I like it, so we're good kind of Yeah.

Yeah, I mean I admire other people's opinions if i'm if I'm looking for it, but yeah, I wasn't looking for it all the time.

Yeah, fair, fair, Okay, I want to do a speed round as we're wrapping up here. You just finish the tour with Michael Q Andoka. What's your favorite part of touring?

Favorite part of touring is watching movies on the bus with the bands.

Do we have a genre that we usually go to?

Usually really bad movies? Okay, I don't want to say nothing because y'all might know.

Yeah, we might be in them.

Because I don't know who y'all know. Y'all might know the actors.

But Steven, oh god, we watch all of his Catalo bad movie, Offensive Human. That's a tough combo. Okay. What's your least favorite part oftoring? The travel, the journey, the travel, the actual Yeah.

The travel yeah, well, listen, like, sometimes you ride on a bus, you sleep in a bunk, right, and sometimes it's bumpy and you don't sleep, and sometimes it's too cold you're freezing on that, like you're kind of like at you have to surrender a little bit to the bus and the road and where you are. And some places are really really dry and you wake up and your eyes are dried, you know, like just it's just the travel of it is an adventure, for sure. And

Just tiny bit. You're aging slower than the rest of us can almost backwards. Yeah, congrats. What's your favorite city to play in?

Ooh gosh, that's hard. I really like Idaho? Okay, yeah, I know y'all didn't say that comment. Look Boise, Idaho is lit. Okay, Yeah, trust me.

Good to know adding it to my list? Yeah, okay. Is there a dream venue that you haven't played yet that you want to play?

Mmmm? It's a good question too. Not maybe not really like them all off? No, maybe not.

But I never a vinuon and be like, oh I can't wait to play that. You know, maybe like the Sydney.

Opera Houses is very impressive.

I think it would be cool to do like an acoustic thing there and just let the acoustics do what they do.

For sure.

Favorite snack after a show, ooh, pickles it's fried, or just straight up the jar, the kosher deal okay, spears okay, dream song collaborator. Oh, there would be some sound bowls in that for sure.

That'd be cool.

That would be dope.

Okay.

Final question for you, I read that your plan for later in life if you continue aging at all and not backwards, because it'll be tough for a child to do.

Benjamin Brittany.

Yeah, Benjamin Brittany. Good album title, Benjamin Brittany. Okay, So, assuming you age enough to take responsibility for these animals, you want to live on a farm with a bunch of animals. This is also my dream really Okay, but I want to see if we have the same animal plan, okay, because like maybe we could visit each other's farms. All right, you want to go first, Let me know which animals

Three?

Three pigs? Thank you? I'm missing at least one important thing. I'll remember it later, but that chickens, ducks, Oh, chickens of course, chicken chickens. Yeah, all sorts of chickens, chickens, ducks. I'm cool.

I'm cool with chickens. I'm gonna have two donkeys, no horses for me. The lama, I packa thing like maybe.

I'll sell you on the economic Yeah, ducks.

I want ducks, just laying hens. No roosters.

I'm gonna have some guinea fowl and I'm gonna have turn You want to raise turkey and sell it?

So lots of birds? Are you going to sell your turkey for me?

Yeah? I mean, I mean that's your that's your pet.

Uh you got me there, you got me there, We'll keep one for pet.

That's really mean, because they're all going to be like, am I the favorite I misspoke.

The Turkey. The Turkey is just gonna just gonna time to tell you I'm a vegetarian. Tourism Turkey, tourism Turkey.

Every year you end up partning all of them, and that's the bit.

Yeah, that's okay, perfect.

You have a couple of dogs, right, you didn't name dogs?

Oh yeah, I had dogs yet, Okay, So they'll be on the farm too. Yeah.

I'm gonna get like a Golden Retriever and like I like those little piples that are like twenty pounds, okay, little mini pisnit are cute, okay, and and probably like a couple of winnie dogs.

Yes, okay. Let's talk about the land where we're gonna buy. Yeah, where we're going, Yeah, I think there's enough crawl.

How you feel about the South? Would you live in the South.

That's going to be a problem.

Yeah. I don't blame you. I don't blame you.

Okay, I'll come visit your farm, okay, and then you can come to Chicago right outside Chicago.

I love it. It's a deal, okay, deal, let's sing on it.

You not me, okay, Okay, everybody, Brittany Howard, thank you.

Guys, Thanks again.

To Brittany for being such a great interview guest. I hope you guys enjoyed the combo as much as I did. That's it for today, See you tomorrow. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,