Review: Mike Farris ‘The Sound of Muscle Shoals’

Review: Mike Farris ‘The Sound of Muscle Shoals’

By Hal Horowitz

It’s hard to imagine a more fertile union than the soul/gospel soaked vocals of Mike Farris and the music made within the iconic borders of Muscle Shoals, Alabama’s FAME Studios.

After all, it is one of the most storied locations for Southern drenched sound;one that has boasted a storied history of artists including classic sides recorded by Wilson Pickett, Etta James, and Aretha Franklin. More recently the studio has birthed music from Jason Isbell, Bettye LaVette and the Drive-By Truckers.

Farris, who radically shifted focus from his early hard rocking days fronting the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, to rootsy gospel (he nabbed a 2014 Grammy for ‘Shine for All the People’) and finally 2018s blue-eyed soul classic ‘Silver & Stone,’ made a pilgrimage to FAME for the appropriately titled ‘The Sound of Muscle Shoals.’ He joins with the current Shoals’ rhythm section and producer Rodney Hall (son of late FAME founder Rick Hall) yielding a combustive combination placing Farris’ powerful, often yearning, Al Green-inflected voice, with impeccable supporting players.

The results deliver exactly what the set’s title promises; greasy, gutsy, R&B laced, organic bluesy rock and soul buoyed by superb songs and Farris’ commanding, distinctive vocals. From the haunting electric piano and crisp drums of the opening “Ease On,” featuring the lyrics “It’s a long, long journey from where we began,” with churchy backing vocals and wailing guitar to the sweet, pedal steel-laced country of “Bright Lights” Farris fluently moves from spiraling rockers to the most delicate of ballads with disarming ease.

He keeps the vibe natural and affecting, soaring through the mesmerizing original “I’ll Come Running,” as he dedicates himself to his partner with “You say jump and I say how high/Anywhere, any place any time.” Don’t look at the credits and you’ll be convinced Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers provide the music, making it the best song Petty never had a chance to record. Farris does tackle Petty’s “Swingin’” though (the first of only two covers here), killing it on one of the Florida native superstar’s finest, if less popular, compositions.

The singer goes Otis Redding on “Before There Was You & I,” digging into the lovely romantic ballad with the gleaming concentration the Big O was known for. Listen to how his voice cracks for a second when singing “Baby baby baby I just need you to understand,” to appreciate how much passion Farris infuses into even the simplest concept.

That Redding intensity also kicks in with a shimmering version of the Staple Singers’ “Slow Train,” (co-penned by the great William Bell) a perfect vehicle for Farris to plow his gospel roots into for an iridescent approach to one of the Staple’s finest recordings. When he sings “We only got one life to live on this earth,” it’ll floor you.

For “Heavy on the Humble,” he plows full-on into folk blues, keeping one foot in the church for a song that would have slotted well with Delaney & Bonnie at their Southern-rocking height. He leaves room for a scalding guitar solo, injecting an impeccable balance of rock bombast as backing singers wail behind him.

Why a talent like Farris isn’t a bigger star on the level of other contemporary blue-eyed soulsters like Marc Broussard or Josh Teskey is unclear. But on ‘The Sound of Muscle Shoals,’ the stars align to make this not just Farris’ finest release, but an early highlight of the year so far;one that deserves a place on 2025 best-of lists.

“Ease On”