Alabama Rekindles Mountain Music

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 5:24 a.m.

WITH THE RELEASE OF "DANCIN' ON the Boulevard", Alabama's 20th RCA album, the group that's more an extension of friendship than career opportunities gets back to basics at the Mirage, Dec. 8-13, with songs that reach out from the heart.

"We spent so many hectic years touring and recording," said lead singer Randy Owen. "It was difficult to find the time to write. ... Our fans have been telling us they wanted to hear more of our own songs, so this collection is something truly special. As an artist, this is something you reach for--a project that represents your own life's experiences and influences and allows you to express all those inner thoughts and feelings."

After the band exploded onto the charts in the early 1980s, schedules tightened and the demands of performing 300 shows a year took its toll. Despite recording material written by other songwriters, Alabama's drive to create their own music never faltered, said bassist Teddy Gentry.

"I'd rather write songs than eat. Some people like to go hunting with their buddies, but my idea of fun is to get together with other songwriters."

A perfect example of Alabama's creative bond can be heard on "Sad Lookin' Moon," the first single off the new album. According to Gentry, the song was born on the road between Scranton, Pa., and Long Island, N.Y., when Owen, who was sitting in the front seat of the tour bus, looked up at the brightly lit orb and commented on its sad-looking face.

Next thing they knew, Owen, Gentry and longtime friend Greg Fowler were huddled up in the back of the bus, working on the song.

With a mixture of up-tempo country, soulful ballads and working-man songs, "Dancin' on the Boulevard" rekindles the spirit of the days Alabama spent in the beachfront clubs of Myrtle Beach, S.C., playing for tips six nights.

"A big part of our lives is entwined in these new songs," said Gentry of the laid-back, personal approach to "Dancin'."

"We have never considered ourselves a complicated band," said Owen. "And these are not complicated songs. But they do come from deep inside. This album is what Alabama is all about, from those years on the Boulevard to where we are today."

Performance details

Where: Mirage

When: 8-13

Information: 792-7777