Alabama 3

Born in Brixton, south London, Alabama 3 took shape in 1995 around Rob Spragg and Jake Black, who met in the Peckham rave scene with the idea of bringing American country, blues, acid house, electronic music and trip-hop into a single repertoire. Initially active under the name The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine (UK), the collective later adopted the name Alabama 3 and also uses the moniker A3 in the United States. Alabama 3 stood out in the late 1990s with Exile on Coldharbour Lane (1997) and developed that hybrid aesthetic on La Peste (2000), Power in the Blood (2002), Outlaw (2005), M.O.R. (2007), Revolver Soul (2010), Blues (2016) and Step 13 (2021). Their music mixes electronic rhythms, gospel references, harmonica, blues guitars and a reworked Southern imagery seen from a distinctly British perspective. The track Woke Up This Morning, used as the theme for the TV series The Sopranos, played a major role in spreading the name Alabama 3 beyond the English scene. Over the years the band also collaborated with musicians such as John "Segs" Jennings and invited The Proclaimers to guest on a track from M.O.R. After Jake Black’s death in 2019, Alabama 3 continued operating around Rob Spragg and an expanded core of collaborators.