Supergroup Bermuda Triangle coming to S.F. for two shows.
Alabama Shakes lead vocalist and guitarist Brittany Howard wasn’t on a mission to form an all-female group. But after meeting Becca Mancari at a Nashville house party, and later another Nashville singer-songwriter Jesse Lafser, it soon become clear that the girl power could not be contained.
“Whenever we get together on each other’s porches, we play music and sing,” Howard says from her home in Nashville. “And one day we decided to just all perform together.”
Even the trio’s moniker is inspired by those porch gatherings. “Every time we get together, it’s like a wormhole opens up — some sort of energy vortex — and all this craziness ensues,” she says, with a laugh.
Of course, Howard concedes that Wormhole would not make for a very good band name. So they agreed on Bermuda Triangle and made their debut in Nashville last summer. Now, with a pair of recorded songs, “Suzanne” and “Rosey,” streaming on platforms such as Sound Cloud, Spotify and Apple Music, the trio is ready to introduce itself to the Bay Area during two San Francisco shows — at the Independent on Tuesday, Feb. 6, and another at Bimbo’s 365 Club the next night — as part of a sixcity, eight-date West Coast tour.
With the flexibility that the three members trading lead vocals and playing different instruments brings, Howard says she’s more than glad to share the spotlight.
“It’s really fun to just sing harmony or just play upright bass or accompanying guitar,” she says, comparing the gig to her more regular center-stage guitar-riffing and wailing she’s accustomed to with the Shakes. “It’s a completely different role for me.”
Howard bemusedly marvels at Bermuda Triangle’s DIY aesthetic. “It’s as if we just started a band from the ground up, like teenagers,” she says, adding that she learned to play double bass — her first-ever fretless stringed instrument — and program a drum machine thanks to this new musical outlet. Lafser took up banjo.
“It’s actually really funny to me that this band even works. I don’t know how we do it,” Howard admits, with a warm chuckle. “It’s definitely based off of just having fun … and not being cool at all.”
Mancari and Lafser both had new songs they brought to the trio, with Howard being the odd musician out. “They pass the guitar to me, and I’m, like, ‘Oh! I don’t really have any music I can just strum on a guitar,’ ” she recalls. “So I wrote a bunch of songs just for this project.”
Bermuda Triangle’s style is closer to harmony-drenched folk or even experimental grown-up pop than Alabama Shakes’ raucous, blues and soul-fueled brand of Southern rock ’n’ roll. The role of the drum machine, for example, is more as accompanying percussion than four-onthe-floor dance beat.
“Have you ever been to these little shows, and an old man is playing a Casio keyboard with its own accompaniment?” she queries. “It’s as simple as that — like how funny would it be to have these very sad songs with this little tiny drumbeat going incessantly in the background.”
But be warned: For those who may fall in love with Bermuda Triangle this week, don’t expect an album to drop anytime soon. Howard says they’re in no rush to get into the studio.
While Howard has been able to take a break from Alabama Shakes, which hasn’t toured since late summer, Mancari’s debut album, “Good Women,” was released in early October, and Lafser’s fourth album has been mixed and sent off for mastering. “It’s a great time for both the girls — new horizons,” she says.
As for Howard, after years fronting her Grammy-winning band, working the festival circuit and headlining major theaters, Bermuda Triangle has allowed her to return to the more intimate setting she loves.
“For me and the Shakes, clubs have always been our favorite venues to play,” she says. “So going back to clubs is completely comfortable.”
Yoshi Kato is a freelance writer.
Bermuda Triangle’s style is closer to harmony-drenched folk or experimental grown-up pop than Alabama Shakes’ raucous, blues- and soul-fueled Southern rock ’n’ roll.