Brittany Howard shakes free, Lead Album,

● Pre-Alabama Shakes, Howard rarely travelled far from her hometown of Athens (population: 25,000); her family had lived there since the time Alabama was “unclaimed territory” rather than a state. The success of 2012’s Boys &

Girls brought her houses in Athens and Nashville, 100 miles up Interstate 65. But now, after a recording sojourn in Topanga, LA, Howard and her partner have settled in Taos, New Mexico. “There’s good food and fishing,” she says, “a nice relaxed and open place. I just want somewhere quiet where the people don’t suck.”