Alice Howe Releases New Album 'Circumstance'
Howe is currently celebrating the album's release with a series of tour dates.
By: Michael Major Apr. 21, 2023
Los Angeles-based, Boston-bred, singer-songwriter Alice Howe has released her new LP Circumstance. Recorded in two sessions at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where the voices of icons like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and Otis Redding once shook the walls, Circumstance channels their spirits with 11 stirring tracks that pull no punches diving into the vagaries of the heart and her own personal journey.
"You don't need to hear much of Circumstance to realize that there was indeed something special in that room," commented Glide Magazine. "The soul sound that is the hallmark of Fame Studios comes through immediately." To hear Alice Howe sing is to be enraptured by the natural, unaffected beauty of her voice. There's no artifice, no histrionics - just honest, authentic, emotionally resonant singing in the tradition of the roots music that shaped her.
"Her commanding, authoritative voice is not sugar-coated or mediocre. What I find extremely attractive is her ability to emphasize the right lyric with the right note and vocal timbre. That takes skill," said Americana Highways, going on to call her voice "expressive" and "smoothly refreshing like custard ice cream on a hot summer day...pure and delicious." Adobe & Teardrops commented that Howe's voice "sounds like the Truth."
As an old soul inside a 30-something millennial, Howe puts her stamp on Americana's venerable strands with 10 standout originals evoking both the classic singer-songwriters and the seminal music that once filled airwaves, roadhouses, and juke joints. She chronicles a season of change and pivots in her life - the end of a long-term relationship, moving across the country and fully embracing the influences of the music that shaped her as a child listening to her parents' eclectic record collection.
Produced and arranged by Howe's creative partner, Freebo, a veteran bass player and former Bonnie Raitt band member, the album displays her vocal prowess and introspective writing in abundance. It is a deep, personal journey across an Americana soundscape dotted with blues, folk, country, soul, and rock, all of it sung old-school without auto-tuning. In spirit, it draws from admired singers - Alison Krauss or the 1970s Laurel Canyon circle - but its soul is pure Alice Howe.
Circumstance is available here: music.alicehowe.com/circumstance. Howe recently appeared on NPR's Mountain Stage, and she is currently celebrating the album's release with a series of tour dates, see below for a full list of shows. Be sure to follow her at the links below for all the latest news and updates.
TOUR DATES- ALICE HOWE (WITH FREEBO)
April 21 - Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 - NYC*
April 22 - The Listening Booth - Lewes, DE
April 23 - Kennett Flash - Kennett Square, PA
April 28 - The Burren - Somerville, MA*
May 2 - City Winery Nashville Lounge - Nashville, TN*
May 6 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA*
May 10 - MM House Show - Eugene, OR
May 11 - McMenamin's White Eagle Saloon - Portland, OR
May 12 - Ballard Homestead - Seattle, WA
May 13 - Palindrome - Port Townsend, WA
May 17 - Snazzy Productions - Soquel, CA
* Full band
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