Karen Lee Batten - Under The Covers In Muscle Shoals (2018)

British Columbia based, award winning artist Karen Lee Batten announced today that she will release her new studio album “Under The Covers In Muscle Shoals”. Another magnetic album in a prolific career, this new collection of songs boasts Batten’s honesty, vocal prowess and raw genuine emotion. Poised to be her most critically acclaimed album thus far “Under The Covers In Muscle Shoals” is an album recorded entirely in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, inside the same landmark studios that produced hit records by Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding and more shaping the history of popular music.

Produced by Mitch Merrett and Michael Pyle and recorded at Fame Studios and The NuttHouse in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Batten worked with some of ‘the Shoals’ original studio musicians and only recorded songs that originated in Muscle Shoals – a city known for its musical history. It’s that history which serves as the underlining pulse that makes Batten’s project so unique and innovative.

“Walking into Fame Studios, looking around that room for the first time… I just felt the history in the walls,” says Batten. “I knew standing there that these were the songs I wanted to sing, and for the first time in a long time, I was nervous. But those nerves came from the respect I felt – I was about to sing some of the greatest songs of all time, and I can only hope I’ve done them proud.”

With the ability to wander in any musical direction throughout the albums eleven tracks, Batten has an abiding respect for live music. Showcasing a patchwork of influences and innovations, the inspirational heart of the album lies in the sounds of Muscle Shoals that played such a vital role in shaping the musical sensibility for the album. Drums, bass, piano, organ, acoustic guitar, horns, soulful background vocalists and a rhythm section that includes some of the original ‘Swampers’ lift the album into the stratosphere.

“There are no words to describe what it feels like to stand in the same spot as Aretha, Etta, Bob, Skynyrd, Redding and so many more,” shares Batten. “To sing with their musicians, and to record with their producer – Rick Hall – the man that brought black and white musicians together to create music that would last for generations, in the room… I can say that this has been one of the most amazing highlights of my career, if not the most!”

TRACKLIST

01. You Gotta Move - Mary Morning
02. Land Of 1000 Dances
03. I'd Rather Go Blind
04. Old Man's Sweetheart
05. Never Loved A Man
06. Serve Somebody
07. Do Right Woman
08. Hard To Handle
09. Let It Rain
10. Sweet Home Alabama
11. Tenderness



All thanks go to the original releaser