St. Paul & The Broken Bones celebrating 10th anniversary of debut album recorded in The Shoals

It was a decade ago that St. Paul & The Broken Bones officially released its debut album, “Half the City,” that was written and recorded right here in their home state of Alabama. The band is celebrating that decade with a tour dedicated to that album, already making a stop in Huntsville with a stop at Avondale Brewery in Birmingham scheduled for Saturday night.

Here’s a look back at what has happened since then and a dive into the creation of the “Half the City” album!

Creating the album

Avondale holds a special place to the band because of that first show but guitarist Browan Lollar also said the whole Crestwood area is a place where the band really took shape.

“These songs are a love letter to this area and this town. For me, when we play songs like Half the City or Broken Bones and Pocket Change, the songs from the first album, when we play those songs here in town, it literally just feels right. The songs were inspired by this town.”

~ Guitarist Browan Lollar

Lollar said a lot of the writing of the album happened in Birmingham but when it came time to record, the band decided to go to where many bands before them went: The Shoals.

Ben Tanner at Single Lock Records in Florence produced the album. Lollar said the band bought studio time for four or five days to record the album, doing it “the old-school way” by playing the song through and recording it live until they got the take they wanted.

Lollar said his first indication of how good the album could be was a discussion with Tanner before the album was released.

“After a couple of days, we were listening back and Ben looked at me and said ‘I think this is really good.’ And I was like, ‘yeah, it’s pretty good.’ But he said ‘no, this is like really, really good’… I think at that moment, when I was listening to it and step into the shoes of someone just being a listener, I remember thinking I haven’t heard anything like this in a very long time.”

~ Guitarist Browan Lollar

While there was some hype around the album when it was being made, the band never knew what kind of success it would bring them or that it could even lead to them making a career out of it. But it’s safe to say the album made an impact around the world and led the band to where they are today.

10-year celebration

“It’s more of a marker for us. We’re all just proud we’re still a band… for us, it’s a total celebration. It’s been a long 10 years for us.”

~ Browan Lollar on the band’s decision to dedicate this tour to “Half the City”

St. Paul & The Broken Bones have released five total albums but many fans, especially those here in Alabama, will still say that first one is their favorite.

Lollar said the band isn’t sure why the 12 songs struck such a chord with people but when fans come to shows, these are still the songs they want to hear. And the band doesn’t have any problem with that because the songs still feel relevant to them, especially during hometown shows.

The most popular song from that debut album is titled “Call Me” and the band’s performances of the song on late night television and at concerts quickly brought in more and more fans. That song has now been streamed more than 67 million times on Spotify alone.

“It was a song that changed us. It changed our trajectory. It’s a special song… It’s a song we have to play at every show. It’s a fun song and you get a lot of energy exchanged with the audience.”

~ Browan Lollar on the song “Call Me”

A hometown show

Here’s what you need to know for Saturday’s show in Birmingham:

• Who: St. Paul & The Broken Bones with special guest Lamont Landers
• Where: Avondale Brewing Company
• When: Doors at 6 p.m., music at 7 p.m.
• Tickets: Selling fast!

The show at Avondale will help the band come full circle after playing their first ever show together at the brewery all the way back in 2011. And for those who have seen the band perform before, you may be asking yourself what lead singer Paul Janeway will do this time around.

He’s known for climbing around stages and platforms throughout venues but in a space as open as Avondale, there may not be many places to climb. Lollar says fans should still be expecting something Saturday night though.

“He’s going to do something. He always finds a way… I’m totally convinced he spends 90 percent of his day looking around the venues.”

Browan Lollar on bandmate Paul Janeway

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