Album Of The Week

"Country and gospel music is in dire need of some pure heartfelt soul right now. Mike Farris is like a secret weapon, he’s loaded with soul."

- Marty Stuart / The Fabulous Superlatives -

"Så här skulle nog Mick Jagger och Keith Richard vilja låta. I alla fall är det inte en död stund när Mike Farris och hans medmusikanter bjuder på elva låtar i 'The Sound Of Muscle Shoals', kanske årets bästa och mest lättlyssnade musikaliska happening så här långt in i 2025."

- Torbjörn Berlin / Berlin Calling -

"Varenda låt och sång här andas samma känsla som The Bands album 'Music From Big Pink' eller 'Wilson Picketts "In The Midnight Hour' i min värld. Mike Farris är en artist som vår egen rockkung Jerry Williams förmodligen skulle älska, tror jag. Jerka diggade artister såsom Otis Redding och Sam Coke. En av vårens höjdpunkter. Nu är det dags att lyssna på Ruth Brown."

- Micheles Kindh / Blaskan -

"Utan att vara ett fan av soul trillar jag dit ibland, och i tider när Jesper Lindells sound regerar är vägen bildligt talat inte så lång till Muscle Shoals i Alabama. Lindell gör väl egentligen mer rock än soul, men jag tänker på honom och hans makalösa röst när jag lyssnar på den vita amerikanska killen Mike Farris och hans nya album 'The Sound Of Muscle Shoals'. Album-titeln skvallrar om vad det handlar om, men det är inte bara det klassiska Muscle Shoals-soundet som imponerar på skivan med den för mig fram till nu okände sångaren. För mig är hans bakgrund okänd men hans svarta röst, hans egna låtar, produktion och arrangemang är en gigantisk positiv överraskning."

- Håkan Pettersson / Håkans Pop -

"For 'The Sound Of Muscle Shoals', Mike Farris’ first album since 2018’s 'Silver & Stone', Farris made the pilgrimage that many soul shakers and stirrers have made before him, across the O’Neal Bridge and over the Tennessee River, straight into the creative vortex of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and right up to the door of the legendary FAME Studios."

- Kenneth Bremer / Blue Desert -

"'The Sound Of Muscle Shoals' is an album that pays homage to the music that was very much part of Mike Farris’ upbringing, from the radio station of his young years and his father’s record collection. It proudly celebrates all that is so vital about Muscle Shoals and the eclectic mix of blues, rock, soul, country and gospel that was born in that space over the past 65 years. However, more than simply an exercise in nostalgia, it’s an effort that reaches the sweet spot between soul, blues and country and is a powerfully emotive body of work."

- Declan Culliton / Lonesome Highway -

"It is easy for listeners to lose themselves in the sheer power of Mike Farris’ vocals and the roaring energy the band and backup singers bring. Therefore, it is worth listening twice over initially to catch the lyrics and their connecting thread of Mike Farris’ past and strength prevailing."

- Fiona Golden / Americana UK -

"Overall the lyrical messages on Mike Farris' The Sounds Of Muscle Shoals' are of home, a rural Tennessee home, but a home anywhere, with mud in the springtime and a family trying to hold things together, and the album is aptly dedicated to his mom. The combination of the soulful gospel tinged signature Muscle Shoals southern rock grooves and the nostalgic lyric lines expand and vibrate together in a distinctly soul opening sound."

- Elise Cady / Americana Highways -

"Singer songwriter Mike Farris has released a new record that comes 7 years after the release of his latest album, 'Silver & Stone'. He recorded 11 self composed songs in the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with local session musicians and called the album 'The Sound Of Muscle Shoals', a typical sound that can be heard easily in each and every track on this great record."

- Valére Sampermans / Rootstime -