Those years in the trenches helped transform Hunnicutt's show into a high-energy, hell-raising combination of southern stomp, country-rock twang, and amplified attitude. "Saw Blade Hill," a moonshining song stacked high with slide guitar riffs and menacing grooves, made its debut during those gigs. So did tunes like the anthemic "Trail of a Broken Heart" and the barreling, boogie-woogie rocker "Upside Down & Shaken”. On their days off, Hunnicutt and company would drive to Decatur to work with producer Jeremy Stephens, who spot lit the band's well-oiled chemistry by capturing Alabama Sound in a series of live takes.

 

"We recorded almost everything live, because we wanted to capture the energy that we have onstage," says Hunnicutt, who duets with Adam Hood on "Nobody's Business" — a bluesy brush-off to anyone looking to stick their nose into her private business — and rips into the title track, "Alabama Sound," with fire and ferocity. "Nothing we'd ever recorded before could really portray that. I'm happy with the push-and-pull of some of the songs, because it sounds so real and raw. It sounds like us."

 

And, to paraphrase the frontwoman herself, it sounds like Alabama.