By Monica Collier Staff Writer
Aug 18, 2017
The rain has passed. There's an unseasonably cool breeze on this August evening as Alecia Elliott Fisher stands on the sidewalk in front of 414 Montgomery Avenue in Sheffield and talks music.
Fisher, who rose to fame under her maiden name at age 18 with the country hit “I’m Diggin’ It” in 2000, is a Muscle Shoals native who stepped out of the spotlight more than a decade ago.
Over the years, she’s performed in the Shoals on occasion, but Saturday night Fisher returns to the local music scene in full force. Fisher, backed by The Jam Academy, will play to a sold-out crowd at 116 E. Mobile in Florence.
“We’re really just starting,” Fisher said. “We sort of fell into each other’s laps. To me, that’s a sign. This Saturday is our first show as Alecia and The Jam Academy. It’s at 116 E. Mobile. I love it there. It’s like performing on MTV unplugged. It has that vibe. It’s a good place for us to do our first show.”
Fisher said she’s been looking for people to play with for a few years. She said Evan Lane, Kent Maddux, Christian White and Tre Srygley, of Jam Academy of the Shoals, have been a good fit for her.
“I could see what I needed to do, but it doesn’t just happen,” she said. “I sort of stepped back and started writing. Then, everything started coming together. Once we all got together, it was perfect. The songs were coming out exactly how I wanted them to.”
Fisher’s four bandmates teach at Jam Academy of the Shoals with Lane and Maddux co-owning the school. As with many other artists in the area, the band utilizes the school’s space, which is the former Nutthouse studio, to practice.
“I decided I wanted to use their name — Alecia and The Jam Academy — and they were OK with that,” she said. “It sounds cool, and it is their place where we rehearse. They really are amazing. They are extra talented and deserve to be out there doing their thing. I like to see the people around me succeed.”
Alecia and The Jam Academy are working so well together that Fisher credits God for helping out.
“It’s God,” she said. “The angels are working. You can tell when it’s meant to be, because it’s not hard. It should be fun and feel like a passion, and it does. I was looking for people who think like I do. We’re on the same level where we can think about more than ourselves. That’s important to me in every aspect of my life.”
With Fisher writing lyrics and the band writing the music, Fisher said this is her first project where everything is an original creation, and it’s been fun watching it come to life.
“A lot of it has come out rock,” she said. “It just did. We have a couple of soul songs, too, and a couple of that are a rock and soul mix. I’m a very musical person, so I like everything, but when it comes to me as a writer and singer, it’s always rock and soul.”
Fisher said writing songs with Lane, Maddux, White and Srygley has let her express herself in a way that shows “the real Alecia.” She said each band member is doing the same thing and it’s a true collaboration.
With everyone giving 100 percent without egos at play or anyone trying to be a star, Fisher said The Jam Academy has been a beautiful gift to her.
“I’m very blessed and grateful,” she said. “I just hope everybody loves the music, and I think they will. The lyrics are very real. There are some happy songs, and there are some angry songs. It’s just very real. Everybody goes through these things — music is therapeutic. I feel like I’m finally up there doing me.”
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