Randall Bramblett will bring his band to Eddie's Attic in Decatur next month for a special album release show, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the music starting at 7 p.m. on October 16. Tickets are already available for the performance, which runs through roughly 8:30 p.m. at the longtime listening room on North McDonough Street.
According to WABE, Bramblett will perform live with his band at the venue, and the show is billed specifically as an album release event. The Athens-based singer, songwriter, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist is known for a genre-blending sound, and AllMusic describes his style as rooted in Southern funk, greasy R&B, swamp blues, roots rock, New Orleans R&B and jazz. He's also a multi-instrumentalist in the truest sense, playing keyboards, saxophones, guitar, mandolin and harmonica.
A Sideman's Résumé Turned Solo Career
Long before he was headlining listening rooms, Bramblett was the guy other legends came looking for. He appeared on the Gregg Allman Tour in 1975, and in early 1988, Steve Winwood came calling, bringing Bramblett into his road band for what became a 16-year run that included the Traffic Reunion Tour, according to his official artist biography posted at randallbramblett.com. That same biography also credits him with recording and touring alongside some of Southern rock's biggest names.
The Roanoke Times has similarly noted that Bramblett has recorded and performed with Gregg Allman, Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and Widespread Panic — a résumé that reads like a syllabus in American roots music. His own catalog runs deep too: he's recorded 13 albums for Polydor, Capricorn and, for the last seven, New West Records, per the artist's own press materials.
New Music, A New Sound He Calls His Own
Bramblett's most recent release, Paradise Breakdown, marks his thirteenth studio album, and he's given his current sound its own label — what Bandsintown describes as Modern Roots Music. It's a fitting name for a catalog that keeps evolving while staying tethered to the funk, blues and soul traditions that shaped his early career.
The Decatur date fits neatly into the kind of room Bramblett has built a reputation for filling. Eddie's Attic has operated as an intimate live music venue since 1991, and Bandsintown describes it as a listening room built around a sound system and acoustics designed specifically for hearing songs the way they're meant to be heard — a natural landing spot for an artist whose songwriting has drawn attention from outside his own band as well.
That attention has included a tribute recording: soul singer Bettye LaVette released an album covering 11 of Bramblett's songs, and accounts differ on when it earned Grammy recognition. His official biography states the album was nominated for a Grammy in 2023, while Bandsintown places that nomination in February 2024. Either way, it's a mark of how far Bramblett's songwriting has traveled beyond his own stage.
For now, the focus is on October 16, when Bramblett brings new material to a room built for close listening. Doors open at 6 p.m., the show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets remain available for what's shaping up to be one of Decatur's more anticipated club dates this fall.
