If you could make a Mount Rushmore for Alabama music, which four faces would you chisel in the side of a mountain? Help us decide.
In honor of this week’s NFL Draft, we on the AL.com Life & Culture team thought there’s no better time to debate Alabama’s finest artists, bands, producers and influential industry figures using the draft format.
In order, using a snake draft format, we have Matt Wake, Mary Colurso and Ben Flanagan making the picks, each building a roster four artists they feel reflect the best among Alabama’s musical contributions among the Grammy-winners, Hall of Fame members and more from our state.
Here’s what we came up with…
Read the draft below, listen along for the full conversation, and vote in the poll below the debate to tell us who won the Mount Rushmore of Alabama Music Draft.
Ben Flanagan: Let’s talk about criteria.
For Mount Rushmore, the four presidents chosen were meant to represent the nation’s birth, growth, development and preservation.
So I think that’s what I’m going for here. They don’t have come from the same era, and certainly not the same genre. But their impact must be clear.
The criteria for me is a combination of overall impact, influence and relevance. We can acknowledge everyone on the list has made great music. All of them are quite good. They’ve contributed something meaningful to the industry, amassed a legion of loyal fans and made Alabama incredibly proud. They were/are instrumental in putting Alabama on the map.
But I want to ask both of you first, what are your criteria? How does an artist or band earn a spot on your Mount Rushmore of Alabama Music? Mary, I’ll start with you.
Mary Colurso: They have to be iconic figures who made a difference and made us proud. And y’all will see I have a specific strategy going. But I think, for me, they have to be dead. I think they have to be…in the past. Figures from the past who are influencing what’s going on now in a very significant way. If you had a…