Hear Alabama, Alison Krauss Duet on Romantic ‘Come Find Me’

Alabama’s repertoire has always been a solid blend of foot-stomping anthems and tender ballads, and the tradition continues on Southern Drawl, the first album of original songs from the trio of Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook since 2001. One of the many highlights on the collection is “Come Find Me,” a road weary musician’s message to the object of his affection.

Owen’s lead vocal conveys the ache of separation, but there’s also a playful edge. “There’s a line that says, ‘Every now and then, I get to rolling and the wheels come loose. I’m rocking like a rock star dude out here in the crazy.’ We’ve lived that one. Are you kidding?” Owen says with a laugh.

“Come Find Me” was one of the last two songs the iconic group found for the album. Gentry recalls Owen pulling up in his pickup truck and excitedly reporting that he had two strong contenders for the project. He then played “Wasn’t Through Loving You Yet,” which became the first single, and “Come Find Me.” “I thought it was a really cool song about being out on the road away from the one you love,” says Gentry, who then invited Alison Krauss to sing harmony and play fiddle on the track. “It’s a really special song. I’m so happy with the way it turned out.”

But perhaps the song’s biggest fan is Owen’s wife, Kelly — a tough critic (according to her husband) who’d recently told him she was “losing faith in country music.” Hearing “Come Find Me” had her singing a different tune.

“She said, ‘When somebody comes along and writes a song like that, it brings me back in again.’ That’s about as strong, for me, as it can get as far as a compliment about a song,” Owen says. “Then the next morning she made my coffee and we always write little notes to one another. She wrote some little things I can’t say and then she wrote, ‘Come find me.’ So I was like, ‘OK, she loves it!’ The greatest critic in the world can also give you the most pleasure when she tells you she’s crazy about a song. She’s lived that one.”

Alabama’s Southern Drawl album will be released September 18th.