Kula Shaker
On 2 July 2008 the band announced they were back in the studio working on their fourth studio album with working title "Pilgrims Progress". However soon after the band became locked in a legal dispute with their label which resulted in most of the work for the next album being frozen. As of May 2009, work on the new album had recommenced.
Alabama Shakes
Their first breakthrough came when Justin Gage, a Los Angeles music blogger and SiriusXM host, found a photo of Howard performing online. After contacting the band, he posted an MP3 of their song "You Ain't Alone" on his music blog, Aquarium Drunkard, in July 2011. By the next morning, the group was awash in offers from record labels and management companies. Gage also contacted Patterson Hood, vocalist of the band Drive-By Truckers, who attended a show not long after. He arranged to set the band up with his managers, Christine Stauder and Kevin Morris. Alabama Shakes released the four-song EP "Alabama Shakes" in September 2011, which gained media attention (including NPR) and earned them an invitation to play at the CMJ Music Marathon industry showcase in New York. The band began negotiating a record deal with ATO Records and added "Alabama" to their name after Joseph Hicks, of Halo Stereo, noticed how many groups shared the name "The Shakes". They began to open for the Drive-By Truckers. The group considered their ambitions met, but soon, Fogg later recalled, "everything kept going—at, like, a super-fast rate."