There are some people who find music, and there are some people music finds first. Bay Simpson is the second kind. He was born in Florence, Alabama into a family where his mother sang, his father drummed, and the two of them played in a band together. His stepfather is a hit songwriter. His stepbrother is a touring artist. He grew up spending time at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals because that is simply where his family went. Music was not something Bay Simpson chose. It was already there when he arrived.
And now, after eight years of gigging as his only job, after fronting a band called Outlaw Apostles and making back-and-forth trips to Nashville, after singing Tom Petty's "The Waiting" to the backs of four chairs and watching one of them turn — Bay Simpson is about as visible as a Muscle Shoals artist has been in a long time. Season 29 of NBC's The Voice has a habit of doing that.
On a recent episode of Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama, I got to sit down with Bay and talk about all of it: The Voice, the Shoals, the songs he's been carrying around, and what it actually feels like to stand in Studio A at FAME and know what happened there. If you have followed North Alabama music at all, Bay Simpson is a name you will want to know. And if you haven't, well, this is a good place to start.
The Only Job He's Ever Had
Bay graduated high school, enrolled at the University of North Alabama to study entertainment industry and technology, which is, as he puts it, essentially music business and tech, and gigged the entire time he was in school. Playing music to make money was how he paid his way through his college years. He has never had another job.
He credits his parents for making the leap easier than it might otherwise have been. Having a family already embedded in the business meant he knew from the start who to call about booking shows and how the industry worked. Most people who want to pursue music full time spend years figuring out what he already knew at eighteen. That head start matters, and Bay has spent the last eight years making the most of it.
I should also mention that his dad, John, worked with us on the Bass Trail for a few years before I ever found out he was a drummer. I love when North Alabama turns out to have more layers than you expected.
A DM, a Blind Audition, and Tom Petty
Bay was not looking for The Voice. The Voice came looking for him. A casting director found him on social media, sent him a direct message, and offered to handle the entire application and audition process if he would just send some video. He figured he had nothing to lose. He sent the footage. About a month later, she called and told him he was invited to come out for a blind audition.
He had been working to build his solo career after years fronting Outlaw Apostles, and the timing felt right. The Voice could get his name out there in a new way. So he showed up, picked Tom Petty's "The Waiting," and sang it to four chairs that were pointed the wrong direction.
He admitted to us that he thought he was going home. The song is called "The Waiting," and if the producers made him wait longer than usual before a chair turned, well — he thinks that was probably on purpose. When Adam Levine finally spun around, Bay said it was just total relief. Not excitement. Not adrenaline. Just relief. Because he had been doing this long enough to know what it would mean if it did not happen.
"A lot of people that are on those shows are like 16 years old and they've never sung in front of anybody," he told me. "So it's a risk for somebody who's been doing it a minute." It was a risk that paid off.
A Little Bit of Southern Royalty
I have to tell you about the Elvis connection, because it is real and it is not as distant as you might think. The Voice researched Bay's family history and came back with this: his grandfather's great aunt is Elvis Presley's grandmother. The show landed on second cousins twice removed as the technical relation.
I suggested he just drop "I'm Elvis's cousin" into conversation and let people figure out the rest. He agreed that sounded about right. Southern royalty, he called it. I am not in a position to argue with that.
The Songs He's Been Carrying
Bay has two singles out right now, and they are about as different from each other in mood as two songs can be while still coming from the same person.
"Too Good to be True" is a coming-of-age song about not knowing what you had until it was gone. The stories in it are real — drawn from Bay's actual high school experiences — and he wrote it before The Voice, though the sentiment fits where he is now just as well. He told me he was not very open in high school, not the kind of person who let people know how he felt. This song is his way of saying he noticed, and that he was grateful, even if he didn't always show it. He loves anthemic songs with a chorus that sticks, and this one has that. I have had it in my head since we recorded.
Then there is "Congratulations," which Bay described with a grin as "a little bit of smart aleck." It is a breakup song. It is snarky, irreverent, and playful, and Bay admitted that he keeps himself entertained when he writes, which sometimes means funny lines happen. He told people to go listen to it themselves rather than have it summarized. That is the right call. I will only say that if you have ever scrolled past someone's social media after a breakup and thought uncharitable thoughts, you are going to feel very seen.
Standing on the Floor of Studio A
When I asked Bay what it means to carry the torch of the Shoals' musical legacy, he did not have to think hard about it. It means the world, he said. He grew up watching people like Jason Isbell and John Paul White come up and find success. He watched them when he was a kid, and they were just around — around his parents, around FAME, trying to get going, just like him. He also cited Chris Tompkins, a Shoals songwriter behind an extraordinary number of country radio hits over the last fifteen years. The legacy, Bay said, never stops. People keep adding to it. He wants to be one of those people.
Recording at FAME, he told me, is a feeling you can't really explain. He watched the documentary as a kid. He grew up going there with his mom. But standing on the floor of Studio A as a working artist, knowing what was recorded there, imagining Rick Hall at the beginning of it all when nobody had done anything yet and it was just one man on a mission — that is something.
He also told me a story I have to share, because it is too good not to. When Bay was a kid hanging around FAME while his mom was recording, Sting and Andy Summers of The Police walked through the door. They had just played Birmingham and wanted to see the studio. Linda Hall, who runs the front desk, did not recognize them. She told them they did not do tours. They thanked her and left. The next day she opened the newspaper and there they were, front page, giant photo — and she said, "They came in here yesterday."
That is the kind of thing that happens when a place is historic enough that The Police drive three hours just to see it on their day off. FAME does tours now, Bay noted. If that ever happens again, they'll be ready.
The Princess Theater and What Performing Actually Feels Like
Bay recently performed in "Muscle Shoals Meets the '70s" at the Historic Princess Theater in Decatur, one of the tribute shows produced by Russell Mefferd. These events are charity fundraisers — often benefiting special needs children — and they mean something personal to Bay, who has a brother with Down syndrome. He said he will show up whenever Russell asks.
The timing of that particular show was notable: his blind audition on The Voice had just aired, and when he went out front to meet people afterward, there was a crowd looking for him. A few of them definitely knew exactly who he was. A few others, he admitted, were just looking at him wondering why there were people around. Both reactions charmed him equally.
When I asked Bay what his favorite part of performing is, he did not hesitate. It is the crowd reaction. Opening up your heart for everyone to see, he said, and having people enjoy what they find there. "There's no better feeling that comes from working in the music industry than being in front of real people who love what you do." He compared it to adrenaline, to a drug you withdraw from the second the performance ends. And then you need more of it. I believe him completely.
(Photo courtesy of Princess Theatre)
Experience the Shoals Music Scene
If you are visiting North Alabama for the first time and want to understand what all the fuss is about, Bay's recommendation is simple: go to Champy's on a Friday or Saturday night. It is his favorite restaurant in the area — good old fried Southern food, chicken and fish, the kind of meal you will think about afterward — and there is usually a live band on weekends. Then go down to McFarland Park and look at the Tennessee River. Walk around. Sit with it for a minute. If you want to be on the water, North Alabama is the place to be, and the Tennessee River is the proof.
And while you're here, go stand in the room where some of the most important music in American history was made. Tours are available at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. Just so you know: they will know who you are when you walk in.
Listen to the Full Conversation
There is quite a bit more from my conversation with Bay Simpson than I have covered here, including his time touring with Dwight Yoakam and the guitar story Dwight told him that he could not stop thinking about, the early songwriting career that started at age eight with a song called "Nobody Knows," and his thoughts on what it is like to go out on live television and play with no band behind you. To hear the full episode, tune in to Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama on your favorite podcast platform and search for the episode featuring Bay Simpson.
All links are in the show notes. You can follow Bay on Instagram and TikTok at Bay Simpson Music, or find him on Facebook by searching Bay Simpson. His music is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and everywhere else. "Too Good to be True" and "Congratulations" are both out now. Start with whichever one matches your current mood.
And if you've ever wondered what it sounds like when someone from Muscle Shoals finally gets the room they deserve — now you know where to look.
