Alabama’s June Jam returns to Fort Payne

FORT PAYNE, Ala. – Country music group Alabama recently made a big announcement. And it will undoubtedly hit a high mark with their fans.

After accepting the VI Prewett Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce, founding band member Randy Owen told the audience what fans have been waiting for years.

“With Lisa and with Teddy, I’m here to tell you all, on June 3 of this year, we’re going to have another June Jam,” Randy said. Attendees at the event erupted in thunderous applause. In fact, it was hard to tell who was more excited, the crowd or the boys in the band.

Afterwards, Randy said to me, “Our wishes are that the love and work that we’ve put into it all these years, that the city takes that, and that it goes on forever. Alabama hosted June Jam in its hometown of Fort Payne for 16 years from 1982 to 1997.

“You know, we lost Jeff. We wanted to move on and make a statement that we’re going to continue to do this, help others, help the city, help the county, help the state, help people in general,” Randy told me, “And so when me and Teddy are gone, hopefully the town will carry on with the June Jam.

Founding member Teddy Gentry adds, “We have helped so many people with this and there are still so many needs that we see every day, people that we could help with the money. So we thought why not. Let’s try to pick ourselves up while we’re still healthy and can still do it.

For Randy and Teddy, it’s hard to get on stage and perform without their cousin. “Me and Teddy are just doing what we think Jeff would like us to do,” Randy said, “It’s been really hard going on tour without Jeff with us. But you know, he wanted us to go on and get our deal done. , so we did it, and the fans accepted it.

And no one would be more excited about another June Jam than Jeff Cook. “He loved the excitement and the sound. He always loved it and he loved his bass tournament,” Lisa, Jeff’s wife, told me, “Oh, he’d be thrilled to death.

When Jeff went public with his battle with Parkinson’s in 2018, 6 years after his initial diagnosis, he told fans he didn’t want the fun to end. “That’s right Jerry,” Lisa said, “He said I never wanted the music to stop or the party to end.” And it won’t.

The last song Jeff recorded with Alabama was “No Bad Days” on the album Southern Drawl. “And he’s all good,” Lisa said, “No bad days and he just liked to laugh. He liked everyone laughing and having fun.

And when the music plays at VFW Fairgrounds in Fort Payne on June 3^rd, Jeff will be there in spirit. “As long as everyone is laughing and having fun, Jeff will be smiling at the event,” Lisa added. She also tells me that a celebration of Jeff’s life is also planned for June 3rd^rd to coincide with June Jam.

We don’t yet know who will be joining Alabama in Fort Payne for the next June Jam, but as soon as we know the lineup and when tickets go on sale, you’ll be the first to know. You can always check the Alabama band’s website to keep up to date with future concert dates.