DONNA BROOKS

When Donna Brooks was growing up in Florence, Alabama, she had no idea that the epicenter of musical cool was happening across the river in Muscle Shoals. But even kids who weren’t aware that Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, or the Rolling Stones were stomping around the Quad-Cities area still managed to absorb the eclectic musical influences that floated down the Tennessee River. Country melodies and philosophy swirled in the air along with folk and rock and R & B and the blues. The Shoals loved music, not a genre.

So it was in this melodic crucible that Donna began writing, and her own work bears that same trademark blending of styles – she can sing like a bird or belt it like Bruce, and her songs might be reflective or rocking. But Birmingham’s own singer-songwriter has spent years honing her songwriting craft, so you can trust that whichever approach she uses, it’s going to be a good story or a funky groove. Donna’s latest EP “It’s Just Rain,” available on all streaming platforms, includes tracks wrestling with Donna’s recent diagnosis and triumphant battle with cancer. She is currently working on a full-length album called “Heart Like a Graveyard,” which will be more focused on her rock origins.