Alvin Garrett

Alvin Garrett moves fluidly between contemporary R&B and gospel as a bassist, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Tuscaloosa yet identified as a Birmingham, Alabama native, he began performing with Freestyle Nation and Just a Few Cats. The second of those groups included Ruben Studdard, who later hired Garrett as musical director once Studdard achieved solo success after American Idol. Throughout the early 2010s Garrett also partnered with Jordan Knight, Johnny Gill, and Noel Gourdin. His most visible credits from that period include Dove- and Grammy-nominated gospel projects for Deitrick Haddon and Trin-i-tee 5:7. In 2012 he issued the sleek contemporary R&B album Expose Yourself on his own imprint and kept supporting other performers from behind the scenes. Subsequent work encompassed recordings by Alexis Spight, Joe, and the Nick & Knight collaboration between Nick Carter and Jordan Knight, before Garrett delivered the 2015 single “By Myself” featuring Studdard on lead vocals.