It has been a process. The Music Fog crew left from two different cities to converge on Muscle Shoals, Alabama for the Paul Thorn Band in concert at the Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa this past Saturday night. We LOVE those guys, and, as always, it was a pleasure working with them. While cruising around the hotel, the common areas had about the best music on their PA system than I have ever heard in a commercial establishment. And all the stuff they played was recorded there. We got to meet Jerry Phillips, son of legendary Sun Records guiding light, and the father of rock and roll, Sam Phillips. I am so taken with the mysteries of the South, how American music grew out of here in its most unique way. It transcends this rural landscape; this unselfconscious, unassuming land. What, you don't know about Muscle Shoals legacy? In the early 1960s, Rick Hall brought FAME Recording Studios there. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Osmonds, Mac Davis, and Duane Allman came to lay it down. It was just a couple of hours south of Nashville. Not too hard to get to, yet far enough away to plant you in a different world, one with its own definitive cadence, mixing rock and country, rhythm and blues, black and white, sacred and profane.
Photo Credit: Stacie HuckebaAmericana MVP Will Kimbrough grew up on the other side of the state, on the Alabama coast, within earshot of New Orleans radio. He ingested a broad palate of sounds; rock, country, jazz, gospel, blues, folk, and punk rock. If today's era was like the musical landscape during FAME's reign, Will Kimbrough would be a household name. Let's face it, the man can do everything with grace, style, substance, and soul. He sings, he plays, he writes, he is an amazing performer. His songs have been recorded by a list of luminaries including Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Jack Ingram and Todd Snider. He has been onstage with another illustrious list, including Rodney Crowell, Mavis Staples, Rosanne Cash, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Gomez, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver...you get the idea. Honestly, the credits go on and on, and Will brings it whenever we see him. Though we still have tunes to bring you from his full band Americana Fest set with us, we had him come visit us solo during MusicFest at Steamboat in January. "Operator, give me Jesus, give me Elvis," I think Sam Phillips would have loved this. "I Don't Like It," originally on the Daddy album At the Women's Club. Oh yeah, and PLAY IT LOUD!
- Jessie Scott
