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Muscle Shoals Article Archives

The Shoals Area Heats Up for the 31st Annual W. C. Handy Music Festival

It's almost that time again when the hills of North Alabama are alive with the sound of music. The 31st annual W. C. Handy Music Festival, which runs July read more...


Swampland's Top 25 Albums of 2011

As March fades and the first quarter of 2012 comes to a close, Swampland has used this moment to look back on 2011 putting together our list of last year's best music releases from the South. Although we've named 25 records on our Top 25 Albums of 2011, each one serves as read more...


"What Does the Lord Require of You But to do Justice...?"

By Patsy Glenn, Guest Writer


The Secret To A Happy Ending

The Secret To A Happy Ending A Barr Weissmann Documentary (ATO Records) By James Calemine                "The secret to a happy read more...


Rock and Roll in the Rocket City: Rocking The Army

by Jane DeNeefe First among Alabama cities to integrate public facilities relatively peacefully, Huntsville could thank musicians and read more...


The Roots of Rock and Roll in the Rocket City by Jane DeNeefe

Huntsville's rock and roll scene got its start in a racially segregated world. Black and white neighborhoods and business districts coexisted side-by-side downtown, with separate record stores, churches and night clubs. When Sun Record tours came through read more...


Young Man With A Horn: Ken Watters, Jazz Trumpeter Extraordinaire

"Ken Watters is one of the finest young trumpet players to come along in a very long while. His is a unique trumpet voice that utilizes the read more...


Widespread Panic's Michael Houser: Eight Years Gone

Michael Houser: The Quiet Genius: Eight Years Gone By James Calemine Eight years ago Widespread Panic’s founding guitarist died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 40. It doesn’t seem like eight years since he’s been read more...


The GRITZ Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook, Part Twenty-Five; Ronnie Van Zant

RONNIE VAN ZANT FOREVER! A Scrapbook  


Six Degrees of Swampland: Drive-By Truckers

  The Six Degrees of Swampland: The Drive By Truckers serves as a compendium of all DBT-related read more...


UA Press Releases Alabama's Civil RIghts Trail: An Illustrated Guide

This  amazing 350 page volume, Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom, is every person's guide to the last 150 years of the civil read more...


Athens Georgia's Finest: Patterson Hood's 2010 Guitar Pull

Athens Georgia's Finest: Patterson Hood’s 2010 Guitar Pull By James Calemine   A cold wind swirled down the streets of Athens, Georgia, on the evening of February 24. Wednesday night’s Guitar Pull was hosted by read more...


Six Degrees of Swampland: The Dickinson Family

       Jim Dickinson--The High Priest of Memphis Mojo--shines like a beacon of light in the music world. Dickinson’s indelible read more...


Lynyrd Skynyrd: Six Degrees of Swampland

   


Jerry Wexler and Muscle Shoals Music

by Dick Cooper On the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Jerry Wexler it becomes more evident to the extent of his contribution to Muscle Shoals Music. He died August 15, 2008 at his home in Sarasota, FL of congestive heart failure.


Alabama Filmmaker Robert Clem, Atticus Finch, and Big Jim Folsom

by Penne J. Laubenthal The New Yorker magazine, renowned for its esoteric analyses as well as its eclectic literary pieces recently published a provocative article entitled


Rags to Riches: From Anderson Books to Books-A-Million

By Penne J. Laubenthal The old Anderson Bookland store in downtown Florence, Alabama, will soon house the elegant corporate headquarters and retail store for internationally known clothing designer read more...


Billy Reid: A Touch of Southern Style in NYC

For lack of a better explanation the South is a place where city and rural cordially interact and blend daily.  This makes for a very interesting environment and culture - Billy Reid Nestled within a construction-filled street in the NoHo area of NYC, read more...


The Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook : Part Fourteen

Gregg Allman with The Allman Joys.  


The Allman Brothers Band: An Essential Link Through America's Music Generations

by James Calemine   “You don’t need no gypsy to tell you why/You can’t let one precious day slip by…”                    --Gregg read more...


Recruiting Never Ends in the South

When it comes to college football, just ‘Google’ the phrase “recruiting is the lifeblood” and you’ll see a ton of results. The fact that quality recruiting is the number one key for long-term success in the big-time world of college football has never read more...


Bo Bice: Six Degrees of Swampland

"He’s a really nice guy, and I read more...


Guest Blog by Dick Cooper: Remembering Jerry Wexler

by Dick Cooper This has been a hard time for me. Jerry Wexler was more than a mentor; he altered the forces of nature and changed the world for me. I was never sure why he read more...


What It Is--Is Swamp Music--Is What It Is

                                   What It Is—Swamp Music—Is What It Is


Chuck Leavell: Rolling Stone & Tree Farmer

read more...


Bob Dylan's Renaldo & Clara: Asleep In The Tomb

Bob Dylan’s Lost Classic Renaldo & Clara: Asleep In the Tomb By James Calemine "I've been read more...


The Ten Greatest Southern Rock Cities

by Michael Buffalo Smith   1. Jacksonville, Florida     The birthplace of


Eddie Hinton Does Porretta--Again!

by Penne J. Laubenthal Eighteen years ago in April of 1991 an Italian named Graziano Uliani, founder of the


The Top Ten Guitarists of the Southern Rock Era

The Greatest Guitar Slingers of The Southern Rock Era by Michael Buffalo Smith


Southern Sporting "Events"

by Patrick Snow As I attended a Kentucky Derby function this past Saturday, it was never more evident that Southerners must throw a pretty good party. We are probably more known


Gritz Legends of Southern Rock

A handful of bands from the Southern Rock Era have earned the title of  "Legend."  These are the bands that defined the genre and set the bar for all other bands in their wake. These are the few, the originals, the Legends of Southern read more...


New York City Southern Style: Alabama Studio Weekend in the Shoals

by Penne J. Laubenthal Imagine starting off your Saturday morning with the perfect Bloody Mary, garnished in typical southern fashion with pickled okra, and served to you by one of the country’s foremost clothing designers,


Legends of Southern Rock: Blackfoot

by Michael Buffalo Smith


Guest Blog by Dick Cooper: Delbert Needed a Drummer

By Dick Cooper Delbert needed a drummer. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the truth was Delbert read more...


SEC: Conference King Once Again

By Patrick Snow It’s an argument that will never end-whose Conference is better? Fans will debate this topic vociferously every season, and the answer always tends to lie close to your address. I’m not sure that the Bowl games are the best way to evaluate read more...


W.C. Handy Music Festival, Florence, Alabama, July 22-29

“If Beale Street could talk Married men would have to take up their beds and walk…” Beale Street Blues W. C. Handy wrote those words when he was read more...


Alabama Adventure Weekend

It is Earth Day 2007 and the Alabama sun is unseasonably hot. Summer is still two months away, but the living is already easy, especially in the Shoals area of North Alabama where I am spending the day at the


Reflections on Willie Nelson: The Complete Atlantic Sessions

WILLIE NELSON: THE COMPLETE ATLANTIC SESSIONS …A JOURNEY TO THE RESERVOIR OF AMERICAN COUNTRY & SOUL… by James Calemine “If America had one voice, it would be Willie’s…” - Emmylou read more...


The Jam for Duane: 2005

THE JAM FOR DUANE: 2005 by Mitch Lopate November 2005 Jam For Duane October 27-29 2nd Street Music Hall Gadsden, AL I’m tellin’ ya read more...


Mighty Field of Vision Internet and Radio Foundation Started

JOHN D. WYKER HEADS UP INTERNET RADIO STATION Decatur man's Internet station called a 'vision' of the future; music includes oldies, demos By Ronnie Thomas/Decatur Daily, Decatur, Al October, 2005 The read more...


John D. Wyker's Cat Tales - Eddie Hinton

AN EDDIE HINTON CAT TALE October, 2005 In The long, hot, stinking summer of 1984 Eddie Hinton caught a Greyhound Bus back into my hardware store, Hammer Swingin' Life...This was Hinton at his worst...No Nothin'...but a mean read more...


John D. Wyker's Cat Tales - Dan Penn

A DAN PENN CAT TALE by JD Wyker April, 2005 Conway Twitty's version of "Is A Bluebird Blue" was real important to Dan Penn...or should I say Wallace Pennington..It was the first real money he made as a read more...


John D. Wyker's Cat Tales - Macon & Capricorn Records

Macon & Capricorn Records Cat Tale The year 1969 was a wild and strange and crazy time for me.When the editor of GRITZ asked me to write a Cat Tale about the time I spent in Macon,Georgia I was honored to be asked and to be able to say read more...


Drive-By Truckers: Southern (Dis)Comfort

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Southern (Dis)Comfort: It’s Only Rock and Roll by James Calemine   I “People need trouble——a little frustration to sharpen the read more...


Duane Allman at FAME Studios: A J.D. Wyker Cat Tale

by John D. Wyker (First appeared in GRITZ Print Issue 7, Summer 2004) This is another Cat Tale about Duane Allman that took place back in the late 1960's at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Rick Hall was famous for read more...


Tom Dowd Memorial

TOM DOWD The Legendary Producer Dies on October 27, 2002 By Derek Halsey Last May I was invited to be backstage at the Grand Ole Opry as the guest of the excellent country and western singer, Joni Harms, whom I had interviewed read more...


Stanley Booth: Can I Get A Witness

Can I Get A Witness The True Adventures of Stanley Booth By James Calemine Winter 2000 Jack Kerouac was a writer. That is, he wrote. Many people who call themselves writers and have their names on books aren’t read more...


Remembering Eddie Hinton

Remembering Eddie Hinton "A Musician's Musician" by Dick Cooper Winter 2000 Eddie Hinton was a jewel. The many facets of his talent shone independently, and the whole was much greater than its parts. read more...


Johnson Family of Muscle Shoals

A Legendary Family by Dick Cooper, January 2000 Muscle Shoals music is hard to label because of its diversity. It is Rock, Pop, R & B, Country, Jazz, Folk, and most genres in between. While many influential people have come to the area and read more...


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