shoal music - kentmarketing.com.au … · rock’n’roll, r&b/soul, gospel, southern gospel,...

–116– vacationsmag.com

BY julie miller

Shoal muSic– america’s heart

Julie Miller visits the home of American music, from Nashville to New Orleans, with a few surprises in between.

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With his trucker’s hat and molasses Southern drawl, our lunch companion at Claunch Café in Tuscumbia, Alabama, appears to be a good ol’ boy,

a regular country hick with a penchant for trapping and skinning rattlesnakes.

But as Travis Wammack recounts the story of his life, I realise that the man polishing off his beans and rice is actually a Big Deal, not just in this humble neck of the woods, but in the American music scene. Wammack is, in fact, a legend – a gold-album selling artist, band leader for Little Richard and The Osmonds, an inductee into five music halls-of-fame and a stalwart of what’s known as the ‘Muscle Shoals Sound’.

This is a man who should be living the high life, reaping the rewards of rock ‘n’ roll fame; instead, he chooses to live in a sleepy corner of Alabama, a place as languid as the Tennessee River that flows through its midst.

It’s a little known fact that The Shoals – a collective of four neighbouring towns: Tuscumbia, Florence, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals – was once the recording capital of the world, producing hit after hit during the 1960s and ‘70s. You may not

“Approaching The Shoals through acres of powderpuff cotton fields,

it’s hard to believe that this nondescript rural outpost just

over the Tennessee border launched some of the biggest recording

artists in the world”

RIpe pICkIngS

Clockwise from left: Cotton fields near Muscle Shoals; Street musicians, new Orleans; Welcome sign at Muscle Shoals; Artist in Jackson Square.

Opposite page: Country music superstars Rascal Flatts perform at the grand Ol’ Opry.

Opening image: new Orleans is awash with music.

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know the name, but the music Muscle Shoals created in just a handful of studios is unmistakeable – the funky beats of Wilson pickett, Aretha Franklin, percy Sledge and etta James; the Rolling Stones classics Brown Sugar and Wild Horses; and later, the genesis of American Southern Rock through artists such as Bob Seger, Dr Hook and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“Magic is the word that comes to mind for me when I think of Muscle Shoals,” Bono (from the band U2) says at the beginning of the award-winning documentary entitled Muscle Shoals, which tells the story of this incredible time and place in music history. “It’s about alchemy, about turning metal, the iron in the ground, the rust, into gold.”


FAMe gAMe

Clockwise from right: A restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana; FAMe studios, Muscle Shoals; Crescent City bridge over the Mississippi River; Mcgee’s Landing, new Orleans during the French Quarter Festival.

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The man behind the Muscle Shoals phenomenon was the obsessive and highly individualist producer Rick Hall, operating a home-assembled mixing desk in a simple ‘70s-style bunker he named FAMe Studios. In its half-century history, FAMe has been involved in recording or publishing records that have sold more 350 million copies worldwide, making it the most improbable hit factory in music history. It was here that Travis Wammack teamed up with Rick Hall, his distinctive ‘fuzz tone’ guitar licks heard on hit records that sold over 60 million copies for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson pickett, Mac Davis and Clarence Carter, amongst others. Wammack also recorded his Top 10 single, Love Being Your Fool, in 1975 at FAMe.

FAMe’s session band – “a bunch of white guys that looked like they worked in the supermarket around the corner,” according to Bono – were called The Swampers, who eventually went on to form their own studio, called Muscle Shoals Sound Studio (sometimes known as 3614 Jackson Highway, its street address). This later moved to another location on the riverfront, which now operates as Cypress Moon Studio.

Approaching The Shoals through acres of powderpuff cotton fields, it’s hard to believe that this nondescript rural outpost just over the Tennessee border launched some of the biggest recording artists in the world. For music lovers, however, a visit to the still-operational recording studios that broke down racial barriers to create a truly universal sound is an essential part of what’s now called The Americana Music Triangle.

Incorporating the area between Memphis, nashville and down to new Orleans, this triangle is actually the birthplace of nine distinct musical genres: Blues, Jazz, Rock’n’Roll, R&B/Soul, gospel, Southern gospel, Cajun/Zydeco and Bluegrass. each one represents a collision of cultures, ideologies and technologies, and resulted in what’s collectively been called “America’s greatest cultural export”.

At the northern tips of the triangle are the two musical big guns: Memphis and nashville. Memphis is credited as the birthplace of rock’n’roll, with Sam phillips’ Sun Studios producing the likes of elvis, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Memphis is also the home of the blues, and created its own brand of soul music at two major studios, Stax and Hi Records during the 1960s.

nashville, of course, needs no introduction – as well as being the home of country music, it is the second largest recording and production centre for all musical genres (after new York City). The city simply emanates with the twang of guitars, from newcomers trying their luck down on Broadway to established stars lighting up the treasured stages of the Ryman Auditorium and the grand Ol’ Opry.

now in its 90th year, the Opry is America’s longest-running weekly radio broadcast in the world, and the show that brought country music to the world. For recording artists, performing at the Opry is a badge of honour, an accolade not to be taken lightly. each performance showcases the talents of at least eight artists, including legends such as Dolly parton, Loretta Lynn and Riders in the Sky as well as contemporary stars such as Blake Shelton, kelsea Ballerini and Rascal Flatts.

Just south of nashville, the historic town of Franklin is positioning itself as ‘the centre of Americana music’, a quieter, more authentic version of nashville where musicians actually live (keith Urban and nicole kidman have a home here) and play in small, intimate venues such as kimbro’s (which has a bar made entirely of vintage radios) and puckett’s grocery and Restaurant.

Franklin is also the home of VivanashVegas, a ‘hillbilly roots’ radio program hosted by country music ‘royalty’ george Hamilton V and featuring new artists and country music legends; while the inaugural pilgrimage Festival – held in September on a century-old horse farm in Franklin – featured a diverse lineup including Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Weezer and Jimmy Cliff, and attracted up to 10,000 fans each day.

As you travel south on the ‘gold Record Road’ into Mississippi and Louisiana, so the soundtrack becomes rawer, swampier, a melange of styles reflecting the cultural melting pot and the moody landscape of sugar plantations, live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, and endless delta wetlands with drowned cypress forests, long-legged herons and lurking ‘gators.

This is Cajun country, a unique culture borne of French-Canadian immigrants who settled in the swamplands in the mid-18th century, adapting their language,

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cuisine and arts to local conditions. This resulted in two distinct musical genres: Cajun, which utilises the accordion and fiddle in a two-step waltz; and Zydeco, upbeat stomping dance music created by an accordion and washboard (or frottoir) made of corrugated iron and worn like a vest. This latter style bears the influence of jazz, blues and rhythms of the Creoles, yet another cultural potpourri incorporating mixed-race free men, African slaves and Afro-Caribbean refugees.

Which brings us to the pinnacle of the Americana Music Triangle – new Orleans. Jazz, soul, blues, rock’n’roll, Cajun – it all comes together in n’Awlins (as the locals call it), with hundreds of bars on rowdy Bourbon Street and beyond featuring live music of every genre. With go-cup in hand (new Orleans is one of the only cities in the USA that allows drinking on the street), the idea is simply to wander, allowing the music to guide you, to determine your experience of this wondrously vibrant city.

For purists, a visit to the beloved presidential Hall is mandatory, an essential part of the story of new Orleans Jazz.

This tiny, no-frills space – which opened its doors in 1961 to protect and honour traditional music – is filled to capacity every night, with the luckiest punters seated on cushions at the feet of the house band.

There are two performances a night at preservation Hall, each lasting just an hour. But mark my words – during this time, you’ll hear some of the best jazz renditions in the world, a brilliant showcase for some truly remarkable talent. pull up a cushion, and get those toes tapping!

As the jazz great Louis Armstrong said, “There’s only two ways to sum up music; either it’s good or it’s bad. If it’s good you don’t mess about it, you just enjoy it.” •

Photography by Julie Miller and New Orleans Tourism

DeLTA BLUeS

Below: French Quarter musicians, new Orleans.

Right: A Cajun band in Lafayette, Louisiana.

GettinG theReQantas flies daily from Sydney to Dallas, with internal transfers to nashville with partner airlines American Airlines. qantas.com.auDelta flies daily to Nashville connecting via LAX or Atlanta. delta.com

tOuRinG theReAmericana Music Tours offer 14-day, personally-guided tours of the American Music Triangle - an area stretching from nashville to new Orleans to Memphis. The Triangle is recognised as the birthplace of nine different genres of American music, including Country, Bluegrass, R&B, gospel, Rock & Roll, Jazz, Creole Zydeco, Soul and Blues. The next tour is on from 2-16 March, 2016. americanamusictours.comThe American Queen Steamboat Company has many tours in the south including a nine-day cruise on the Lower Mississippi River between new Orleans and Memphis. Follow in the footsteps of history on the American Queen, the largest river boat ever built. This cruise allows passengers to discover the romance of the antebellum era, the lively Cajun culture and battlefields of the Civil War. aqsc.com

FuRtheR inFORmatiOnTravel South USA: travelsouthusa.com

travel facts

TEL: (02) 9959 1355 EMAIL: [email protected] WWW.AQSC.COM

NEW ORLEANS THE BIG EASYDon’t let your Lower Mississippi cruise end at the dock. Immerse yourself in Southern culture when you choose a “Big Easy” City Stay and enjoy an additional three days and two nights in New Orleans. Unwind in the New Orleans Intercontinental Hotel located in the fabulous French Quarter which has everything you need to make your stay as relaxing as your voyage on the American Queen. Located just a short stroll from your door is everything that makes this city famous: The French Quarter, Jackson Square, Harrah’s Casino, the Central Business District and New Orleans’ legendary Bourbon Street.

INCLUDES: « Two nights deluxe accommodations at the New Orleans Intercontinental Hotel « Two full American breakfasts « New Orleans Highlights Tour « Admission to Mardi Gras World « Transfer from the American Queen to the hotel or vice versa « Local American Queen Steamboat Company representative to answer questions « Private transfer from the hotel to the airport or vice versa

FARES FROM: US$499^ per guest - Double Occupancy US$699^ per guest – Single Occupancy *Can be done post-voyage on 14 Aug 16 sailing and pre-voyage on 04 Sep 16 sailing.

ASK ABOUT OUR OTHER GREAT CITY STAY EXTENSIONS & SHORE EXCURSIONS ON OFFER!

CITY STAY EXTENSIONS

UNIQUELY THEMED AMERICAN VOYAGES

Mississippi

Inaugural VoyageMightyof the

Have you ever wondered what this country looked like to its early explorers and pioneers? Traveling on the Mississippi and its tributaries aboard the elegant American Queen, you will be transported back in time to an era of leisurely and romantic travel. Storybook American towns and vibrant, bustling cities combine with the sweeping panoramas and deep blue lakes which inspired the works of Mark Twain. Authentic America is out there just waiting to be explored and after three fabulous weeks cruising amidst the Antebellum charms and gracious style of the American Queen, you will forever be changed.

THEMED VOYAGESOur uniquely themed river cruise voyages feature special entertainment creating a river cruise experience unlike any other. Themes range from Music of the 50’s and 60’s, to Good Old Summertime and Big Band Swing. Here’s a sample of what you can expect.Music of the 50’s and 60’s Let the 1950’s come alive as you hear Frank Sinatra’s dulcet tones sour in ‘’Come Fly with Me’’ or Nat King Cole’s ‘’Unforgettable’’. Or relive the groovy 60’s, heyday of peace, love and rock and roll.Big Band Swing “Get in the mood” when special onboard guest orchestras play the tunes you know so well, all in the original arrangements that made them legendary. If you’re a fan of the big bands, this is a sentimental journey you won’t want to miss.

American QueenI n c l u s i on s

Deluxe hotel stay before your voyage – includes breakfast, taxes, porterage and transfers to the American Queen.

Signature Hop-On Hop-Off Shore Excursions included in each port of call.

Complimentary wine and beer with dinner.

Complimentary cappuccino, espresso, bottled water and soft drinks throughout your voyage.

Daily lectures by the Riverlorian, our onboard history and culture expert.

Acclaimed nightly entertainment worthy of Broadway.

Themed voyage entertainment and events.

Priority check-in and pre-boarding on embarkation day.

Steamboat Society of America membership.

Special in-room amenities.

Preferred dining room seating.

Complimentary laundry services.

Exclusive City Tours in St. Louis and Memphis.

FARES ($US) (per person, Twin Share)

St Paul to New Orleans14 August, 2016

New Orleans to St Paul4 September, 2016

Segments also available

Outside Stateroom

Deluxe Outside

Superior Outside

$9,428* $10,403* $10,828*

$10,403* $11,508* $11,978*

22 NIGHTS / 23 DAYSST PAUL TO ST LOUIS (OR REVERSE)

TERMS & CONDITIONS:*Sales to 31 March 2016 or until sold out. Valid on new bookings only. Not valid for group bookings or existing reservations; cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts. Fares are per person in US dollars based on double occupancy and include port charges as at 01 December 2015. Prices are based on Outside Cabin Cat. B, Deluxe Outside Cat. A, Superior Outside Cat. AA. Insurance, gratuities, land transportation and airfare are additional. Fares and amenities are capacity controlled, may vary by sailing and may be withdrawn without notice, subject to availability and currency fluctuations. Single passengers must pay a single supplement. ^ Prices shown for 2 night pre-cruise city stay packages reflect a credit for the included pre-voyage hotel stay. All city stay pricing, availability and package information is subject to change without notice. The New Orleans pre-cruise city stay package is only available on select voyage dates. Please request brochure for full terms and conditions.

shoal music - kentmarketing.com.au … · rock’n’roll, r&b/soul, gospel, southern gospel,...

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