Alabama's Music Heritage

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia honours all styles of music and is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Alabama's musicians and the state's great musical heritage.  The museum continues the celebration of Alabama music ranging from Hank Williams to Nat King Cole. The tourist attraction reopened to coincide with the attention created by the documentary ‘Muscle Shoals’ which features Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and others talking about the sound that came out of recording studios in the northwest corner of the state.

The Hall features the tour bus of the band Alabama, as well as wax work figures of  wax Hank Williams wearing an original stage suit and Nat King Cole at his piano. There are instruments, clothing and memorabilia from many other Alabama performers, including Lionel Richie, EmmyLou Harris, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge and Tommy Shaw of Styx. The hall is open from 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.

Down the road in nearby Florence, legendary figure W.C.Handy the ‘Father of the Blues’ was born in a simple log cabin in 1873.  This cabin is part of the W.C. Handy Birthplace, Museum & Library. This museum is open for tours Tuesday – Saturday. Handy composed famous tunes like the ‘St Louis Blues’ and ‘Memphis Blues’ and is honoured in the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival, a great celebration of Blues and Jazz, held every July in the Shoals area of Florence.

Jazz still echoes from nightclubs in downtown Birmingham at places such as Ona’s Music Room where founder Ona Watson, the youngest person to be inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, can often be heard. You’d expect Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city to add its own stamp to the music world and it doesn’t disappoint. Jazz enthusiasts head downtown to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame located in the historic Carver Theatre for the Performing Arts, this museum pays tribute to great jazz artists with ties to Alabama like Nat King Cole, Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Erskine Hawkins.

Montgomery, Alabama’s State Capital, is where Hank Williams lived from 1937 to 1948. Country music’s first superstar, Hank Williams, is an American music icon. The Hank Williams Museum documents the life of this Country Music pioneer famous for such classics as ‘Hey Good Lookin’ and ‘Cold Cold Heart’, also home to the annual Hank Williams Songwriting Contest.

Follow The Hank Williams Trail south to Mount Olive where he was born and to Georgiana his boyhood home as well as Andalusia where he married Audrey Sheppard, the influence for many of his songs. This trail is a must-do for any country music fans. Highlights include Montgomery where he lived and is buried.

Mardi Gras, often associated with New Orleans. actually started in Mobile. It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. For weeks, the streets of downtown Mobile are filled with the sights and sounds of live marching bands, brilliant-coloured floats and, of course, the crowds of parade goers that are part of Mardi Gras.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are resort towns with 32 miles of white sandy beaches where live bands perform at entertainment establishments including Florabama, the famous roadhouse beach bar right on the Alabama/Florida State Line. 

Hangout Festival is a multi-genre music festival that merges the biggest and best contemporary pop, rock, hip-hop, EDM, and indie music powerhouses on Alabama's Gulf Shores. Head to waterfront hangout Lulu's for great food, live music and fun times plus beach activities and scenic views or alternatively the colourful Hangout bar/restaurant known for its oyster cook-off, live music and party vibe in an open-air space.

2022 is set to be a huge year for the newly-opened Orion Ampitheater in Huntsville. Artists including Hank Williams Jr, Jack White, The Black Keys and Earth, Wind & Fire are all set to play the venue over the coming months.