By Debbie Wilson
Executive director, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
What a year!
Everything slowed down or came to a standstill all over the world. But not the music. Music continued to be created, listened to and loved. COVID-19 did not take away our love for music or the desire to pour our hearts out in a song or in creating a melody. In the coming months and years, we are going to smile, laugh, cry and be profoundly touched by the music that has been created during a challenging time for the world.
At Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, in Sheffield, we kept the music playing. For many, the music recorded at our small studio is the soundtrack of their lives. The studio is on their bucket list of places to travel. The idea of a bucket list is enjoying a surge of popularity all over the world. Whatever language you speak, there is a similar thought and phrase for “bucket list.” We recently produced a small concert with our Muscle Shoals musicians at our studio for French travel agents via Zoom. We talked about their phrase for “bucket list” and it is “C’est quelque chose que j’ai toujours reve,” which translates in English to ”something I’ve always dreamed of.” I love that because it’s a universal concept. The past year gave us more time to yearn and plan to do the things we’ve always dreamed of. We are yearning to travel and check off those items on our bucket list.
Grown men cry in our studio when they stand in the place where the Rolling Stones recorded “Brown Sugar” or Bob Seger sang “We’ve Got Tonight.” Women stare at the corner where Mick Jagger shook his shakers during three magical days in 1969. When a place inspires a powerful emotional connection, you know it is truly special and worthy of being on the bucket list of thousands of people around the world.
The past year’s numerous challenges meant that the bucket had to be shuttered, like many businesses and activities in the world. It’s time to get your bucket out of your closet and start filling it once again. We hope you start your journey to fill that bucket in north Alabama and visit our numerous sacred places and outdoor spaces. At Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and within the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, we are back in the “bucket list” fulfillment business. Go to www. Musclehoalssoundstudiol.org to learn more.
