Exploring Muscle Shoals : Insights on Nashville's Music History and with Paul Kingsbury from the Country Music Hall of Fame

Summary

Podcast Summary: Exploring Muscle Shoals – Insights on Nashville's Music History with Paul Kingsbury

Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Date: December 11, 2025
Host: Sarah Harrelson (Guest Host for "Takin' a Walk, Nashville")
Guest: Paul Kingsbury (Senior Director of Editorial and Interpretation, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the new exhibit “Muscle Shoals: Rhythm Rising” at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Host Sarah Harrelson speaks with Paul Kingsbury about the intertwining histories of Nashville and Muscle Shoals, the artists and session players who gave rise to some of music’s greatest hits, and the transformative power of collaboration across boundaries. Together, they offer listeners a virtual tour through the exhibit, unpacking the stories behind iconic artifacts and discussing the broad influence of Muscle Shoals on American music.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Muscle Shoals Exhibit: Origins and Purpose

(01:54 – 04:04)

• The exhibit, three years in the making, will run for three years at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
• Research and artifact gathering reached beyond North Alabama, including loans from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and private collectors.
• The exhibition features a variety of artifacts and an immersive audio-visual experience, including Wilson Pickett’s “Land of a Thousand Dances” looping at the entrance.

Paul Kingsbury [02:06]: “We worked on this exhibit for about three years to do all the research and contact everybody we needed to fill this up.”

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2. The Connection Between Nashville and Muscle Shoals

(03:43 – 04:41)

• Muscle Shoals is only a 2.5-hour drive from Nashville and has always had intertwined music communities.
• The Fame Studio and its rhythm section led to a migration of key session players to Nashville in the mid-1960s, strengthening the bond between the two scenes.

Paul Kingsbury [04:26]: “The rhythm section… moved up to Nashville and became a team of session players up here.”

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3. Opening Concert and Celebrating Muscle Shoals Artists

(04:41 – 05:36)

• The exhibit opened with a live concert featuring artists like Bettye LaVette, Maggie Rose, and Shenandoah, celebrating the songs of Muscle Shoals.
• Kingsbury singles out Bettye LaVette’s energetic stage presence as a highlight and praises Jimmy Hall’s performance.

Paul Kingsbury [05:06]: “Bettye LaVette…late 70s now…dancing all over the stage. She really brought the energy.”

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4. Iconic Artifacts and Their Stories

(05:36 – 08:41)

• Artifacts include:
  • Candy Staton’s 1970s costume and stories of her musical versatility.
  • Sam Phillips’ and Arthur Alexander’s memorabilia, including Alexander’s passport and royalties ledger.
  • Aretha Franklin’s piano from her career-making sessions at Fame Studio and an early 1970s dress.
  • Wilson Pickett’s costume from the "Best of Wilson Pickett Vol. 2" album cover and mention of Duane Allman’s guitar work.
  • Two guitars played by Duane Allman, showcasing his history as a session musician before founding the Allman Brothers.

Paul Kingsbury [06:52]: “Aretha Franklin turned around her whole career when she came to Muscle Shoals in 1967…that launched her whole career to become the Queen of Soul.”

Paul Kingsbury [07:33]: “He’s matched lick for lick by Duane Allman…who was then a session musician.”

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5. The Social Impact of Muscle Shoals Music

(08:41 – 09:54)

• The exhibit underlines how music at Muscle Shoals transcended racial boundaries, especially significant during the civil rights era.
• Black R&B artists and white session musicians created hits together, long before such collaborations were widely accepted.

Paul Kingsbury [08:53]: “A subtext of this exhibit is that music brings people together…they did this all under the radar [before] the Civil Rights act was passed in ‘64.”

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6. Attracting Global Talent to Muscle Shoals

(09:54 – 11:11)

• Muscle Shoals became a magnet for American and international artists, including Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Cher, the Osmonds, Traffic, Joe Cocker, and notably the Rolling Stones.
• The Rolling Stones recorded “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses” at Muscle Shoals due to visa complications in LA, finding creative freedom in the town’s obscurity.

Paul Kingsbury [10:47]: “…if we go to Muscle Shoals, nobody’s paying attention. They recorded Brown Sugar…Wild Horses…both big hits.”

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7. The Magic of the Exhibit: Interactivity and Immersion

(11:20 – 13:40)

• Artifacts from The Staple Singers, Pops Staples’ guitar, Cleotha, Yvonne, and Mavis Staples’ costumes.
• Bob Dylan’s platinum record for "Slow Train Coming," recorded in Muscle Shoals.
• The exhibit spans 5,000 square feet, includes more than 13 studios, 50 hours of video interviews, clips from the 2013 Muscle Shoals documentary, touchscreens, and a digital jukebox with 60 songs.

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8. Extending the Experience: Visiting Muscle Shoals

(13:47 – 14:14)

• Visitors are encouraged to drive to Muscle Shoals to tour Fame Studio and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, which host regular music events.

9. The Broader Museum & Other Exhibits

(14:37 – 15:50)

• Highlights other Country Music Hall of Fame exhibits: Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson, Roseanne Cash, 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry, and the permanent country music history walk.
• The American Currents exhibit is updated annually to reflect recent trends and notable artists.

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10. Educational Impact & Community Engagement

(15:50 – 16:35)

• The museum offers extensive education workshops for families and children, with schedules available online.
• The Taylor Swift Education Center hosts frequent, family-friendly programming.

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11. The Evolution of Nashville’s Music Scene

(17:26 – 18:56)

• Paul Kingsbury reflects on Nashville’s transformation: more venues, diverse genres, and a revitalized downtown, with the museum playing a part in the city’s cultural revival.

Paul Kingsbury [17:48]: “…it didn’t used to be the music town that it is now…we have dozens of great venues…[we helped] the whole revival of downtown Nashville.”

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12. Muscle Shoals: More Than Just Country

(18:56 – 19:11)

• The exhibit demonstrates that Muscle Shoals’ legacy reaches across genres—R&B, rock, soul, country—just as Nashville now does.

Paul Kingsbury [19:11]: “…even people who aren’t hardcore country fans would enjoy the Country Music Hall of Fame and certainly the Muscle Shoals exhibit…”

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13. Favorite Walking Spots in Nashville

(20:02 – 21:30)

• Kingsbury enjoys walking the museum, especially by Kris Kristofferson’s original manuscript of "Help Me Make It Through the Night."
• Also praises Nashville’s outdoor spaces: Radnor Lake and Warner Parks.

Paul Kingsbury [20:51]: “He started to talk about real adult relationships, sexuality to some extent…in a very poetic way. Of course, it’s become a standard.”

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the essence of Muscle Shoals:
  “Music brings people together. They wanted to cross racial boundaries…Black R&B singers getting together with crack session musicians that were white…making incredible music.”
  — Paul Kingsbury [08:53]

• On Aretha Franklin’s transformation:
  “She had been recording for years but never had a hit until she came to Muscle Shoals…and that launched her whole career to become the Queen of Soul.”
  — Paul Kingsbury [06:52]

• On capturing the museum experience:
  “We have the original song manuscript that Kris Kristofferson wrote…a very transformative song...I love walking past this and looking at this.”
  — Paul Kingsbury [20:51]

• On Nashville’s revival:
  “We like to feel like when our museum moved…downtown in 2001, we were part of the whole revival of downtown Nashville.”
  — Paul Kingsbury [18:56]

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Timestamps by Section

• [01:38] Introduction to Exhibit and Guest
• [02:06] Exhibit Origins & Gathering Artifacts
• [03:43] Nashville–Muscle Shoals Connection
• [04:41] Opening Concert Highlights
• [05:36] Featured Artifacts Tour
• [06:52] Aretha Franklin’s Piano Story
• [07:33] Wilson Pickett & Duane Allman
• [08:53] Racial Collaboration & Civil Rights Context
• [09:54] Global Artists Recording in Muscle Shoals
• [10:47] The Rolling Stones’ Muscle Shoals Sessions
• [11:20] Staple Singers and Interactive Exhibit Features
• [13:47] Encouraging Visits to Muscle Shoals
• [14:37] Other Museum Exhibits
• [15:50] Educational Programming
• [17:26] Nashville’s Evolution
• [18:56] Muscle Shoals — Not Just Country
• [20:02] Paul’s Favorite Walking Spots

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Conclusion

The “Muscle Shoals: Rhythm Rising” exhibit is a vivid, hands-on celebration of a small town’s colossal impact on global music. Through stories, artifacts, and interactive experiences, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum connects the soulful creativity of Muscle Shoals with the ongoing evolution of Nashville—showing that great music knows no boundaries.

Transcript

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[Podcast Producer / Narrator]

Taking a Walk, Nashville.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Hi, I'm Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a Walk, Nashville, and today I'm here with the senior director of Editorial and interpretation at the Country Music hall of Fame and Museum, Paul Kingsbury. Thank you so much for being on Takin a Walk, Nash.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Well, thanks so much for having us, Sarah.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. So we're here, and the new Muscle Shoals Low Rhythm Rising exhibit, it just opened, and it's going to be here at the Country Music hall of Fame and Museum for three years, correct?

[Paul Kingsbury]

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So people have lots of opportunity to come see this. We're really excited because we worked on this exhibit for about three years to do all the research and contact everybody we needed to to fill this up.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Wow. So all of the artifacts that we're seeing as we walk through here today are from the Shoals?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah, well, they are now in some cases. We had to reach farther afield than North Alabama. We got some items for the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. They loaned us some. We got some from other places, but we definitely had a lot of interaction with the North Alabama community. All around Muscle Shoals to make this happen.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Very cool. Well, I am excited to walk through it, definitely explore it and tell listeners about the artifacts we're seeing today.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah, I'll just tell folks that, you know, when you walk in the exhibit, you can maybe, maybe listeners can barely hear in the background. We have Wilson Pickett's famous Land of a Thousand Dances playing, because we have a little looped video that gives people a taste of all the many folks who worked and recorded in Muscle Shoals and made major hits. And then we've got this wonderful wall display of.

Lots of photos of some of the famous people who came to, wrote to Muscle Shoals to record, like the Rolling Stones and Bob Seeger and Arthur Alexander and Wilson Pickett and Percy Sledge and Aretha Franklin. And we'll hear about those as we walk through.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah, there's so many different artists that have come down to the Shoals to record. And, you know, Muscle Shoals is only about a two and a half hour drive from Nashville. So when the hall of Fame decided to do this exhibit, was it because there's such a strong connection between Nashville and Muscle Shoals?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Well, yeah, there is. And also, you know, we've long been aware of the powerful music that was made there. An interesting connection that we talk about in this exhibit is that one of the key, the first key studio in Muscle Shoals, the Fame studio.

The rhythm section, the guys who were who were playing backing on the sessions there, they were so good that in 1964, after they'd been recording there for about five years, they moved up to Nashville and became a team. Session players up here.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Wow. And we got to see some of those session players here the other night during the exhibit celebration concert, it was such a great night. There were. They were celebrating the songs of the Shoals with BAE Lavette, Maggie Rose, Wendy Mountain, Shenandoah, many other artists. And it was so cool just seeing spoon roll of them there. Did you have a favorite moment of the night during the opening concert?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Well, I really loved when Betty Levette, you know, who's. I guess she's in her late 70s now, got up and she was. When she was singing, she was dancing all over the stage and she really brought the energy, I'll tell you that. You know, a guy who's been in Nashville a long time, Jimmy Hall, I mean, he, he knocked it out of the park too, when he sang things like Land of a Thousand Dances. I mean, yeah, there was a lot of energy in that show.

[Sarah Harrelson]

So much energy. Everyone was great it was such a great kickoff, too, this exhibit. And there's so many great artifacts in here. As we're walking around, I saw you had a costume from Wilson Pickett. What other artifacts can we expect to see?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Oh, my gosh. Well, when people walk in, they're going to see a costume from the 70s from Candy Staton, who was one of our artists who performed at the concert. She told us she's 85 years old. She was fantastic. And she recorded a lot of great songs that were covers of country music, songs that she did in her own R and B way. And. Yeah, in terms of artifacts, I mean, we're walking past a case that shows the roots of Muscle Shoals music and famous people like Sam Phillips, who starred Sun Records in Memphis, and Arthur Alexander, one of the first big artists to come out of Muscle Shoals. They're represented here with artifacts. We've even got Arthur's passport and the ledger he used to keep up with the royalty payments that he made.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Very cool. And I think over there, we have Aretha's piano that she played.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yes. That's a centerpiece of the exhibit. So Aretha Franklin turned around her whole career when she came to Muscle Shoals in 1967, and she had been recording for years, but never had a hit until she came to Muscle Shoals and she recorded the famous song I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love youe with Muscle Shoals musicians, and that launched her whole career to become the Queen of Soul.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Wow. So special.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah. So we've got that on loan from the FAME studio. We've got a beautiful dress from the early 70s from Aretha.

We just passed Wilson Pickett's fabulous costume here that he wore on the COVID of his Best of Wilson Pickett Volume 2 album, the album that includes his famous cover of the Beatles, Hey, Jew, where he sings his heart out. And he's matched lick for lick by Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers, who was then a session musician. And not only do we have Wilson Pickett represented here, but if we walk down here, you'll see we have two guitars that Duane Allman plays.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Which, you know, those are both on loan, and we're really excited to have them both. And people know the Allman Brothers music, but they may not know that for a period before the Allman Brothers got started, Duane was really psyched to be able to be a session musician playing behind great R and B artists.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Muscle Shoals, there's so many great artifacts here in the museum. What do you hope people will Take from this when they explore this exhibit.

[Paul Kingsbury]

I think, you know, a subtext of this exhibit is that music brings people together. And the people who made the big hits in Muscle Shoals, both the artists and the producers, the entrepreneurs, wanted to cross racial boundaries. Right. And so early on, with so many hits from Muscle Shoals, it was.

Black R and B singers getting together with crack session musicians that were white in Muscle Shoals. And they kind of did this all under the radar because this was in the era when civil rights was still trying to take hold and before the Civil Rights act was passed in 64. And so you had black artists, white musicians making incredible music. And eventually, as this exhibit tells the story, it went beyond just black artists and white musicians.

Bustle Shoals became a magnet for artists from not only all over America. And we're talking about artists like Paul Simon and Bob Seeger and Cher and the Osmond Brothers. We're also talking about artists that came over from England, like the Rolling Stones and Traffic with Stevie Winwood and Joe Cocker, all recording in Muscle Shoals because the music was so powerful and they wanted to get into the studios with these players.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. And speaking of under the radar, Muscle Shoals is a pretty small town, so it was definitely a great way to. For multiple artists of different genres to come together and record. But I also heard Rolling Stone, you know, they were coming over from the UK and they had a little bit of trouble recording in LA because of their green card. So Mussel Shoals was the perfect place for them.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah, yeah. They talked to some folks who said, hey, you know, we can kind of get under the radar if we go to Muscle Shoals. Nobody's paying attention there. Right. And so they came in, recorded three songs. Two of their biggest, they recorded, you know, they recorded Brown Sugar. You recorded Wild Horses there. While there are Muscle Shoals and both big hits.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. And Tiara Kennedy did a great job of Wild Horses.

[Paul Kingsbury]

She sure did at that concert. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Well, what else is there for us?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Well, so we're actually looking at a case right here. I'm sure a lot of people still know the classic RB song I'll Take youe There by the Staple Singers. We have the tresses for the Three Sisters and the Staple Singers, along with the suit in Telecaster guitar of Pops Staples, their father, who was in the band. So we've got the. The costume, stage costumes, Cleotha, Yvonne and Mavis Staples right here in front of everybody. We've got a gold. I'm sorry, a platinum record that Bob Dylan got for recording in Muscle Shoals for his album Slow Train Coming.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Very cool. And you said this exhibit is 5,000 square feet.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah, yeah. And in addition to all of the artifacts that are on display, people will get to see clips of interviews. We did 50 hours of interviews with people in Muscle Shoals and they can see clips that we've cut on TVs here. We've got also clips from a very well done documentary on Muscle shoals back in 2013. We've got touchscreen interactives and if you want, we can walk up to those and you can play with them for a moment. We've got a 60 song jukebox people can listen to. We've got information on the session musicians, on the songwriters, on the recording studios. Because there's more than one studio that was active in Muscle Shoals.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah, you have the Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, quite a few studios.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah. I think we have 13 studios featured in or interactive. Let's see, if we go to studios, you'll see we've got a whole thing here where, of course, we've got fame and we've got Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. And people can read a little bit of history. They can swipe through photos of these places. And if they want to hear music, they can go to our jukebox. You can play anything you like here. Here's a famous song. This is I'm youm Puppet by James and Bobby Purify, written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham.

[Sarah Harrelson]

I like that you selected that one. That's a song my mom would always play, play for me and sing to me when I was little.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Really? That's wonderful.

[Sarah Harrelson]

One of my favorites. Yeah. Well, this is a great way for people, if they're coming in Nashville to see this exhibit. And then they can even just drive down to Muscle Shoals.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Sure they can. They can check out new. You can go and get tours of Fame Studio and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

They regularly have music events there that people can go hear.

I would hope that people would come here, experience some of this, and take some of these stories and music with them. We've got a great full color companion book that we created to go with the exhibit that people can pick up in our museum store or buy online. In fact, if they don't come here, they can get it on Amazon if.

[Sarah Harrelson]

They want, of course. And this is going to be a very popular exhibit. But if people are coming here to visit, what other exhibits do you recommend that they explore?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Oh, here in the museum. So we have a fabulous exhibit on Dolly Parton. We collaborated with her last year or earlier this year on that. We got Dolly Parton, we got a chance, huge exhibit on Lainey Wilson. We have a great exhibit on Roseanne Cash, a pretty new exhibit that we opened this fall on 100 years of grand Ole Opry history. And we also have our permanent exhibit in the museum that's kind of a walk through country music history from earliest commercial origins and pre commercial origins at the beginning of the 20th century on up to the present day. And then we every year we refresh an exhibit in early spring called American Currents, which covers the big events and prominent artists of the previous year. So if people want to see who we've got represented for the year 2024, we've got that all up in American Currents right now, too.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Very cool. There's always so many different exhibits coming in and out of here, here. And in addition to that, there's always events happening here. You have the Taylor Swift Education Center. You have shows on the weekends, usually Songwriter Rounds on Sundays. So people have kids. Can they do any sort of workshops?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah, we have lots of. We have lots of education workshops on the weekends. And we encourage folks to go to our website, Country Music hall of Fame.

Go look. We have a. We have a calendar of events really easy to access, and people can see any particular date they want to visit. But for families and kids, the weekends, you know, Saturday and Sunday are a good time to come through.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. And the concert we saw on Friday was at the CMA Theater, which is always a wonderful venue to see shows as well.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah. Yeah. That's an 800 seat theater. And we have many different kinds of shows appear there. And I believe coming up December 20th, we have singer, songwriter Steve Earle coming in to do a show for us. Okay. If you get a membership, then you can attend all of these programs. Attend the museum for free. You get a discount at our store. It's a pretty great deal. I have several friends who are members, and I just be like, wow, this is an amazing deal. You come in, see concerts, one of a kind concerts you couldn't see anywhere else for free. And then you could drop in with your friends and family anytime.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Wonderful. That's something to look forward to. I love to see the rest of the exhibit. Paul, you've been in Nashville for quite a while and, you know, throughout the Country Music hall of Fame's time, it moved from Music Row to downtown. It's been through so much change. What do you think of the change? You have seen in Nashville over the years.

[Paul Kingsbury]

I'll tell you, one change that I love, that people don't talk about very much is I've been in Nashville many years, and it didn't used to be the music town that it is now. It used to be, I can tell you, in the 80s and into the mid-90s, there just weren't that many concerts and nightclub shows available. But over time, the music industry has refocused, and you can hear any kind of music you like here in Nashville now. We have dozens of great venues, and that's one thing I love. The other thing that surprised me over the years is how vibrant downtown Nashville has become, because in the 80s and 90s, it was. It was a little sketchy downtown. And we like to feel like when our museum moved from Music Row here, downtown in 2001, we were part of the whole revival of downtown Nashville. And we. We take some pride of ownership in how Nashville has come back so big in downtown.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. And it's not. Not just country music here in Nashville anymore, which is why I think it's special the Shoals exhibit is here because so many different genres came out of the Shoals, and I think that's what's happening with Nashville. So many genres of music are coming out of here now.

[Paul Kingsbury]

Yeah. You know, I would say even people that are not sure that they're hardcore country fans would enjoy the Country Music hall of Fame and certainly this Muscle Shoals exhibit, because it's not just about country artists like Willie Nelson or Shenandoah or Bobby Gentry, who recorded here. It's about Carl Simon. It's about the Rolling Stones. It's about Aretha Franklin. It's about Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, the Staple Singers. All different kinds of music came out of Muscle Shoals. And I think folks will also find as they go through the museum, that many artists that they might have some awareness of. Blaney Wilson, Roseanne Cash, Dolly Parton. They're going to find out about them in depth and see how they connect with the wider world of music.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. Very cool. Absolutely. And, Paul, we're on Taking a Walk Nashville. So I always love to ask this to our guest, but do you have a favorite place you like to take a walk in Nashville? Is it here in the museum?

[Paul Kingsbury]

Well, I can't say that. I mean, I love the museum. I walk through the museum regularly because I like seeing some of these things over and over again. I'll show you a thing that we are proud to be able to display. We have the original song manuscript that Kris Kristofferson wrote of Help Me make it through the Night. And if you can see, he wrote it odd. The stationary of his publisher, Monument and who's also his record label. And this was a very transformative song.

Because he started to talk about real adult relationships, sexuality to some extent in a way that country music hadn't gone to before. But he did it in a very poetic way. And of course, it's become a standard, so. So I love walking past this and looking at this. I mean, if I'm trying to get people to come to Nashville, I will also say we are blessed with amazing forest parks all over Nashville. And because I'm an outdoor guy, I mean, love to go to Radnor Lake, love to go to Warner Parks. But hey, if you want to do something indoors, please come to the Country Music hall of Fame.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Absolutely. There's always something new to check out here, I think. Well, Paul, thank you so much for being on Taking a Walk Nashville today. And everyone can check out the Country Music hall of Fame and Museum and the Muscle Shoals exhibit for the next few years.

[Paul Kingsbury]

All right, thank you, Sarah.

[Podcast Producer / Narrator]

Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with singer songwriter Sarah Harrelson. And check out our other podcasts, Music Saved Me, Comedy Saved Me, and Taking a Walk, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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