Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival Recap

The Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival presented by Marriott Shoals took place November 5 - 6. The 2nd annual songwriters event, which featured music royalty financing firm Sound Royalties as the Premier Partner, was two days of back-to-back performances, showcases, and after-parties in legendary venues across Muscle Shoals, including knockout solo acoustic sets by CMT’s 2021 Artist of the Year, Walker Hayes and a sold-out VIP party at FAME Recording Studios.

In addition, two Muscle Shoals legends were honored with the Dan Penn Lifetime Achievement Award. Born and raised in The Shoals, Walt Aldridge worked for 17 years at FAME Recording Studios. He has dozens of #1 hits, including "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" by Ronnie Milsap, “'Till You're Gone” by Barbara Mandrell, and "Holding Her and Loving You" by Earl Thomas Conley.

Legendary singer-songwriter, producer, and musician Dan Penn is the co-writer (with Lincoln “Chips” Moman) of such hits as Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and James Carr’s “The Dark End of the Street.” As a songwriter for FAME and its predecessor, SPAR Music, during the early 1960s, Penn was instrumental in the development of the Muscle Shoals music scene.

Other highlights included performances by GRAMMY Award winner Emily Weisband and hit songwriter Emily Shackelton.

In the two days leading up to the festival, the Shoals Songwriter Workshop took place, offering up a variety of networking opportunities, songwriter panels, a music publisher Q&A, mentorship sessions, a breakout jam session and more. Workshops featured Courtney Allen, Creative Director of BMG Music Group, GRAMMY-award winning songwriter Cliff Goldmacher, hit songwriters Phillip White and Brice Long, among others.