FLORENCE-Hot sounds and cool indoor temps are the perfect setting for this year’s Handy Fest. The Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa will host four performances during this year’s festival. Bishop Gunn will play songs from their Natchez album (the first recorded at the renovated Muscle Shoals Sound Studio) , The Lamont Leaders Band will play joyful funk and the internationally known Velcro Pygmies will rock the Marriott Shoals. Handy Week festivities at the Marriott Shoals will conclude on Friday, July 27 with a massively cool air-conditioned street festival inside the Marriott Shoals Conference Center and featuring the Kerry Gilbert Band & Rewind. More details below.
Tuesday 7/24/18
Marriott Shoals Presents: Bishop Gunn & Friends
Start time: 7PM
Cost: $10, tickets available at Eventbrite.com or at the door
Doors open at 6:00PM, Cash Bars all Evening
Sponsored by: Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Big River Broadcasting, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios
Bishop Gunn: Bishop Gunn of Natchez, Mississippi, is rooted in the history and sounds of their home and the surrounding Delta, and features a blend of rock and roll, soul and blues. The group consists of vocalist Travis McCready, Drew Smithers on guitar, Ben Lewis on bass and Burne Sharp on drums. Bishop Gunn released their debut full-length album Natchez in May 2018. They worked on the release with Grammy Award-winning producers Casey Wasner and Mark Neill at legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and FAME Studios, as well as The Purple House in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. The album, named after the band’s hometown, entered the Billboard charts as the #4 Blues Album and also appeared as #8 on their Heatseekers South Central chart. Rolling Stone Country featured the band among their “Artists You Need to Know,” asserting “anyone can cite the Muscle Shoals sound as an influence, but few acts can actually pull off making music worthy of such a claim. Nashville band Bishop Gunn is one of those acts…The resulting music is the perfect blend of Nashville and the Shoals, and is the rare album that builds upon its influences rather than resorting to outright mimicry.”
Wednesday, 7/25/18
Marriott Shoals Presents: The Lamont Landers Band
Opening act at 6:00 pm Blind the Sky
Location: Marriott Shoals Conference Center
Start time: 7PM TO BE CONFIRMED
Cost: $10, tickets available at Eventbrite.com or at the door
Doors open at 6:00PM, Cash Bars all Evening
Sponsored by: Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Big River Broadcasting, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
Lamont Landers: Born and raised in Alabama, Lamont Landers grew up absorbing the soulful sounds of the south that surrounded him. At the age of 14 he taught himself how to play guitar, and at the age of 19 began singing. He spent years quietly honing his talents behind his bed room doors, listening to records by Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Sly & The Family Stone, and Ray Charles on repeat. At the age of 22 a candid video recorded by his sister of him performing the Ray Charles’ classic “Hit the Road Jack” went viral on YouTube, and with the help of Reddit.com garnered over 400,000 views overnight. His YouTube channel now has over 11,000 subscribers and over 1.9 million views, and his four-piece outfit, The Lamont Landers Band has since become a staple in college towns and perform across the southeast bringing their joyful noise of Soul, Funk, and R&B to audiences of all sizes.
Thursday, 7/26/18
Ray Miller Buick GMC Presents: Velcro Pygmies opening act Love is War
Location: Marriott Shoals Conference Center
Start Time: 7:00PM
Cost: $15, (All Ages) tickets available at Eventbrite.com or at the door
Doors open at 6:00PM, Cash Bars all Evening
Sponsored by: Ray Miller Buick GMC, Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Big River Broadcasting, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios
Velcro Pygmies: The Velcro Pygmies travel the country year round – from the Gulf Shores to the Great Lakes – to share the sights, sounds and stain-washed denim of the glorious ’80s, schooling audiences on the difference between a rock band and a rock show. From start to finish, they command the stage with a prowess uncommon in today’s industry, and they leave you begging for more. No gimmicks or tricks, just undiluted rock ‘n’ roll energy that unites every race, creed, age and gender. The Velcro Pygmies are more than just a band – they are a way of life. They’re a nitro-fueled Trans Am prowling the streets at dusk, looking for some action – satisfaction all night.
Friday, 7/27/18
The 10th Annual Massively Cool Air-Conditioned Street Festival
Featuring The Kerry Gilbert Band & Rewind
Location: Marriott Shoals Conference Center
Start Time: 6:00PM
Cost: $15 with BBQ Buffet, tickets available at Eventbrite.com or at the door
Doors open at 5:00PM, Cash Bars all Evening
Sponsored by: Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Big River Broadcasting, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios
Kerry Gilbert Band: For a quarter of a century, the Kerry Gilbert Band has been giving audiences a musical experience unlike any other. Using his more than 30 years experience in the music industry, the band’s founder and leader, Kerry Gilbert has consistently assembled Muscle Shoals Music’s finest musicians to serve as members of his KGB. Whether they’re delivering Southern Rock, Country, R&B classics, or traditional Gospel, they do it all with their own brand of Muscle Shoals soul and unforgettable harmony, mixed with a good dose of laughter. KGB fans will tell you that a KGB performance comes with several guarantees: You’ll hear amazing music that your entire family can enjoy together…and you always leave a KGB performance feeling better than you did when you came! The KGB members consists of: Kerry Gilbert (vocals, guitar), Randy Kimbrough (drums), Mitchell Curtis (bass, vocals), Hugh Banks (lead guitar, banjo, vocals), Shane Goodson (keyboard, vocals), & Alyssa Ashley (percussion, vocals).
For more on the Handy Festival, visit www.wchandymusicfestival.org.
Media release/Bill Lang/MARRIOTT SHOALS
