FLORENCE-Florence Lauderdale Tourism and Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area will host the Tennessee Valley Strummers during the W.C. Handy Music Festival on July 20 from 10:00 am- 12:00 pm. The free event will be held in the Visitor Center located in McFarland Park. The group plays at the center the third Friday of each month.
Jack and Terry Brewer are the founders of the Tennessee Valley Strummers which is made up of members from the Shoals area, Waynesboro and Collinwood. The Strummers have been playing together as a group for 6 years and perform at various locations around the northwestern region of Alabama.
English and Scottish people brought their music with them to America and then invented the Dulcimer to transfer Folk music into a performing instrument. Folk music sprang from the working class who sang about topics including the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, economic conditions, and hope. The middle class expressed their opinions about life through song and passed the songs down to younger generations to inform them of the history of their country.
Jack Brewer said, “The Strummers play more than two hundred and fifty songs during their performances. The group’s top 5 songs include: Amazing Grace, Golden Slippers, West Phala Waltz, Black Mountain Ray, and Sugar Hill.”
More information about Florence Tourism is available on our website at visitflorenceal.com
Media Release/Alison Stanfield, TMP – Director of Operations
Florence/Lauderdale Tourism
