SHEFFIELD – “A Birthday Evening with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham,” taking place November 19 at the Historic Ritz Theatre in Sheffield.
The evening celebrates Penn’s 85th birthday and brings together two artists whose work helped shape the Muscle Shoals Sound.
When we tell people about Colbert County, music is always part of the conversation.
We talk about the studios, the songs and the artists who came to Muscle Shoals to record. Some of our
most remarkable stories, though, belong to the musicians and songwriters whose talent helped give
those artists a reason to come.
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham are two of those people.
On Thursday, November 19, 2026, they will take the stage at the Historic Ritz Theatre in Sheffield for “A
Birthday Evening with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham,” celebrating Penn’s 85th birthday. With tickets
starting at $37, the evening offers residents and visitors a chance to hear music and memories from two
artists whose partnership helped shape Southern soul.
“In the late 1950s, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham met at the city drugstore in Florence, Alabama. They
are pioneers of the Muscle Shoals Sound,” said concert organizer Johnny Belew. “A rare opportunity to
hear them back in the Shoals where it all began.”
Their story is woven into the history of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. After the day’s recording
sessions ended, Penn and Oldham would keep working, writing songs and recording demos late into the
night.
“We’d write two or three songs a night,” Penn recalled in an account published by The Last Music
Company.
Oldham offered a reflection of his own: “We were in a good place at a good time. And we enjoyed the
process of writing.”
That place was here. The songs they wrote would reach listeners around the world.
Together, Penn and Oldham wrote classics including “I’m Your Puppet” and “It Tears Me Up.” In a 2024
interview with SongwriterUniverse, Penn recalled engineering James and Bobby Purify’s recording of
“I’m Your Puppet” at FAME, with Muscle Shoals musicians playing on the session. Their collaboration
became a record that generations of listeners have come to recognize and love.
Penn’s songwriting helped shape soul music in both Muscle Shoals and Memphis. Oldham’s keyboard
work can be heard on recordings by Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, alongside his accomplishments
as a songwriter. Their contributions help explain why the name Muscle Shoals means so much to music
lovers far beyond Alabama.
For Colbert County Tourism, this evening brings together the heritage we share with visitors and the
people who helped create it. Visitors can explore the places behind the records, then hear from two of
the artists whose work made those places famous. Those of us who live here have that same
opportunity, close to home.
It is also a chance to invite someone into the story.
Call the friend who always knows every word when one of these songs comes on. Invite family from out
of town. Make plans for dinner in Sheffield before the show, then spend an evening hearing the songs
and the memories behind them.
Colbert County Tourism is helping spread the word about this independently organized concert. We
hope our neighbors and visitors will join us in supporting an evening that celebrates a meaningful part of
this community’s musical heritage.
“Come join us November 19 at the historic Ritz Theatre for a night to remember,” Belew said.
“A Birthday Evening with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham” begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 19,
2026, at the Historic Ritz Theatre, 111 W. Third St., Sheffield. Encore Room doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets
start at $37 and can be purchased at tennesseevalleyarts.org.
These songs have traveled around the world. On November 19, hear from the men behind them, right
here in Colbert County.
Media Release/Maryanne Floyd/Director of Communications
