Muscle Shoals exhibit opens at Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. On November 13, 2025, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrated the opening of its next major exhibition Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising. The evening included special performances by:
Jason Isbell performing "Kodachrome," "Wild Horses" and "You Better Move On."
Bettye LaVette performing "Choices," backed by Spooner Oldham.
Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn performing "I’m Your Puppet."
Jason Isbell performing "Kodachrome," "Wild Horses" and "You Better Move On." Photo by Len Garrison, Seeing Southern.
Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising is now open for a nearly three-year run, closing in March 2028. The more than 5,000-square-foot exhibit surveys the emergence of Muscle Shoals as a recording epicenter in the 1960s and 1970s and spotlights its enduring cultural impact through today. The exhibit is included with museum admission and supported by OneLouder.
In a small corner of Alabama by the Tennessee River, local musicians, songwriters and producers created a swampy, Southern sound merging R&B, country, pop music and more. The museum’s major exhibit tells the story of this distinctive music and how Black and white creators found a way to work together at a time when segregation prevailed. Studios built a homemade system for cutting music dusted with grit and soul, including FAME Studio, helmed by producer Rick Hall; Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, home of the acclaimed Swampers house band; and more. Hitmakers flocked to this otherwise quiet community seeking a new sound created by homegrown talent.
Aretha Franklin had a career-defining moment in Muscle Shoals and Country Music Hall of Fame member Willie Nelson recorded his beloved Phases and Stages album there. Music recorded in Muscle Shoals included Arthur Alexander’s "You Better Move On," Mac Davis’ "Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me," Bobbie Gentry’s "Fancy," Wilson Pickett’s "Mustang Sally," the Rolling Stones’ "Wild Horses," Bob Seger’s "Old Time Rock & Roll," Paul Simon’s "Kodachrome," Percy Sledge’s "When a Man Loves a Woman," the Staple Singers’ "I’ll Take You There," Candi Staton’s "Stand by Your Man," Bettye LaVette’s "Your Turn to Cry" and much more. Enduring music continues to be made in the community today by the Alabama Shakes, the Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, the Secret Sisters, John Paul White and others, with artists continuing to record in Muscle Shoals and its surrounding areas.
The museum’s curatorial and creative teams conducted more than 50 hours of filmed interviews with musicians, artists and others involved in the Muscle Shoals story. They collected an array of significant artifacts for display, including stagewear, instruments, original song manuscripts and more. Interactive elements within the galleries incorporate audio recordings, original interview footage and historical photographs.
Exhibition catalog
An illustrated and in-depth exhibition catalog is now available to purchase. The catalog supplements the gallery presentation, with a foreword by Jason Isbell and main essays by exhibit co-curator RJ Smith. It features historical photographs and artifacts from the exhibit, as well as supporting essays by Ericka Blount, Rob Bowman, Warren Denney, Stephen Deusner, Michael Gonzales, Marlin Greene, Patterson Hood and Francesca Royster. The catalog will also be distributed widely in bookstores and online outlets through a partnership with the University of Illinois Press.
Opening weekend concert and programming
In support of the exhibit’s debut, the museum will host a concert celebration and variety of public programs during opening weekend. The concert and programs are made possible in part by PEDIGREE® and PEDIGREE Foundation. Tickets to the opening concert in the museum’s CMA Theater are sold separately, while programs in the Ford Theater are included with museum admission with reservations encouraged in advance.
Muscle Shoals: Opening Concert Celebration – Friday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. (CMA Theater)
The museum will host an all-star concert with artists and musicians involved in or inspired by Muscle Shoals’ musical legacy, including Jimmy Hall, Tiera Kennedy, Bettye LaVette, Wendy Moten, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Maggie Rose, Shenandoah, Candi Staton and John Paul White. The house band of Muscle Shoals aces will be led by guitarist Will McFarlane and includes Mark Beckett (drums), Mickey Buckins (percussion), Kelvin Holly (guitar), Clayton Ivey (keys), Shoals Sisters Marie Lewey and Cindy Walker (background vocals), Bob Wray (bass) and Brad Guin, Steve Herrman, Jim Hoke and Charles Rose (horns).
Songwriter Session with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham – Saturday, Nov. 15, at noon (Ford Theater)
Singer-songwriter Penn and keyboardist-songwriter Oldham first met in Muscle Shoals in the late 1950s and have been writing and playing songs together ever since. Together, Penn and Oldham have written songs for James & Bobby Purify, Percy Sledge, the Sweet Inspirations and others. Additionally, Penn wrote Conway Twitty’s 1960 hit "Is a Blue Bird Blue" and such classics as "Cry Like a Baby" (the Box Tops), "Dark End of the Street" (James Carr), and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (Aretha Franklin). Oldham played on "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (Aretha Franklin), "Mustang Sally" (Wilson Pickett) and "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge) and is Neil Young’s longtime keyboardist.
Panel Discussion: Making Music in Muscle Shoals with Marlin Greene, Linda Hall, Clayton Ivey and Candi Staton – Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2:30 p.m. (Ford Theater)
Greene, Hall, Ivey and Staton will discuss living and making music in Muscle Shoals. Hall, who has been called "The First Lady of Muscle Shoals Music," was married to FAME Studio founder Rick Hall for fifty-six years. She co-owns the studio and still keeps its books. Ivey played keyboards at FAME in the 1960s and recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio before he co-founded Wishbone Recording Studio. He played on Clarence Carter’s "Patches," Mac Davis’s "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me," Bobbie Gentry’s "Fancy," the Osmonds’ "One Bad Apple" and many more songs. Staton was born in Hanceville, Alabama, and grew up singing in the Jewell Gospel Trio. Her former husband, Clarence Carter, brought her to Muscles Shoals in 1968, where she became "The First Lady of Southern Soul" and also recorded a string of classic country-soul records. Greene was there at the beginning, recording for James Joiner’s Tune label. He has produced and played on Percy Sledge’s hits, and worked with Leon Russell, Boz Scaggs, Eddie Hinton and others at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.
Musician Spotlight with Mac McAnally – Sunday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. (Ford Theater) Producer, musician and singer-songwriter McAnally is a 10-time Country Music Association Musician of the Year. He came to Muscle Shoals when he was a teenager in the 1970s, made his first recording as a studio musician at Wishbone Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, and has also played on sessions at FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound studios. Among the songs McAnally has written are "All These Years" and "Thank God for You" (Sawyer Brown), "Back Where I Come From" and "Down the Road" (Kenny Chesney), "Old Flame" (Alabama) and "Two Dozen Roses" (Shenandoah). His songs have also been recorded by David Allan Coe, Ronnie Dunn, Sammy Kershaw, Charley Pride and Ricky Van Shelton. Additionally, McAnally is a longtime member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band.
Exhibition playlist
The official Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising exhibit playlist is now available on streaming platforms. The playlist features songs compiled by the exhibit’s curators and follows the exhibit narrative across decades of music.
Official press release
