It is sure to be a special night when Sundilla returns to the place it all started with an outdoor concert at Pebble Hill featuring A Muscle Shoals Revue with the Amy Black Band. The show will be co-sponsored by Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and takes place on Thursday, July 14, at Pebble Hill, 101 S. Debardeleben St. in Auburn. Showtime is 7:30, and admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (A limited number of VIP and SPONSOR packages are also available.) We’ll have a good number of chairs available, but feel free to bring a comfortable collapsible chair, just in case.
Amy Black and her talented band present a high energy show with a mix of soul, blues, country and rock-n-roll. Amy’s third solo release, The Muscle Shoals Sessions (June 2015) was recorded at historic FAME studios in her family’s homeland of Muscle Shoals, AL and features Spooner Oldham, an original Muscle Shoals Swamper. The result was, “a blend of sultry desire, ardent passion…a sound that’s both tough and tender (Relix). “To showcase her true potential as a bluesy, R&B heavy hitter, Amy Black had to go home. Blacks soulful chops shine. (Elmore)
For Amy Black, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has always held a special magic. Her parents were born there, and some of her fondest memories were made during frequent visits to both sets of grandparents. She spent so much time in the Shoals, it felt more like home than many of the places shed actually lived. She even knew the local hangouts and town lore. Or thought she did.
Black remembers passing FAME Studios often; it was right on the main drag. But she had no awareness then of its musical history or impact, much less any inkling that shed wind up making music her career. Little could she know that one day, a session with the legendary Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham would launch her on a journey of discovery that would give her an even deeper connection with a place she loves. After Oldham, one of Muscle Shoals original Swampers session players, was serendipitously invited to perform on her 2013 EP The Muscle Shoals Session, her interest in the sound and its story was awakened. She fell so in love and felt so at home with the sweet soul music he’d helped craft decades before, she expanded the EP into an entire album of Shoals classics and seamlessly blended originals.
Recording the album at FAME, Black never fails to nail the spot where gospel, blues and R&B collide and transform into soul. Blues in Britain wrote, Black Is blessed with a deeply soulful voice that melds elements of Dusty Springfield, Mavis Staples and Alberta Hunter. Inspired by Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples and so many others who recorded some of modern musics most iconic songs in this little Alabama hamlet, Blacks project pays homage to magic made at both FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, as well as to her beloved grandparents, and the cherished memories she carries of childhood sojourns.
So join us at Pebble Hill on Thursday, July 14, for what promises to be a very special evening. (In the case of inclement weather, the show will move inside.) We’ll have food, water and coffee available, and invite everyone to bring their own favorite food or beverage. NO GLASS ALLOWED!
$15 advance tickets are available at Pebble Hill, Spicer’s Music, Blooming Colors, and online at www.sundillamusic.com. Admission at the door is $20. Contact Sundilla about VIP and Sponsorship packages!