Distance: 133 miles

From Montgomery, travel Highway 82 to Tuscaloosa to visit the Alabama Blues Project . Here you can learn about blues legends and their role in the history of music in Alabama. Tuscaloosa is the hometown of Dinah Washington and final resting place of blues legend Johnny Shines .

When she was very young, Dinah moved with her family to Chicago and went on to become one of the most versatile and gifted vocalists in American music. Her hits include “What a Difference a Day Makes” and “Baby (You’ve Got What it Takes).” She also did a remake of fellow Alabamian Hank Williams’ song “Cold, Cold Heart.” Washington became a gospel star at age eight and was discovered by the legendary Lionel Hampton at age eighteen. She was one of the few women of her time to run her own booking agency, Queen Productions. Dinah Washington is known by all as “The Queen of the Blues.” The city of Tuscaloosa has renamed 30th Avenue in honor of Washington.

Like many blues players born in the South, Johnny Shines moved to several cities in the south, only to settle in Chicago for many years. Born in Tennessee, he returned to the South in the 1960s to live in his new hometown of Tuscaloosa. While living in the Tuscaloosa area, Shines taught guitar between his many engagements and in 1975 released “Too Wet to Plow,” one of his most acclaimed albums. His gravesite is in Cedarwood Cemetery south of Tuscaloosa. His daughter, Caroline Shines , carries on his blues tradition and performs regularly. The street where she lives off Crescent Ridge Road in Holt, a community adjacent to Tuscaloosa, has been renamed Johnny Shines Street .

While in Tuscaloosa, be sure to check out the more than 25 establishments in downtown that are the place for nightlife for both University of Alabama students and their visiting parents. Sitting on the corner of University Blvd. and Greensboro Avenue is Brown’s Corner Dueling Piano Bar and Grill . From this point you can walk in any direction and find live music most nights of the week, but especially if you travel one block toward the Black Warrior River to 4th Avenue. Here is where Little Willie’s Jazz and Blues Club , Rhythm and Brews , The Filling Station, Gnemi’s Top Shelf Bar and Capone’s 4th and 23rd are located. Other sites in Tuscaloosa to visit include the Bear Bryant Museum , Moundville Archaeological Park and the Westervelt Warner Museum.

Distance: 112 miles

Travel to the northwest corner of Alabama to the four adjacent cities of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscles Shoals . The largest of these small Alabama cities is Florence, but in the music world the best known area is Muscle Shoals.

Starting in the 1960s, top artists from around the world including Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones recorded their music in Alabama making Muscle Shoals the “Hit Recording Capital of the World.” You can tour the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the historic recording studios of FAME and the Jackson Highway location of Muscle Shoals Sound.

The artists who made up the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were first studio musicians working for FAME Studio. They later opened their own recording studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound . They became world renowned as the musicians, and/or producers, on such classics as “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett, “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon , “I'll Take You There” by The Staple Singers, and “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger. They have played on more than 500 LPs. Singer Leon Russell first tagged the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as “ The Swampers. ” The name was immortalized later in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “ Sweet Home Alabama .”

The most complete understanding of music in Alabama can be found at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia where memorabilia from careers of Alabamians such as Lionel Richie, Emmylou Harris , the group ALABAMA , The Commodores, Nat King Cole, W.C. Handy, Hank Williams and others are found. The Hall of Fame has its own small recording studio where you can sing over prerecorded songs from the Muscles Shoals Sound era. The Muscle Shoals area had its first international smash with Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman” recorded at Quin Ivy’s Studios in Sheffield. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield is also a part of the music history of the area.

Born in Florence, Sam Phillips became a producer, record label owner and the talent scout who is credited with discovering both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Phillips is also regarded as the Founding Father of Rock ‘n Roll. Be sure to check out The Swampers Lounge at the Marriot Shoals Hotel & Spa . The Sam Phillips Suite at the Marriott contains the Les Paul Gibson guitar that was given to Phillips in honor of his 50 years in rock ‘n roll and as Sun Studios founder. The guitar hangs in an alarmed glass enclosure in the suite. While guests cannot play the guitar, they can play the jukebox in the suite that has the recordings of Phillips’ artists. A framed picture of the suite’s namesake is also located in the room. Also check to see if the Muscle Shoals to Music Row is being held. You will see an upbeat live music show featuring hit songwriters and artists from across America and local Muscle Shoals performers. Broadcast locally on the radio and sent worldwide by Internet, the show  takes place inside the Singing River Room at the Marriott from 8-10 pm on Thursday evening during show season: approximately mid spring to late fall.

The Father of the Blues, W.C.Handy , was also born in Florence . Handy’s birthplace, a simple log cabin, is part of the W.C. Handy Home and Museum . Each year, the Shoals area hosts music festivals honoring both Phillips and Handy.

Other sites in the area to visit include Helen Keller Birthplace and the only structure in Alabama designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Rosenbaum House .