- State tourism award winners announced
- The Muscle Shoals Sound finally gets its due
- Plans for Gulf State Park take shape with $135 million restoration project
- 20 of the most charming beach towns across America
- New location of Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo roaring forward to higher ground
- Sorry everybody everywhere. Decatur, Ala., barbecue is best
- Dothan featured in BBQ Pit Wars on Thursday
- Alabama Restaurant Week climbs to 87 participating establishments
- U.S. Space & Rocket Center marks the 70th anniversary of VJ Day
- NASA lands at the Exploreum Day
- Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism 2015 Mobile App
- Jason Isbell’s brilliant new album Something More Than Free
- Alabama artists and craftspeople
- Alabama Tourism Department (ATD) upcoming events
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State tourism award winners announced
Thirteen state tourism industry awards will be presented Monday night at the Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism being held Aug. 2-4 at the Renaissance Battle House Hotel in Mobile, officials announced.
Dr. Lawrence J. Pijeaux, Jr. of Birmingham will be inducted into the Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame. Dr. Pijeaux retired in May after serving for 20 years as the President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
The new GulfQuest National Maritime Museum in Mobile will be named as the 2016 Attraction of the Year. This will be the first museum dedicated to the Gulf Coast’s rich maritime traditions and only the third interactive maritime museum in the world when it opens in September.
Boomdays Heritage Celebration in Fort Payne will be acknowledged as the Event of the Year. Boomdays started ten years ago and has grown into a leading music, arts and heritage event.
Gulf Shores-Orange Beach Tourism has had several record setting years in marketing the state’s top tourism destination and will be named the Tourism Organization of the Year.
Heiko Einfeld will receive the Tourism Executive of the Year award for his longstanding leadership role in the state’s tourism industry and his continued commitment to excellence as executive director of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Award-winning journalist and humorist Kelly Kazek will receive the Media Award for her weekly Odd Travels feature for AL.com.
The Coastal Alabama Partnership will accept the Tourism Partnership Award for its continuing work in bringing regional leaders together to advocate for the coastal area’s top priorities.
Selma Mayor George P. Evans will be presented with the Government Advocate award for his leadership in the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March.
JoJo Terry of the Alabama Tourism Department will receive the Employee of the Year award for her work as digital marketing director and regional director for the Gulf Coast area.
Carmen Bishop with the Dothan Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will receive the Rising Star Award for her work in rebranding and promoting the Dothan area.
The Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s #iHeartHsv campaign will be presented with the Alabama Themed Campaign award for its success in using social media to raise destination awareness.
The Monroeville Chamber of Commerce will receive the Director’s Award for its work in organizing the Monroeville launch of Harper Lee’s book “Go Set A Watchman.”
The Governor’s Tourism Award will be presented to the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s “Majestic 3” marketing campaign. “Majestic 3” highlights the best assets of the three state parks located in the county: Lake Guntersville, Cathedral Caverns and Bucks Pocket State Park.
Tourism conference speakers
The tourism conference will also feature industry workshops and speakers. Coastal Alabama Partnership CEO Wiley Blankenship and Carol Hunter with the Downtown Mobile Alliance will be keynote speakers.
Southern Living publisher Greg Schumann will be at the conference to give attendees an inside look at the magazine’s operations as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
“More than 225 tourism professionals from across the state will be attending this three day educational conference,” said state tourism director Lee Sentell. “This is our opportunity to bring in experts to present the latest trends in tourism marketing. Tourism is an $11.8 billion industry in Alabama and has shown an increase of more than 79% over the last 12 years,” he said.
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Mobile County Commission President Jerry Carl will welcome attendees to the city during the general session on Sunday. Living Lands & Waters President and Founder Chad Pregracke will speak on conservation tourism. Alabama Bicentennial Commission Executive Director Jay Lamar will give an update on activities being planned for the bicentennial of the state.
Kristian Aboud with Delta Safaris will speak on his vision for tourism in the Delta and Alabama’s other natural habitats. Karlos Finley will speak on the Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail. Travel marketing expert Art Webb will share the essentials of successful branding.
The staff of the Alabama Tourism Department will present an annual update Sunday afternoon.
The Muscle Shoals Sound finally gets its due
By Alan Light, The New York Times, July 21
Even with its elite musical legacy, Muscle Shoals, Ala., has never quite gotten the same kind of accolades as Detroit or Memphis — that is, until recently.
In the 1960s and ’70s, that tiny town — population around 13,000, according to the most recent census — on the south bank of the Tennessee River was the unlikely site of historic soul, rock and country recordings by everyone from Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett to Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones. Dozens of classics came from this place, including “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You),” “Mustang Sally” and “I’ll Take You There.”
Despite this rich legacy, Muscle Shoals, while recognized, rarely got a klieg light’s worth of interest. But a resurgence began in 2013 with Greg Camalier’s acclaimed documentary, “Muscle Shoals.” Since then, there’s been a memoir, “The Man From Muscle Shoals,” published in April, by Rick Hall — the founder of FAME Recording Studios, where the town’s long run of hits began, and an announcement last week that Johnny Depp’s production company plans to develop a television drama series based on the area’s musical history. And last Wednesday, Lincoln Center kicked off its Out of Doors series with a tribute to Muscle Shoals, featuring members of the onetime FAME house band, known as the Swampers, and guests that included the soul legends Sam Moore and Bettye LaVette. (A panel discussion with some of the musicians was on Tuesday.)
Muscle Shoals isn’t only about the music; the story is all the more remarkable because some of history’s greatest black singers were traveling into the Deep South, at a time of tremendous racial tension, to record with a white producer and a mostly white band. The small group of musicians even survived a split at its creative peak into two factions, reaching greater commercial heights despite a painful and personal rivalry.
“When you’re in a small town, you don’t have the potential to pick from what you would have in a big city,” Mr. Hall said, “and I wondered how our records could possibly be going to No. 1 with the little schooling I had in the music business. But we cut them from the heart, not from the chart.”
In an interview in his room at the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan, Mr. Hall pointed out that he had finished his memoir before the documentary came along, working with his diary entries from the glory years. The producer, 83, looked dapper in a checked jacket and red shirt with matching pocket square as he reflected on his life and the early days of FAME (which stands for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises).
The Swampers guitarist Jimmy Johnson noted in a phone interview that although Muscle Shoals musicians grew up in the South, their influences came not from country music but from Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Ray Charles. “When people would ask, ‘Why do you sound so black?’ that was the greatest compliment you could give us.”
The results were nothing short of world-changing — a flood of soul masterpieces, most released on Atlantic Records, that put FAME’s output on a level with that of Motown and Stax Records. Mr. Hall added that he thought Mr. Pickett’s 1968 version of “Hey Jude,” featuring Duane Allman’s blistering guitar leads, “invented Southern rock.”
Trying to define what made the Muscle Shoals sound distinctive, Mr. Hall described the way that the records were built up from the rhythm set by the bass and the kick drum, and the horn lines that were often adapted from his childhood training as a country fiddle player. He also noted that he often recorded ballads, while Motown kept things up-tempo, and that the stories and characters in FAME’s songs were “close kin” to the lives of Southern black people.
The Swampers bass player David Hood offered a different explanation. “We never really wanted a defining sound,” he said in a telephone interview. “We wanted to sound like Paul Simon’s band or the Staple Singers’ band. If you came to Muscle Shoals, you could get a pop or rock or rhythm ’n’ blues sound, because we did it all.”
In 1969, the Swampers (name-checked in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”) broke with Mr. Hall, setting up their own studio, naming it Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, though it was actually in nearby Sheffield. As rockers like Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan sought out the region’s magic, they followed the musicians rather than the producer, and a rivalry erupted.
“It broke my heart when they left, and I was furious,” Mr. Hall said of the Swampers’ defection. “It was a war for five years, but time changes things and we became friends again.” He also repeatedly emphasized that the Swampers were just one of three house bands he worked with at FAME.
The burst of attention has helped the small town. According to Mr. Hood, the Muscle Shoals film led to an upswing in tourism and more work for the musicians. “All of a sudden, after 50 years, people learned that all this music had been recorded here,” he said in a telephone interview.
Now, with the television series in the works, the improbable legacy of Muscle Shoals seems set to extend into the future. “We tried to do things that were impossible,” the guitarist Mr. Johnson said, “and we accomplished what we set out to do.”
To read this entire article online, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/arts/music/the-muscle-shoals-sound-finally-gets-its-due.html?ref=topics&_r=0
Plans for Gulf State Park take shape with $135 million restoration project
By Marc D. Anderson, AL.com, July 24
As part of the final open house for the $135 million Gulf State Park Restoration Project master plan, the public was asked to describe the 6,150-acre park in one phrase.
Most of the descriptions focused on the enjoyment of coastal Alabama’s environment, capturing the essence of the project’s vision-building process: “Alabama’s Natural Playground,” “Where Alabama Meets the Shore,” “You and Nature Connected,” and “Explore, Discover, Play.”
Dozens of individuals passed through the Gulf Shores Adult Activity Center recently to see and comment on the final ideas for the park’s master plan. Boston-based Sasaki Associates, under the purview of The University of Alabama System, is leading the design team.
“Based on the feedback we’ve received so far from the two open houses, the online survey and the stakeholder meeting, we really developed a short list of ideas and we’re still listening and asking folks if we got it right,” said Jill Allen Dixon, Sasaki’s project manager for the Restoration Project.
Dixon said the common thread among the proposed changes is making the park “a place where every visitor can connect with nature.”
“It all comes back to the goal of making the park an international benchmark of environmental and economic stability,” she said.
The entire project is being fueled by $85.5 million in federally approved oil spill recovery money from BP, with a target completion date in 2018.
An additional $50 million bond issue stalled during the recent legislative session, but state Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, who attended Thursday’s open house, said he will reintroduce the bill during the special session on August 3.
“The governor’s office has asked me to introduce it and I’m going to introduce it,” McMillan said. “There are some people from out of our area and some within our area that want to use some of the BP money to make up the difference. So we’ll see.”
After looking over the latest master-planning ideas, McMillan said he was impressed.
“Very little of it is set in concrete so we’re anxious for the public to give us some input,” McMillan said. “They’re really doing some unique things and going out of their way to get public input. It’s really interesting.”
To read this entire article online, go to: http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/07/future_of_gulf_state_park_take.html
20 of the most charming beach towns across America
By Rebecca Shinners, Harper’s Bazaar, May 22
Country Living recently asked their Facebook fans to share their picks for the best beach towns in America, and more than 1,000 of you chimed in! From known tourist destinations to smaller seaside gems, here are some of our favorite nominations featuring colorful homes, sandy beaches, and clear skies.
Gulf Shores, Alabama
Gulf Shores used to be a bit of a hidden treasure, but now the secret’s out—more and more families are discovering its weekend getaway potential and heading to this town situated on the Gulf of Mexico. Find adventure, fun, and relaxation on its white-sand beaches, made of quartz grains washed down from the Appalachian Mountains.
For more information, visit gulfshores.com.
To read this entire article online, go to: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/travel-dining/g5755/20-charming-beach-towns-across-america/
New location of Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo roaring forward to higher ground
By Brian Kelly, AL.com, July 24
It’s taken several years but it appears the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores is on the move to higher ground is taking shape at its new location in Gulf Shores.
Proof of the long-awaited move was revealed on Monday when about 200 private donors attended a VIP event at the future location of the zoo.
There, guests got a glimpse of the pond area as well as the master plans. On hand was Patti Hall, director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Hall addressed the tent full of people about the plans of the zoo as well as her gratitude for those who donated money. But Hall stressed that more money is still needed to make the move happen.
“We need the collective passion of the community, the larger business community and the individual donors to champion this cause,” said Patti Hall, director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. “We are ready to move forward with the future plans for the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.”
Plans to relocate the zoo have been in the works since 2006 when local business owners Clyde Weir and his daughter Andrea Weir Franklin donated 25 acres on Baldwin County 6, just east of Ala. 59, to the nonprofit Zoo Foundation, which operates the park. The gift came after the Weir family witnessed multiple evacuations of the entire zoo at its current low-lying tract on Ala. 59 near the beach during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and others.
The zoo was swamped by storm surge and floodwaters by Ivan and then Hurricane Katrina in 2005. All of its nearly 300 animals had to be evacuated to zoo director Patti Hall’s home in Elberta before both storms.
The evacuation and recovery efforts were documented on the Animal Planet series “The Little Zoo That Could” in 2006 which became a huge hit. The exposure thrust the zoo into the national spotlight and boosted donations, gift shop sales and attendance, all of which are the nonprofit’s sole source of funding.
As for when the zoo will open its doors, Hall hopes in the next few summers. “If all goes well, I’m hoping for an opening of March of 2017,” Hall said. “Our organization was born through passion for the community, we have survived many obstacles because of passion and now we are going to grow through that passion and we need the people of the community to grow with us.”
To read this article online, go to: http://www.al.com/news/beaches/index.ssf/2015/07/new_location_of_alabama_gulf_c.html
Sorry everybody everywhere. Decatur, Ala., barbecue is best
John Archibald, AL.com, July 26
Editor’s Note: Big Bob Gibson’s and Whitt’s were both inducted into the Alabama Barbecue Hall of Fame by the Alabama Tourism Department in June.
It seems crazy when you think about it.
Mayonnaise and vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a touch of horseradish. And they call that a barbecue sauce? Only in Alabama. Only in north Alabama.
But maybe there’s a little magic mixed up in there too, for this concoction is what put this place on the culinary map. These days they talk about “the Decatur” style in the same breath as Kansas City or Memphis or Carolina ‘cue.
Because of tangy mayonnaise. On meat.
It all started the better part of a century ago, back in the ’20s when the man known as “Big Bob” Gibson started cooking up pork and chicken in his own back yard. Gibson’s grandson, Don McLemore, said nobody knows for sure what Big Bob was thinking or why he was thinking it at all. He just started slopping it on his birds, and soon it became clear that it tasted a whole lot saner than it sounded.
McLemore, who now runs the restaurant with his son-in-law (and celebrity barbecuer) Chris Lilly, said Big Bob was a heckuva cook but not that smokin’ a businessman. He never kept his secret sauce a secret, so folks who worked in his restaurant spread it around.
You could curse them for stealing the secret sauce.
Or you could bless their hearts for spreading the gospel of Decatur barbecue.
Lord, has it spread. It has reached all parts of the South and all the way out to California. Lilly is a fixture on the food channels, and people come to Decatur as if on barbecue pilgrimages to test it all out. I’ve seen a knock-off sauce in Washington D.C., billed as Alabama white sauce. In a sea of good Alabama barbecue, it is the cream that rises to the top.
Gibson’s of course is the biggest and most famous – there are more trophies in the Decatur Gibson’s than there are tables in many of the other joints – but loyalties are divided across north Alabama.
Families are split between Gibson’s and Whitt’s down the street. Greenbriar’s in Madison has its backers, because who wouldn’t want hush puppies with their barbecue? Smokey C’s has supporters too, and there surely are more.
In my family it used to be Whitt’s vs. Gibson’s at every family gathering. That has been solved. We settled for Whitt’s and Gibson’s, and the debate is as good as the food.
Whitt’s owner Mark Whitt still marvels that his dad was ever able to turn a profit in his restaurant in the first place.
Floyd Whitt was a bricklayer, not a cook. He was asked so many times to build barbecue pits for folks around Decatur that he built one for himself.
People were drawn to that smell like hummingbirds to sugar, and before long he was selling pork and chicken out his own front door. Which was of course illegal. But Mark figures the statute of limitations has run on that one.
One thing led to another and – since Mark and his wife and children took over one restaurant and his brother another– Whitt’s has franchised to 35 locations.
The real heroes at both Gibson’s and Whitt’s – the real meat on the bones of that increasingly famous Alabama barbecue – are folks like Todd Burgess and Jeff Wales.
Cooking in the back at Gibson’s is the only job Burgess has ever had. He’s been stoking fires, cooking about 144 chickens every working day for 22 years. How many chickens is that? Somewhere in the neighborhood of 823,000, split and smoked and “baptized” in white sauce and cooked some more.
And over at Whitt’s, Wales has done the same for 37 years. He started work at the age of 21 and has kept things smokin’. He was turning about 800 pounds of turkeys Friday, a process that that takes 24 hours.
Whitt said Wales has missed four days of work in almost four decades, and that was all in one week when he had pneumonia.
This barbecue cooking is an important thing, a life and a passion and revered job here in the place that carries the standard for Alabama barbecue. People boast of it and brag on it and send it as Christmas presents to family across the country.
It’s not just about Gibson’s or Whitt’s or any of the others. It’s not even all about the white sauce.
The vinegar sauce is every bit as big in Decatur as the white. Gibson’s is a little spicier. Whitts, Mark Whitt said, is simply red and black pepper, salt, vinegar, butter and a touch of brown sugar.
“Everybody’s proud of the vinegar-based sauce and the white sauce, and cooking slow over open coals,” Whitt said. “Without that Alabama wouldn’t even be on the map for barbecue.”
Ask McLemore what he likes best and it doesn’t even involve a chicken. Give him a pork sandwich built from the barkiest outside meat, chopped and placed on a bun and topped with slaw and a lot of thin hot red vinegar sauce, and he is quite literally in hog heaven.
“I tell folks, if you want a really good pork sandwich, tell my employees to fix one just like Don likes it.”
Both McLemore and Whitt say they just enjoy barbecue, and will eat it on their travels not because they want to change anything in their own restaurants, but because they believe that sharing barbecue is one of the things that makes life – particularly life in the South – beautiful.
I made the mistake, though, of asking Burgess if he eats barbecue anywhere else. He didn’t hesitate. “There’s not anywhere else.”
To read the entire article online, go to: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/sorry_everybody_everywhere_dec.html#incart_river
Dothan featured in BBQ Pit Wars on Thursday
Episode 2 of BBQ Pit Wars was shot in Dothan and will air on the Destination America channel July 30, at 9 p.m. Citizen Pictures shot the show in five days in Dothan last April, and spent thousands of dollars in the area through twenty room nights, food, supplies and entertainment not to mention the draw to thousands of people who attended. Even the “Alabama Road Trip Car” was there and could be featured on this show.
To view a teaser for the new season of BBQ Pit Wars, go to: https://vimeo.com/134130615
Alabama Restaurant Week climbs to 87 participating establishments
The number of restaurants signed up to participate in next month’s Alabama Restaurant Week has increased to 87 as of Monday. The Huntsville area still leads the state with 48 Madison County restaurants participating.
Grey Brennan of the Alabama Tourism Department encourages local Chamber of Commerce offices and tourism offices in every city to use this promotion as a way to increase business to their local restaurants, “We count on the local chamber and tourism offices across the state to join in on the promotion. It is free and I’ve had several restaurants tell me how they saw an increase in business during the week. This promotion is great city promotion that we take statewide.”
Brennan added that it is part of the Alabama Tourism Department’s continuing effort to showcase Alabama as a dining destination. “The Alabama Restaurant Week is our annual promotion that complements the 100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die brochure and this year’s major campaign, The Year of Alabama Barbecue.
Alabama Restaurant Week is Aug. 14 – 23, and there is still time to for restaurants to sign up at http://www.alabamarestaurantweek.com
More information can be found at www.alabamarestaurantweek.com or by contacting grey.brennan@tourism.alabama.gov
U.S. Space & Rocket Center marks the 70th anniversary of VJ Day
An opportunity to show our nation’s deepest gratitude to those who remain, while honoring and remembering those no longer among us
Victory Day, also known as VJ Day, marks the anniversary of the Allies’ victory over Japan during World War II. It followed the dropping of the devastating atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in uniform, less than 800,000 are alive today. Victory Day, a state holiday only in the State of Rhode Island, is observed on the second Monday of August each year. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Allies’ victory during WWII.
The Victory Day 2015 observance will be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. It will be a day of recognition for the men and women in military service during World War II.
Hundreds of WWII veterans are invited and expected to attend. Victory Day 2015 may be the last opportunity that such a large group of WWII veterans are assembled together for “An Outpouring of Thanks from A Grateful Nation.”
WWII veterans and their families are invited and urged to attend. The public is invited to display signs, posters and expressions of gratitude.
The event will feature an orchestra performance, re-enactors, WWII equipment, dignitaries, celebrities, entertainment, gifts and expressions of thanks, an honor processional and an F-16 fly-over salute to honor the veterans.
For more information visit www.rocketcenter.com/victory
NASA lands at the Exploreum Day
The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile will host “NASA Lands at the Exploreum Day” on Sat., Aug. 8, and the day will feature a number of exhibits and educational activities on space exploration by education staff and executives from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville. Activities begin at 10 a.m. and run until 3 p.m.
Among the NASA executives attending is Jody A. Singer, Program Manager for the Flight Programs and Partnerships Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Hands-On Activities at “NASA Lands at the Exploreum Day” will afford kids of all ages to see what it takes for NASA to make the Journey to Mars. Visitors will experience different hands-on stations that include: learning about space walks, building and launching a simple SLS rocket, designing a space suit, testing a parachute design, discovering which area would be best landing surface for the next Mars rover, testing space knowledge in our trivia game. All activities are designed for elementary-aged children and parents.
Other Interactives during the day include: Solar Exploration Virtual Theater, Touch an actual Moon Rock, Step inside a Mark3 Spacesuit, and Environmental Control Life Support System-ECLSS and Microgravity Science Glove box.
Two exhibits featuring U.S. exploration of outer space continue to attract visitors to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. Both exhibits run through Sept. 7.
Beyond Earth, explores mankind’s fascination with the universe through a collection of large format photography from numerous NASA expeditions, meteorites found all over the world, and artifacts from the Space Race.
The Journey to Mars exhibit showcases the history of space flight and the future of space travel. Through artifacts, models, simulators and hands-on activities visitors can experience the progression of space travel from the moon landing to the mission to put a person on Mars.
Admission to NASA Lands at the Exploreum Day is $10 and includes all exhibits and the IMAX theatre films.
The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center is located at 65 Government Street in Downtown Mobile. Hours are Mon. – Thur., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Fri. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sun., Noon-5 p.m.
For more information, call 251-208-6893 or visit www.exploreum.com#
Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism 2015 Mobile App
The 2015 mobile app is ready. It has been created by and is sponsored by Populace, Inc. It has the convention schedule and a place to load personal agendas, etc.
The app is available at the AppStore and the Playstore.
AppStore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/agct/id682294153?mt=8
Playstore: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.populace.AGCT&hl=en
Conference registration, full agenda and hotel reservations available online at http://algovernorsconference.com.
Jason Isbell’s brilliant new album Something More Than Free
Alabama’s country music artist, Jason Isbell, arrives in the top 10 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums, as his new Something More Than Free launches at No. 5 on the former (41,000 units) and No. 2 on the latter (40,000 copies sold — his best sales week). It’s the first top 10 on both charts for Isbell, who has previously logged three chart entries on the Billboard 200 since 2009, going as high as No. 23 in 2013 with Southeastern.
Isbell’s new album also debuts at No. 1 on both the Top Rock Albums and Folk Albums charts.
To read this entire article online, go to: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6642079/future-earns-his-first-no-1-album-on-billboard-200-chart
Also see: Jason Isbell Overcomes His Demons on Brilliant ‘Something More Than Free’: Album Review
Alabama artists and craftspeople
Alabama is home to a vast number of talented and creative artists and craftspeople who produce a wide variety of items including, but not limited to, woodwork, paintings, ceramics, fabrics and a lot of food.
The Alabama Tourism Department is looking for information about these artists and crafters and their products. We are interested in the home-grown cottage industries rather than the industrial giants.
Please send information about people and their products, including contact information, to Peggy Collins, peggy.collins@tourism.alabama.gov or call 334-242-4545.
Alabama Tourism Department (ATD) upcoming events
Aug 1 – 4 Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism – Mobile
Aug 8 – 12 Alabama Motorcoach/SCMA/GMOA Regional Meeting
Lake Lanier, GA
Aug 14 – 23 Alabama Restaurant Week
Aug 27 – 29 Connect Marketplace – Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 28 – Sept 1 SYTA Annual Conference – Branson, MO
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Tourism Tuesdays is a free electronic newsletter produced by the Alabama Tourism Department.
It contains news about the state tourism department and the Alabama tourism industry.
The newsletter can also be accessed online by going to: www.tourism.alabama.gov
To subscribe to the weekly Alabama Tourism News, please contact Peggy Collins at: peggy.collins@tourism.alabama.gov
Alabama Tourism Department