BY Amelia Rose Smith

 

Muscle Shoals to Main Street is an event our ‘little’ town of historic Franklin has been craving! Legendary and award-winning songwriters and performers will be traveling from Muscle Shoals to Main Street in historic Franklin for a night of music and storytelling. The songwriters lineup for this event includes Gary Baker, Lenny LeBlanc and Phillip White.

 

This songwriters night was a true result of “great minds think alike.” When our Southern Gentleman, Johnny Birdsong, took a trip to Muscle Shoals with Nashville’s Big Back Yard, he met Rob Carnegie, the President and CEO of the Florence-Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Visit the Shoals. Rob shared his desire to bring Muscle Shoals music to Franklin, and as an avid Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival attendee, he felt a night leading up to the festival would be perfect. Funny enough, The Harpeth Hotel had reached out with a similar concept; thus, the idea of “Muscle Shoals to Main Street” was born with the hope of making this an annual event! 

 

Gary Baker is an American country music singer and songwriter in Sheffield, Alabama. Gary began his career as a musician with the LeBlanc and Carr Band as well as The Shooters. While playing in Marie Osmond’s band, Gary met his songwriting partner, Frank J. Meyers. Together, they wrote the song I Swear, recorded by All 4-One and John Michael Montgomery, which sold more than twenty million copies internationally and won the 1995 Grammy for “Best Country Song.” Gary has written songs for John Michael Montgomery, Backstreet Boys, Alabama, Lonestar and others.

 

International songwriter and Christian artist, Lenny LeBlanc, is known for his BMI Billionaire song, Falling. Lenny is a self-taught musician and was an integral part of the phenomenon known as Muscle Shoals Music. Lenny’s name appears on dozens of church songs, including the Dove award-winning Above All recorded by Michael W. Smith, Rebecca Saint James, Randy Travis and Richie McDonald of Lonestar and the classic There Is None Like You. He lives in Florence, Alabama, and continues to write  hits like Treat Her Right by Sawyer Brown and You First with eight-time Country Music Award, “Musician of the Year,” Mac McAnally.

 

Phillip White is an Alabama native who has written songs for the industry’s most prominent names: Vince Gill, Scott McCreery, Reba, Rascal Flatts, George Strait, and Luke Bryan, to name a few. Among these include the 2003 Academy of Country Music Song of the Year I’m Movin’ On, the theme song for Reba’s self-titled hit television show I’m A Survivor and Blake Shelton’s Nobody But Me. Phillip has been published by some of music row’s most respected publishers, including Murrah Music, Disney, Universal and Sea Gayle Music. Most recently, Phillip signed with Frank Rogers’ new company, Fluid Music Revolution and Spirit Music Nashville.

 

Attendees can expect a relaxed, intimate evening that feels like you stepped into a recording lounge in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. All guests can enjoy a cash bar and an event menu to order from; VIP guests will receive a complimentary glass of wine or Champagne. General admission is $100, and VIP seating, which includes a meet and greet, is $150. For more information or  purchase tickets, click the button below.