25th ANNUAL W.C. HANDY MUSIC FESTIVAL & SONGFEST 2006 MEAN
GREAT R&B, JAZZ, ROCK, GOSPEL, COUNTRY,
GOLF AND FISHING IN NORTH ALABAMA

ASCAP JOINS WITH THE MUSIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY, THE MUSCLE SHOALS MUSIC
ASSOCIATION, THE ALABAMA MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND FAME MUSIC
TO PRESENT JULY MUSIC FESTIVAL

New York, July 24, 2006: ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) will be joining with four of Alabama's leading music organizations -- The Music Preservation Society, The Muscle Shoals Music Association, Alabama Music Hall of Fame and legendary producer Rick Hall's FAME Music Group - in presenting the W.C. Handy Music Festival/Songfest 2006, a unique weeklong music festival (July 21 - July 29), which celebrates the very fertile musical ground of northern Alabama. This year, the W.C. Handy Music Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary year.

Florence, Alabama was the birthplace of ASCAP member W.C. Handy (1873 - 1958), revered worldwide as "the Father of the Blues," and composer of the enduring classic, "St. Louis Blues," recorded by everyone from Bessie Smith to Chet Atkins to Leonard Bernstein. Florence was also the birthplace of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips (1923 - 2003), the man who first recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. Just across the river from Florence is Muscle Shoals, the legendary Alabama music center where countless memorable sides were committed to tape by the likes of artists from Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Arthur Alexander, Tommy Roe, Otis Redding, Etta James and Bobby Blue Bland to Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, George Michael, Mac Davis, Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker and Willie Nelson, among many others.

The featured artists for this year's W.C. Handy Music Festival/Songfest include Bonnie Bramlett with the Capricorn Rhythm Section and New Orleans piano master Henry Butler. In addition, there will be three evenings of ASCAP-sponsored Muscle Shoals in the Round, highlighting contemporary songwriters performing their own songs at the Holiday Inn in Muscle Shoals as well as four ASCAP Music Industry Panels at the Public Library in Florence. A wide range of performers and musicians are slated for scores of events throughout the week, including numerous musicians and songwriters affiliated with FAME and other regional recording studios, including Mac McAnally, Gary Baker, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Rick Hall.

The week will also be highlighted a golf tournament, Three-State Bike Ride, a "walk-and-run" foot race and a Car & Truck Show. For details on these and all events, please visit www.wchandymusicfestival.org and/or www.muscleshoalsmusic.biz or call 256-766-7642 (W.C. Handy Music Festival) or 800-941-6762 (Muscle Shoals Music Association).

Musical highlights include:

• Bonnie Bramlett, the legendary "hazel-eyed soul" singer who, as half of the Delaney & Bonnie duo, enjoyed numerous hits such as "Soul Shake," "Never Ending Song of Love," and "Only You Know and I Know," and toured and recorded with Eric Clapton and Leon Russell. Since the break-up of the duo in 1973, Bonnie Bramlett has recorded several albums, worked with the Allman Brothers, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills and Carly Simon, and found success as a film and TV actress. Her most recent recording is Roots, Blues & Jazz on the ZOHO label. The "Queen of Hazel-Eyed Soul" will be backed by the Capricorn Records Rhythm Section at her Festival performance at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Norton Auditorium in Florence.
  
  
• Henry Butler is among the most highly-regarded contemporary musicians from New Orleans. Blind from birth, Butler excels as a pianist, composer and singer and is equally at home in Blues, Jazz, Gospel and R&B. Butler lost his New Orleans home to the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, and has temporarily moved to Boulder, Colorado. His latest album is Homeland, released on the Basin Street Records label. Henry Butler will perform at 5 PM on Saturday, July 29, at Norton Auditorium in Florence.

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