Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Paul White has built his entire career from Florence, Alabama. He has never lived in Nashville. Not once.

Host Melea Hames sits down with the Muscle Shoals-raised musician — half of The Civil Wars, co-founder of Single Lock Records — to talk about the talent show that accidentally revealed he could sing, why his recording studio is still somebody's house, and what the Muscle Shoals legacy actually did for the generation that came after it.

He shares how David Hood, Spooner Oldham and Jimmy Johnson treated him like an equal when he was nobody, why Single Lock feels more like a co-op than a record label, the Shoals and Huntsville artists he thinks deserve your attention right now — Caleb Elliott, Carver Commodore, Billy Allen + The Pollies, Gary Nichols — and the one place in North Alabama he tells everyone to visit, even though he is the last person who would call anywhere spiritual.

Plus: where to eat in Florence, what he tells his songwriting students at the University of North Alabama, and the single most liberating thing he ever figured out about the music business.

In this episode:
A chicken farm in Loretto, Tennessee · "Stand By Me" into a mic for a level check · Why he never moved to Nashville · Sun Drop Sound and the twenty-yard commute · FAME Studios · The Muscle Shoals legacy, honestly assessed · Why the Drive-By Truckers left for Athens · Starting Single Lock Records with Ben Tanner and Will Trapp · Huntsville's music scene and the Shoals · Who to listen to now · Odette, Bunyan's, Staggs Grocery, Billy Reid · Tom's Wall · "Nobody knew what they were doing"

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Matt Mandrella, Huntsville's Music Officer — the first full-time job of its kind in the country — who landed in the Rocket City by way of a decade in Austin and a run at Elvis Presley's Graceland. Matt shares what a city music audit actually is and why Huntsville commissioned one, how the scene grew into a $278 million music economy with more than 2,200 live music events a year, and why a city needs 50-capacity listening rooms just as badly as it needs an 8,000-seat amphitheater.

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Pete Conroy, Director Emeritus of the Little River Canyon Center, and Angela Bates, an educator with the National Park Service at Little River Canyon National Preserve. Angela takes us through a river that runs along the top of Lookout Mountain, three waterfalls including Alabama's tallest at 133 feet, and a boulder the highway was built around — while Pete shares how a $6.8 million building became a Jax State–Park Service partnership that's generated half a billion dollars in economic impact for the region.

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Tere Richardson, Executive Director of Athens Main Street, and Mary Helmer Wirth, President and State Coordinator of Main Street Alabama, to talk downtown revitalization. From Merchants Alley's $30,000 idea that became a $200,000 landmark to 16 new restaurants in 34 months and a boutique hotel on the way, Tere and Mary share what it really takes to build a downtown people want to visit — and why Athens is "an overnight success 20 years in the making."

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Heath Puckett, Superintendent of Lake Guntersville State Park, and Andrew Kelly, to explore one of North Alabama's most scenic and beloved outdoor destinations. Heath shares his journey from golf course management to leading one of Alabama's crown jewel state parks, what makes Lake Guntersville special, and his vision for growing the park as a premier mountain biking and outdoor recreation destination.

Follow North Alabama on Social Media!

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Cooper Smitherman, Community Outreach Representative for Stars and Strikes Family Entertainment Centers in Huntsville and a writer, editor, and UAH Honors College Top Scholar. Cooper shares how a Master's in English led him to community storytelling, what it's like connecting people to one of North Alabama's favorite entertainment destinations, and why Huntsville's growing arts and culture scene keeps calling people back home.

Follow North Alabama on Social Media!

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Brad Collett, Executive Director of the Tennessee RiverLine — the bold initiative transforming all 652 miles of the Tennessee River into North America's next great regional trail system. From new kayak fleets launching across North Alabama to a $750,000 partnership with the University of North Alabama, Brad shares how landscape architecture, community partnerships, and a love of paddling are reshaping the way we experience the Tennessee River — and why North Alabama is leading the way.

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she dives into the history and hidden gems of Decatur’s crown jewel with Nicole Belcher, Marketing and Events Coordinator for Point Mallard Park. Nicole shares the wild history of how the first wave pool in the U.S. ended up in North Alabama, the "unexpected" winter activities at the park, behind-the-scenes secrets of the Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic, and why Point Mallard remains a multi-generational tradition for families across the South.

Follow North Alabama on Social Media!

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.

To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Muscle Shoals singer-songwriter Bay Simpson — fresh off his run on Season 29 of NBC's The Voice. Bay shares what it was like growing up in the studios of the Shoals with a songwriter stepdad and drummer dad, why he chose Tom Petty over Elvis for his blind audition, the surprise family tree that makes him Elvis Presley's second cousin once removed, the story behind his new single "Too Good to Be True," and what it means to carry the torch for the next generation of North Alabama music.

Follow North Alabama on Social Media!

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.
To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].

Join host Melea Hames as she sits down with Scott Black, President of LawLers Barbecue — a North Alabama institution that has been firing up hardwood smokers since 1978. Scott shares the story behind this beloved regional brand, what it takes to run 13 locations across the Tennessee Valley and why slow-smoked barbecue built on community and tradition will never go out of style.

Follow North Alabama on Social Media!

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The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast is a part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. It is hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Brand Revolt.
To learn more about the Destination Marketing Podcast Network and to listen to our other shows, please visit https://thedmpn.com/. If you are interested in becoming a part of the network, please email [email protected].