Rockin' "The 'Ham!"

Birmingham's City Stages Festival

It's not unusual for things to get a little steamy during the summer in Birmingham, Alabama. If the giant Vulcan statue that stands watch over Birmingham could talk he'd probably put in a request for a very large glass of ice-cold lemonade. But even before the season officially begins the city affectionately known as "The Ham" starts cookin' with the annual City Stages Festival. Held in mid-June, City Stages is a weekend-long celebration of music that takes place in downtown Birmingham. 

Birmingham has a special fondness for music and the city's residents are particularly proud of their homegrown talent including legends like soul singer Eddie Kendricks and eccentric jazz pianist Sun Ra. American Idol big shots Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice and Taylor Hicks are all from Birmingham. Buck Johnson, singer for country breakout act Whiskey Falls is a Birmingham native and the band honors that connection with their song "Days of Birmingham." 

It's no wonder that the quartet drew one of the biggest crowds at City Stages in 2007 as they tore through covers like "Seven Bridges Road" and "Drivin' My Life Away" along with originals "Last Train Runnin'" and their theme song, "Let the Whiskey Fall." One very cool thing about City Stages is that most of the stages are set up so that fans can access the talent after their performance and members of Whiskey Falls obligingly posed for pictures and signed autographs after they completed their raucous set. In all the festival features an amazingly diverse roster that plays on nine different stages spreading out in every direction from the city's Linn Park. 
 

There's a stage devoted to homegrown music where acts like hard rockers Leaderdog worked the crowd into a frenzy and there's also a stage that features gospel music. There's a tent equipped with a huge dance floor to accommodate fans of swingin' groups like Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88s and there's a Festival of Rhythm area where you can participate in a drum circle. 

Then the bigger acts are split between three stages with the themes Classic Rock, Hitmakers and Singer/Songwriters. The respective headliners in 2007 were the Steve Miller Band, Ludacris and Marcia Ball. Also appearing were Earth, Wind & Fire, Ratt, Poison, Puddle of Mudd, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Dr. John, Bruce Cockburn, Rickie Lee Jones and many others. Walking from stage to stage you'll find even more opportunities to hear music; pan flute band Runa Pacha came all the way from Window Rock, Arizona to share their sublimely spiritual music and sell their CDs. 

Of course the streets are lined with vendors selling everything else you'll want for your fun outing; lots of food and drink, glow wands and other gadgets for kids and commemorative City Stages t-shirts. And if you want to indulge yourself thoroughly there's the option of the V.I.P. area where you can mingle while munching from a buffet and enjoying a cold beer.

There are lots of other fun things to do in Birmingham while you're waiting for the festival to begin and some of them also have to do with music. As I mentioned earlier, Eddie Kendricks is from Birmingham and not too far from City Stages you'll find the city's memorial to the late singer, the Eddie Kendricks "wall." The wall shows a selected Kendricks discography as a solo artist and as a member of the Temptations and there's a larger-than-life statue of the singer in front of the display. Also honored at the wall are David Ruffin and the other members of the Temptations. 

Then at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame there are myriad displays of memorabilia from artists associated with Alabama like boogie-woogie piano pioneer Clarence "Pine Top" Smith and the demanding educator Fess Whatley. Whatley taught a veritable who's-who of jazz greats including Birmingham native Erskine Hawkins who wrote the now classic "Tuxedo Junction" about a Birmingham street-car crossing. Whatley also taught Frank Adams, Sr., the Director of Education at the Hall. Adams performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and with Hawkins and if you're lucky enough to run into him during your visit he'll surely spin a couple of tales for you. 

The Hall of Fame is very close to Birmingham's civil rights district, the part of town that out of necessity gave birth to the American Civil Rights Movement. The 16th Street Baptist Church that was notoriously bombed in 1963 causing the death of four young girls is here, just kitty-corner from Kelly Ingram Park with its many memorials including a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is on this block as well and it is a large and comprehensive "living institution" that requires some time to navigate. 

Also of interest to music fans is the historic Redmont Hotel. Alabama native and country music legend Hank Williams, Sr. stayed at the Redmont on the way to his last performance. The hotel is just one of many Alabama stops on the Hank Williams Trail. And let's not forget our oversized buddy! Before concluding your visit to Birmingham, make sure to head to Vulcan Park to visit the cast iron statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge. Vulcan is the largest statue in the U.S. after the Statue of Liberty and he's a tribute to Birmingham's iron industry. And about that lemonade---Vulcan is 56 feet tall so you better take him a few gallons!

Performers scheduled to appear at City Stages in 2008, June 13-15 include: The Roots, Buddy Guy, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Sean Kingston, Andrew Bird, North Mississippi Allstars Hill Country Review, the Wailers, Toubab Krewe, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Al Green, Shooter Jennings and lots more.

 www.citystages.org 
www.birminghamal.org 

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