Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s rewind

Part 11: We're rollin' on the (Singing) River

Tina who? Yeah, I said it. Welcome to my hot take on one of my favorite hot local artists. Listen, I believe Cissy Guin is the only Shoals superstar capable of doing right by the one and only Tina Turner. That's just the simple truth, friends. Fight me on it, I double dog dare you.

Not gonna lie. On paper, this was one of my least favorite pairings of Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s. I don't know exactly why but I think maybe it's because Tina has been done before, ya know? Tina's 1970 "Proud Mary" performance on the Ed Sullivan Show is a little too passé for Cissy. Oh my goodness, I’m just going to say it: My gut reaction to this pairing was that Cissy is too good for a Tina tribute. What was I thinking, right? I should’ve known better. When Cissy performs a song, she attacks it with full-on ownership — Tina or no Tina. I feel y'all out there nodding — you know exactly what I mean. She stalks the stage and then makes it her own right in front of our eyes. Tina … talk about big shoes to fill, sure, but Cissy's the one to wear those shoes all day and all night and I’m here for it. Just sayin'.

This lucky number 13 performance of MSM the 70s night one was straight up fire from the get-go. No, really — Cissy lit Florence’s historic Shoals Theatre stage on fire. Didn’t you see the flames? She was rocking black fringe, y’all — so very rock and roll — and I promise, from the second she stepped up and took the microphone, Cissy radiated an energy that electrified the entire room. Then, she eased us into “Proud Mary” with a quick declaration to her “own personal Polyester Horn, Brad Guin.” From those funky world-famous Fiddleworms (I see you, Scott Todd) and Polyester Horns — with Brad doing double duty bassing-up the “rolling” — to Carla Russell and Angela Hacker adding to the stellar backing vocals, we were all lost in the moment rolling on the (Singing) river with Cissy, for sure.

Talk about magic in the water, friends. There’s just a dirty, soulful grit about Cissy’s voice that can’t be taught, y’all. It's called soul and Cissy was born with that. I, for one, feel so grateful that she sees fit to share her gift(s) with us. Yes, there was an electric energy present for “Proud Mary” but there was something else even more prevalent emanating from the stage. There was a cohesive humble generosity of spirt that permeated throughout the room and uplifted us all. Now that’s how it’s done, friends.

You know what? It may be borderline sacrilege to say this "out loud" but local famous fierce female rockstars, like Cissy, are just as important to me as international rock icons like Tina Turner — maybe even more so. Cissy embodies natural talent bolstered with just the right amount of confidence and pride. She's a leader but she's also a team player. Cissy is a big part of the MSM glue that keeps making us all proud. Artists like Cissy pave the way for the next generation, friends.

Oh and my favorite part was how when Cissy was done, she gave us a simple heartfelt, "Thank you." No, thank you, Cissy.

More to come ... stay tuned.

Dig worms, y'all.

Photo credit: Angel DeAnn Pilati