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Florence, Alabama native son WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER HANDY (1873-1958)
William Christopher (known as "W.C.") Handy developed his love for music early
in life. The following excerpt, taken from his autobiography, tells of a deep
and abiding love that started when he was just a boy in Florence, Alabama.
It
was his grandmother, who "was the first to suggest that my big ears indicated
a talent for music. This thrilled me…When I was no more than ten, I could catalogue
almost any sound that came to my ears… I knew the whistle of each of the river
boats on the Tennessee… Whenever I heard the song of a bird and the answering
call of its mate, I could visualize the notes in scale… All built up within my
consciousness as a natural symphony. This was the primitive prelude to the mature
melodies now recognized as the blues. Nature was my kindergarten… The trumpet
playing of Mr. Claude Seals fired my imagination... Almost immediately I set my
heart on owning a trumpet. Since buying one was out of the question, I tried making
my own by hollowing a cow horn and cutting the tip into a mouthpiece. The finished
product was a useful hunting horn but certainly not a trumpet. I decided to content
myself for the time being with the hope of a guitar. Work meant nothing now. It
was a means to an end. But saving was slow and painful… Setting my mind on a musical
instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed…
With a guitar I would be able to express the things I felt in sounds, I grew impatient
as my small savings grew. I selected the instrument I wanted and went often to
gaze at it loving through the shop window. The days dragged… The name of my ailment
was longing, and it was not cured till I finally went to the department store
and counted out the money in small coins before the dismayed clerk. A moment later,
the shining instrument under my arm, I went out and hurried up Court Street. My
heart was a leaf… When I came to the house, I held up the instrument before the
eyes of the astonished household. I couldn't speak. I was too full, too overjoyed…"
(from the autobiography entitled "W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues").
Click here to read a biography
of W.C. Handy written by Terry Pace, educator and Muscle Shoals music historian.
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History of the Festival
The Music Preservation
Society, Inc., a non-profit organization was formed in 1982, with the mission
to preserve, present, and promote the musical heritage of Northwest Alabama. With
the help and encouragement of musician and Sheffield native, Willie Ruff, the
organization presented the first W.C. Handy Music Festival. That first festival
was a long weekend of music, featuring Dizzy Gillespie as the headliner artist.
Over the next two decades, the annual celebration has evolved into a ten-day Festival
including over 250 events with music at locations throughout northwest Alabama.
The Handy Festival has garnered praise and accolades and has become a major music
festival in the Southeast. The Handy Festival has been selected as a Top Ten Event
in Alabama; a three time Cultural Olympiad Designee by Atlanta Committee for the
Olympic Games; a Location/Destination on the National Geographic Appalachian Regional
Commission's Featured Sites Map; and a Top Twenty event in the Southeast since
1986 by Southeast Tourism Society. The Music Preservation Society, and the W.C.
Handy Festival Committee, extends its heartfelt appreciation to the family of
William Christopher Handy for its support of the W.C. Handy Music Festival.
Click here for a list of musicians that have performed at the W.C. Handy Festival.
Click here for previous Handy Festival events and photos
(archives from 2003-07) Glances back on past events.... |
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