Fred Hunter's Alabama Fred Hunter

After winding up Alabama 117 from Valley Head in DeKalb County, you arrive at a four-way intersection in the town of Mentone. On your right is the most charming calling card you can imagine: the Mentone Inn, nestled against a backdrop of trees and lush landscaping, with an almost irresistible wrap-around porch.
 
Stepping inside is like getting a big hug: the warmth, the relaxed atmosphere, and a host whose mission is your comfort. Few people are more qualified to share with visitors what makes this part of Northeast Alabama, and the inn, so special than innkeeper Cynthia Stinson.
 
“The inn was built in 1927, by Hal Howe and his wife, Nelda,” Cynthia says. “They opened for business in 1928 and ran it until 1954, but they were only open May through September, so basically Memorial Day to Labor Day, as there was no insulation and no heating in the building. It’s always been an inn, built with 12 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms to begin with. Now all the rooms have private ensuite bathrooms.”
 
Over the years, the inn has continued to be a cornerstone of the community high atop Lookout Mountain.
 
“The inn has been the place for people to come and join together,” Cynthia says. “Families, weddings, church retreats. I say it’s a place for strangers to become friends. And that happens quite often.”
 
Cynthia’s life intersected with the Mentone Inn quite by serendipity.
 
“Well, I call it a God wink,” says Cynthia. “I’m from Greenville, Alabama, originally. I had an antique store there and a lot of inventory I wanted to get rid of. So I did the research for the World's Longest Yard Sale. I already knew about Mentone, because my mom’s family is from Pigeon Mountain. I called the lady at the inn, and she said I could have the entire square to set up my goods. I showed up on a hot August Tuesday and put a tent in the backyard, because at the time I couldn’t afford to stay there. I helped her with breakfast at the inn. Gloria was her name.”
 
Gloria offered Cynthia a job at the inn, an act that would change the trajectory of Cynthia’s life. “I knew I needed a change, because a lot of tragic things had happened in my life that I was trying to overcome, she says. “And I was trying to overcome myself, because I was in a bad place. I went home and prayed about it. Two weeks later, I rented a U-Haul, and with my little dog, Bear Bryant, and $2,000, I struck out for Mentone.”
 
In 2007, Cynthia joined the inn as a housekeeper, though she continued to live in her tent in the backyard until winter weather became untenable and she moved inside the inn. During that time, she also worked as the Sunday chef at the Wildflower Café.

Mentone had become home.

Then one day, after she’d been in Mentone almost three years, the inn’s owner, Mike Campbell from Birmingham, asked if she would like to take over operations. She did just that in 2009.
 
“I basically put my head down and just started from scratch to build up some repeat business and get a good reputation and good reviews going,” Cynthia says. “And now we are a lodging destination and a hub for people to come and meet.”
 
When guests walk in, ‘cozy’ and ‘homey’ are two of the most common words Cynthia hears. “People hang out and talk,” she says. “I have a little box on the table called a conversation starter. I pick a card out of that box and ask them a question, then walk away. Next thing you know, they’re laughing and talking and having a good time. And I have people who actually met here and plan to come back just to see each other. Sometimes two to three times a year, and a few of them four times a year.”
 
The inn is a center of activity for tourists, but as Cynthia can attest, there’s a real sense of community in and around Mentone that is plain to see if you spend any time here at all.
 
“We have a wonderful community that’s based on people who live there, and new folks are coming in and want to get i

Sometimes you don’t realize how much your senses absorb when you’re growing up, but you find out later how those experiences shaped you.
Russell Gulley grew up on Southern gospel and shape note music. His mother was very conscious of how much music and art can enrich lives. Russell sought a career in rock and roll, but later paid his mother’s gift forward by bringing the arts to communities and schools.
Russell is the 2024 recipient of the Alabama Arts Impact Award, given at the Celebration of Alabama Arts, May 16 at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery.

He spoke with me recently about the unlikely arc of his career, starting with his time growing up in Fort Payne.
“Back when I was growing up,” Russell says, “musicians were kind of looked down on as being not very responsible people with bad habits. So that was the last thing that my mother wanted for me, to become a musician. 
“The only way I was able to get a guitar was if my brother and I promised to play in church,” Russell continues. “Ironically, the pastor banned me from playing, because he said I wasn’t playing to worship God. I was playing to have a good time, which is probably true. But right after that, I was hired by a gospel group and I worked with them for several years, recording two albums. That was my introduction to the recording business.”
It was the opinion of Leon Rhodes, music producer and guitar player for Ernest Tubb, that motivated Russell further. “He told my boss and me that he thought I was a pretty good bass player, that I could make it in Nashville if I wanted to move up there,” Russell recalls. “That was the inspiration I needed. If Leon Rhodes says I’m good enough, I must be good enough.”
Then, like many other young men of the time, Russell was drafted to fight in Vietnam. When he returned, he’d been divorced from his first wife. With nothing tying him to any certain place, he moved to Nashville and signed with an agent. There, he played bass for various artists of the era, such as Ronnie Dove and Ray Peterson (“Tell Laura I Love Her”).
Meanwhile, his brother Dennis’ band, Cross, was playing and making demos in Muscle Shoals. Producer Jimmy Johnson asked the band, ‘Which one of you guys wrote these songs?’ They told him, “We didn’t. Russell Gulley wrote them.”
“So the next thing I knew, I got a phone call and was invited to Muscle Shoals,” says Russell. “Apparently, I passed the audition and they signed me to the publishing company as a writer. 
“The kind of music that I was writing was not soul music,” he continues. “I didn’t write stuff like ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’ I was writing stuff more like Frank Zappa and maybe some of the British acts. Lynyrd Skynyrd was just taking off, and Jimmy had worked with Skynyrd just before they changed companies. I think he was looking for another band to kind of follow in Skynyrd’s footsteps. In fact, during my interview, he played some of the original demos by Skynyrd. I’d never heard playback that loud. Jimmy looked at me and asked, ‘You think you’re as good as they are?’ Well, how could I say no if I wanted to pass the audition? So I looked at him and said, ‘You damn right I’m that good.’ Anyway, we got signed.”
Russell, his brother Dennis, drummer Ronnie Vance, guitarist Britt Meacham, and keyboardist Tommy Patterson were dubbed Jackson Highway after the street address of the studio. 
In the mid to late 70s, Jackson Highway decided to market itself heavily in Chattanooga. Radio play was picking up, and listeners started to request their single. Muscle Shoals Studios called and said they had landed Jackson Highway a deal with Capitol Records. Capitol and Muscle Shoals Studios formed a joint venture to sign the band. 
Jackson Highway was building a fan base and touring with rockers such as Ted Nugent, UFO, and Triumph. They were set to play the Omni in Atlanta, what might have been “the big gig” to

As a young DJ at his dream job in Myrtle Beach, Greg Fowler repeatedly read an ad encouraging people to visit The Bowery to hear a group who, at that time, was known as Wild Country. Little did he know that spark would change his life, eventually intertwining his path with that of the most successful band in country music history — ALABAMA.
Read the accompanying story here, and watch the interview on YouTube!

Beth Cowan Drake loves outdoor photography and astrophotography, and she loves inspiring other people to explore their world through the camera lens. Through her exemplary work and her incredibly popular Alabama The Beautiful Facebook group, Beth shines a spotlight on our beautiful state and the breathtaking skies above us.

Chance Gray definitely feels like he's home as merchandise manager for recording artist Jason Isbell. The Fyffe, Alabama, native travels the country and the world with whom he considers the greatest songwriter of our era. To get there, he paid his dues by working hard and proving his dedication to the job at hand for artists as varied as Larry the Cable Guy and Taylor Swift. Not only was he a guest with a special connection to Fred Hunter, but he also graciously shared his song "Feel Like Home" for the theme song of this podcast.