MUSCLE SHOALS, ALABAMA, Oct. 3, 2003 - The second annual Songfest, a celebration marking the heritage of Muscle Shoals as a major world music center and celebrating its unparalleled contribution to American culture, will be host to an extraordinary gathering of the musicians who played on the records that came from Muscle Shoals. Dan Daley, journalist and author, will moderate a panel which will include:

Norbert Putnam (bassist with Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt, Aretha Franklin and many others; producer for Joan Baez, John Hiatt, Jimmy Buffett and Dan Fogelberg)

Jerry Carrigan (drummer, played on records with Johnny Cash, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Monkees and more.

Jimmy Johnson (guitarist, played on records with James Brown, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Otis Rush, Boz Scaggs, Paul Simon, James Taylor and more.

David Hood (bassist, played on records with Duane Allman, JJ Cale, John Hammond, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Bob Segar, Rod Stewart and more)

Dan Daley, a leading journalist and author of "Unwritten Rules: Inside the Business of Country Music" (Overlook Press), is also the writer of this month's cover story in History Channel Magazine (Sept./Oct. 2003), chronicling the legacy of Muscle Shoals as a music center, a place where artists as diverse as the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon journeyed to in order to work with theseunique musicians and play in the equally remarkable recording studios there.

The panel, entitled "Can We Hear That Back One More Time", will commence at 2:30 and run for 90 minutes, at University of North Alabama, in Florence, Alabama.

For more information on Songfest, please contact Suzanne Harris at MuscleShoals Studios at 256-381-2060, or Rodney Hall at FAME Studios at 256-381-0801.