F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong," and that goes for all art. It creates a sense of community. Concertgoers will attest to that. Some concerts become legendary and part of musicphile lore: Grateful Dead's Barton Hall in 1977, Phish's Clifford Ball in 1996, The Allman Brothers Band's 1971 shows at The Fillmore East. For Drive-By Truckers fans, ShoalsFest 2026 might be one of those moments remembered for decades.

Jason Isbell started the ShoalsFest music festival in 2019 in Florence, Alabama, but it is much more than a music fest. It celebrates the Shoals, including the cities of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals. Besides celebrating the legendary music that has come from that area, it's a celebration of culture and history, bringing people from around the country to a two-county region of 150,000 people, or only 70,000 people in the four core cities. The two-day festival draws 5,000 attendees, selling out surrounding hotels and filling neighboring restaurants.

Jason Isbell grew up about 30 minutes north of Shoals in Green Hill, Alabama. The area has a deep musical history, including FAME Studio, where Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and The Allman Brothers Band recorded. FAME Recording Studios started in 1959 and became known for the Shoals sound, a mix of soul, R&B, country, gospel, and rock. In 1964, FAME owner Rick Hall put together a legendary session band that later became known as The Swampers. David Hood was the bassist and is the last living member, but he is also the father of Drive-by Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood.

In 1969, the Swampers left FAME and started Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Cher was the first recording artist at this new studio and named her album 3614 Jackson Highway, the studio's address. That same year, The Rolling Stones recorded there. And in the 70s, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio rivaled FAME Studio as a hit-maker, recording Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, The Staple Sisters, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who immortalized the studio in "Sweet Home Alabama" with the line, "now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers."

Both studios are still active and can be toured when visiting the area.

In 2001, 22-year-old Isbell signed a publishing deal with FAME Studios. He was going to learn to write songs. In a 2006 interview with Jason Gross for Perfect Sound Forever, Isbell talks about being at Memphis State University and studying English so he could learn to write better, then booking a one-hour time slot to perform at a coffee shop but having no songs to perform. He skipped school for three days and wrote ten songs.

Those songs he ended up demoing for FAME Studio and was given a contract, and before anyone could cut those songs, he was asked to join the Drive-by Truckers and some of those songs ended up on their next album and others on his debut solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, after he left the Truckers in 2007. True to his sense of place, Sirens of the Ditch was recorded at FAME Studio. Because place is so central to Isbell's songwriting, making the drive from Pensacola to ShoalsFest felt like a way to immerse ourselves in the Alabama landscape that shaped his music, with songs like "Alabama Pines" serving as the soundtrack.

Driving up from the Gulf Coast to attend ShoalsFest was a great way to get that sense of place that comes with a road trip. From Pensacola, it was a five-and-a-half-hour drive that took us through nearly the entire state of Alabama along the I-65 corridor, then into the northwest, close to Mississippi and Tennessee.

My wife and I stopped in Montgomery for lunch—no better city to take in the state's history. We ate at Davis Cafe, a meat-and-three. Fried chicken, ribs, collard greens, yams, mac and cheese, corn muffins, and sweet tea that was about as sweet as it could get. With so many places to choose from, it came down to what kind of food we wanted. TrueSouth filmed an episode in Montgomery, so we made sure to check out their recommendation on the way back and had cheeseburgers at the Hamburger King, a staple since 1959. One we missed was Chris' Famous Hotdogs. Chris has been serving since 1917 and boasts about regulars F. Scott Fitzgerald, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams.

If short on time, we recommend a bang-bang—hamburgers and then hot dogs.

A short drive from Davis Cafe is the church where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor, and across the street is the park where the march from Selma ended.

Next, after Montgomery, we visited Julie's cousin, who lives on Lewis Smith Lake in Arley. Lewis Smith Lake is a manmade lake with 500 miles of shoreline. Alabama Power Company created it between 1957 and 1961 to generate hydroelectric power. Because the power company only cleared timber to a depth of about 60 feet, a preserved pine forest lies beneath the lake, with some trees 75 to 100 feet tall. The remains of an abandoned town, Falls City, are also under the lake. But the best thing coming from the lake is the spotted bass. We enjoyed a dinner of fried spotted bass and hush puppies.

The next morning we drove to Florence for ShoalsFest.

Isbell's last performance with the Drive-by Truckers was in 2007. Since then, they performed a few songs together, but ShoalsFest 2026 was the talked-about reunion. After 19 years since they last performed, the Drive-by Truckers with Jason Isbell reunited for an hour-and-a-half set in which they performed the Decoration Day album in its entirety. During the song "Outfit," Isbell acknowledged that it was "the first song of mine recorded with a real rock and roll band, the first time I ever saw one of my songs on a record. Boy, that made me proud, still does."

Besides the Drive-by Truckers and Jason Isbell reunion, the two-day festival included sets by S.G. Goodman, Willow Avalon, and a solo performance by Jeff Tweedy. Both nights ended with nearly two hours of Jason Isbell with his band, the 400 Unit. That means on the first day, after playing with the Truckers for the first time in 19 years, Isbell then got back on stage for another two hours with his band, ending the night with Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood coming back on stage for a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."

The festival grounds are on the shores of the Tennessee River in McFarland Park, and concertgoers can bring in lawn chairs. A designated section in the back is for those who want to sit. The festival organizers made sure those leisurely attendees didn't lose sound quality. This was probably one of the best-sounding events I've ever attended. And with the doors not opening until 3 pm, out-of-town guests have plenty of time to check out surrounding attractions like the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House or Helen Keller's house, or tour the studios that made Muscle Shoals famous.

Or if you are a dedicated Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell fan, you can visit the spots mentioned in his songs that give his storytelling such a sense of place: Wilson Dam in the song "TVA," Kendale Gardens in "Outfit," Zip City, the name of a song in Southern Rock Opera, and for a bit of Lauderdale County history in song, "Decoration Day," which Isbell sings about the real-life 1980s family feud between the Lawsons and Hills.

When those first few notes of "Decoration Day" rang out, I'm not sure who had the bigger smile on their face—the crowd or the band. The band was home. They were singing about home, and the crowd was there with them.