MSM 90s Country: Angela Hacker, Shoals Sisters
8/18/26
By Monica Collier
Muscle Shoals Meets is a collaborative, collective, shared sort of creative hivemind but it's also a very personal experience. I can’t get over how the audience was buzzing with excitement going into the second set of the MSM 90s Country concert this past Thursday night in Sheffield’s historic Ritz Theatre.
Our gracious host, Austin Bohannon, ran a tight ship, y’all. He had intermission on a timetable. When he gave a two-minute warning and put out the call for everyone to mosey on back to their seats, we knew he meant business. Then, just like clockwork, Angela Hacker appeared from stage left and the MSM 90s Country second set sprang into action.
Someone behind me yelled, “We love you, Angela!” and the crowd exploded with whooping and hollering and massive applause.
Y’all! The Shoals loves Angela dearly and Angela loves us right back – there’s just no two ways about it. I realized this past week how we're all super spoiled here in this crazy magical musical part of the world. Friends, let this sink in: We all have a very special bond with the one and only Angela Hacker. Angela Hacker! It’s a symbiotic relationship between a loving star and her adoring hometown that doesn’t exist outside of the Shoals. Bet. Spoiled. Rotten.
Lord help us, for her second performance of the night, Angela told us the story about “The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia.” It was in the vein of classic Reba McEntire, but the performance was oh so very Angela Hacker. I am forever in awe of her natural talent, of course, but more than that, it’s Angela’s generous, joyful spirit that radiates from her and warms an entire room. Thank you, Angela.
While we’re talking about Angela, I want to go ahead and tell y’all about two more times she took the stage this past Thursday night at the MSM 90s Country concert. First, she brought us all to tears with her rendition of the Trisha Yearwood classic, “The Song Remembers When” and then, later on in the night, she had us ready to throw hands for our ride-or-die bestie with The Chicks’ dark anthem sing-a-long, “Goodbye Earl.”
Speaking of ride-or-die besties, now seems like a good time to celebrate our beloved Shoals Sisters. Marie Lewey and Cindy Walker were in the zone that Thursday night, y’all. They’re always spot on and unbelievably remarkable, but the Shoals Sisters really seemed to be in their element during the MSM 90s Country show. I don’t know how to say it just right but the entire night ebbed and flowed with such ease. We celebrated all the emotions of 90s country and along with Austin and the phenomenal band, the Shoals Sisters were very much our trusted guides.
OK, let me say one more thing about Angela – did y’all hear Russell Mefford say that his wife, Allison, said if she could sing like Angela, she’d never talk, she’d just sing everything? Yeah. Same, Allison. So very same.
Stay tuned. More to come.
Dig Worms.
