MSM 90s Country: Finale
8/23/26
By Monica Collier
How great was it having the MSM 90s Country concert at Sheffield's historic Ritz Theatre? I really love how Muscle Shoals Meets the 90s Mixtape Week expanded our circle of love this year, friends. Yes, MSM got bigger but you know what that really means? It means we added more precious hearts to our MSM family. Can I get an, "Amen?"
Having nine days of MSM events all across the Shoals meant more musical goodness and joy, of course, but it also meant more people had a chance to make a difference and contribute to our charitable cause. Come September, two special needs playgrounds will be built, friends. I love that so much and I know you do, too.
You know what else I love? I love how we had an entire night dedicated to 90s country. I love how the Muscle Shoals Meets the 90s Country concert included our Franklin County brethren, too. That’s the Shoals proper, friends – Lauderdale, Colbert, and Franklin Counties.
Oh, and MSM includes our Shoals East (Huntsville) family, too. Wait. Y'all! Matt Prater's from Athens, right? So, yeah, add Limestone County to that Shoals East fam list. Pretty soon, our honorary MSM (Shoals) family will include the entire Southeast? No, let's Shoalsify the whole world, friends.
Speaking of Matt, he set the bar so very high with his rendition of "Convoy" at last year's Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s show. Matt was an absolute standout at that show. Remember?
It's true, I didn't look at setlists before the shows this year because I wanted to be surprised but I waited with bated breath for Russell Mefford's rehearsal teaser posts on social media. Didn’t you? It made me so happy to see Matt's rehearsal clip of him doing Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee." That teaser was from a rehearsal for the main MSM show, though, Matt being part of the country show was such a nice surprise.
I still can't believe out of all the amazing 1990s country songs Matt could've sang at the MSM 90s Country show that somebody somewhere (Allison Mefford, maybe?) said, "Hey. How about Matt Prater sings Dwight Yoakam's 'A Thousand Miles From Nowhere'?"
I can't even y'all. I'm a huge Dwight Yoakam fan. I'm not gonna lie, if it hadn’t been Matt serving up Dwight's honky tonk swagger, I maybe would've been hypercritical of the performance. But, just like his MSM 70s performance, Matt absolutely killed. Both of his performances were so so so good that Thursday night.
Once the show started winding down, there was this collective feeling of wanting to savor every last second. Austin Bohannon took his hosting duties seriously, y'all, and he did his best to let us down easy by announcing there were only two songs left. It was still a little heartbreaking but coming from him, it hurt a little less.
Austin's pre-finale performance of Toby Keith's "Shoulda Been a Cowboy" was pretty perfect. Did y'all believe Austin when he told us that Thursday night was the first time he'd ever worn a cowboy hat? If that was true, friends, he wore it well and I bet it won't be the last time he wears a cowboy hat.
Hey. I think I may have missed a performance somewhere along the way. Didn't Austin do Brooks and Dunn's "Better Man??" Y'all. That's the downside to having too much fun while on assignment, friends -- I probably should've taken better notes. Don't judge.
Before we talk about the MSM 90s Country concert finale, let's take a minute to celebrate everyone who made that Thursday night in Sheffield, Alabama one to remember. I want to mention the band -- and specifically, Jordan Denton -- one more time. They were on fire. Kelvin Holly, the Shoals Sisters (Marie Lewey and Cindy Walker), Donny Carpenter, and Scooter Muse lending their talents to the night truly made it a next level experience.
Ok, now, back to the MSM 90s Country show rewind. I know I sound like a broken record but holy smokes at Ashley Brown, y'all. There were so many great moments during the nine-day MSM 90s celebration but I have to say, Ashley's version of Shania Twain's "Man I Feel Like a Woman" closing out the country concert was (maybe) the best of the best.
Ashley served up an (effortlessly) iconic performance that absolutely did justice to an iconic song in the most iconic Muscle Shoals Meets way possible. Not only was Ashley completely stunning in her 90s Shania-inspired fit, as per usual, her vocals were insane perfection.
Lord, y'all. When Ashley -- in all her top hat-wearing glory -- put out that undeniable generational call to action, "Let's go girls!" I thought I was going to lose my mind. Dang. Just dang.
Then, the guitar kicked in and I swear, I was transported back to 1997 and man, I was absolutely feeling like a woman exercising my prerogative to have a little -- or a lot -- of fun.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime night of 90s country music, friends. The night simply could not have been better. Every single second one to the next kept exceeding my expectations. What a night, y'all.
Thank you MSM, family!
Stay tuned. More to come.
Dig Worms.
*Photo by: Devona Hawkins.
