Huntsville, Alabama has been suffering lately. Only a week after a horrific middle school shooting in the nearby town of Madison, the deranged Dr. Amy Bishop went to a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and killed several members of the Biology Department. Bishop’s psychotic spree put Huntsville briefly in the national news, and no one in town is happy about the negative attention.
It’s a shame. Despite the recent violence, Huntsville is a gentle place and its residents display a hospitality that tends to shock people who visit from outside of the South. Located in the hills that presage Appalachia, it’s also a stunningly gorgeous natural treasure that glows green in the summer and blooms full-force in the springtime. Historically it is distinguished as well– Huntsville was the first capital of Alabama, and in the 1960s it was the first Alabama city to fully desegregate.
Nowadays, Huntsville can boast of having the best music scene between Austin and Athens. G-side has been generating a lot of press for the rap game in “the 256,” but there’s a lot of other stuff happening too. My favorite place in town is Vertical House Records, a store in an old textile mill that hosts touring bands like Nobunny and Juiceboxxx and propagates music by local hootenanny-influenced punkers like Thomas Function and the Pine Hill Haints.
The point is this: don’t let all that violence distort your opinion of Huntsville, because it’s a great place and doesn’t deserve to be thought of as anything less. Next time you think of “the Rocket City,” don’t think of Dr. Bishop. Think of these sweet tunes:
Pine Hill Haints – My Bones Are Gonna Rise Again
Thomas Function – Sherman’s March
Chocolate Chip – Suzy Certain
Puppy Hearts – When Kingdom Come
Rise Up Howling Werewolf – the Hearse
This is an awesome article! Thanks for the plug :)