Here at Church Street, we love at good story. We sell great stories in the books we offer, obviously, but there’s also a special place in our hearts for great music (anyone who’s seen Cal dancing in the morning knows we can get a little carried away with a good song). And we also love the stories our customers share with us every single day over coffee and Breakup Cookies. With today’s release of Church Street customer Carla Jean Whitley’s new book, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, all these loves come together in one spectacular story.
Anyone who’s met Carla Jean knows she’s a HUGE cheerleader for books, music and Church Street. Carla Jean and our store share a birthday, for one thing (it’s July 5 — we just turned three earlier this month). Her official author photo was taken in front of our shop, and she even mentioned our Book Hangout in her BookPage feature today. She’s also written a series of blogs for us on the process of getting her book to press (read Carla Jean’s blog series here). And she’s the first to promote a book, album or local band that she loves.
So the fact that Carla Jean has written about music in Muscle Shoals is pretty much perfect. Lots of us love the documentary on the subject, and we’re excited to delve into it even more deeply through her writing. And we’re extremely happy to be able to offer our customers a conversation with Carla Jean on August 19. We’re having her come to the shop for a great evening filled with live music, free whiskey sours (mixed by Heather — they’re incredible), an interview with me, and an open Q&A with the audience. We work hard to make our book events worth our customers’ time and to honor the authors for visiting us, and I hope you’ll join us. Click the link below to learn more and buy your tickets to the event; they’re $10, and you’ll get a $10 coupon to put toward the book when you arrive. (Be sure to click “pick up” so the site doesn’t charge you shipping.)
We’re so happy for Carla Jean, and we can’t wait to celebrate with all of you!