Singing River David Hood aluminum sculpture Avalon Ave

Outside the Muscle Shoals Public Library, a giant aluminium bass player recalls the musicians who made the Shoals a recording hub. It is one of the Singing River Sculptures, a series of aluminium figures that includes the 18-foot singer in Sheffield. The Bama Buzz reported in 2024 that sculptor Audwin McGee modelled this figure on bassist David Hood and that it was put in place in 2014. The first sculpture in the series, an 18-foot singer in 1950s style, was unveiled in Sheffield in September 2012. Light Metal Age wrote in October 2024 that the idea came from the late Bill Matthews, a University of North Alabama retiree who was inspired by tall sculptures of musicians on a hike in Ireland, and that work began in 2009. It said all the sculptures use aluminium from the Constellium Muscle Shoals plant. The series has grown: Florence held a dedication for a trumpet player on 14 July, as reported by The Bama Buzz in July 2024, and a fourth sculpture was planned for Tuscumbia. A historical marker at the Muscle Shoals sculpture is inscribed: "This sculpture is dedicated to the many individuals whose efforts made Muscle Shoals and the Muscle Shoals area the “Hit Recording Capital of the World,” and to those who continue that legacy." It also recounts a legend, which it attributes to the Yuchi and other early inhabitants, of a Spirit Woman who lived in the river. The sculpture is outdoors in front of the library on Avalon Avenue.