Missy Miles captures the spirit of W.C. Handy with winning music festival poster

THE SHOALS — Missy Miles’ work will once again be a part of history as her poster design for the W.C. Handy Music Festival in The Shoals was selected as the official artwork for the 2025 event, the 44th annual festival held annually to celebrate the “Father of the Blues.”
Miles noted past poster winners’ designs are displayed in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia.
Running for nearly two weeks from July 16-27 throughout various locations in The Shoals, the W.C. Handy Festival is an extreme musical showcase hosted by the Music Preservation Society.
In a press release, organizers noted, “The Music Preservation Society Board is proud of the 2025 official design for the W.C. Handy Music Festival, which was created by talented artist Missy Miles!”
Her design can already be seen on the festival website at WCHandyMusicFestival.com and is also featured on official Handy Festival T-shirts, posters, brochures, website and social media.
“This year’s winning design depicts the Tennessee River with wavy blue lines,” organizers noted. “It also pays homage to the festival’s namesake, and the challenges faced by W.C. Handy himself with her use of braille to spell the word ‘Blues.’
Miles said she considers it a high honor to be able to create something for such a great man.
“I am fascinated by W.C Handy’s background, his determination, his dedication and his motivation,” she said. “When you read his history, you learn he was called to music. His gift was music--to compose and to play.
“When he was very young, he brought home a guitar. His father was a minister, and to him, that wasn’t acceptable. He thought it was evil, and he didn’t want his son to have the guitar. He made him sell it and buy a dictionary.
“But W.C. Handy was still driven. When he was in school, he got with a group of fellows and had a quartet and played the cornet. When his father found out, he taught him the organ, but that didn’t last long.
“But that was his drive--music. He loved being in nature. He loved hearing the Mockingbirds and he loved studying frogs. It was like the synchronicity of nature drove his soul to create the music he produced.”
Miles said the more she read about Handy, the more fascinated she became by his drive and work ethic and illustrating the story of both.
“I was also fascinated by how when he was in an accident in New York, and he fell on the subway tracks and cracked his skull, and it left him blind, he didn’t even stop then. He learned how to compose music in braille. That was just, ‘don’t give up.’ Plain and simple.
“He’s quoted as saying, ‘Life is like a trumpet. You have to put something into it, to get something out.’ I love this guy. ‘The Father of the Blues.’ How awesome is that? I was even more inspired.”
Miles said when she was designing, she considered the print work for the poster art and T-shirts.
“I wanted it to read well, and not be too busy,” she said. “And his intricate composing made me want to go  in that direction. And because of my father’s eyesight becoming so impaired, the part about W.C. Handy losing his sight really resonated with me.”
(Miles’ father is award-winning wood artist Vernon Williams, who is also retired from the construction business.)
“I’m sure he had struggles and that was very hard to deal with,” she continued. “But he learned braille so he could keep getting the music out. There was so much in him he had to get out. His body of work is truly amazing.
“In the design, I incorporated the blues. I learned how to spell the blues in braille, and they resemble dominoes, which is a very popular game.
“I fell in love with the waves--the sound waves, the waves of nature. Everybody wonders where the music of The Shoals comes from. In a documentary, they say it comes from the water. Well, you think about mussels and the shells clicking and how that makes its own music in nature, too.
“And think about what all it takes for a mussel to be able to create another mussel, and the fish having to spawn. Everything is connected to another thing. And that was my connection that resonated--the braille and not letting life stop you. When you hit hurdles, you need to buck up and press on the best you can. W.C. Handy is so inspiring.”
Miles noted there’s been a considerable amount written about him.
“Being the ‘Father of the Blues,’ it’s everywhere,” she noted. “Just search online. He was born in 1873 in a cabin in Florence. And to honor someone now who came from such humble beginnings... Someone with a drive no one could stop... It’s amazing the Music Preservation Society is honoring him in such a fantastic way, with an over a week-long celebration of music in all the neighboring communities of The Shoals: Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals.”

Location of brochures,
festival T-shirts
Brochures featuring Miles’ design will be available at Handy Headquarters in the Southall Moore House, 215 East Tuscaloosa Street, directly across Tuscaloosa Street from Wilson Park in Florence.
Attendees may pick up brochures inside, or on the porch after closing. T-shirts will be on sale, along with signed and unsigned posters and other concession items, at Handy Headquarters.
Live performances will take place during the festival at parks, restaurants, stores, libraries, museums, art galleries, sidewalks, parking lots and lawns. There are also athletic events, plays, music classes, car shows and much more. Miles noted one of the events is a concert on the water.
More information about the Handy Festival can be found on the website or by using the QR Code seen on the official posters. You can also search for frequent updates during the festival at “W.C. Handy Music Festival” on Facebook.