Coolologist: Blake Ells Trade: Novelist / Music Writer / RaconteurGuild: al.com / Weld for Birmingham / Arcadia Publishing / Auburn FanRecorded at the 2016 SouthSounds Music Fest Podcast Live event writer and reporter Blake Ells talks about the SouthSounds Music Fest, up and coming southern bands, music writing, and his book Muscle Shoals and the Legacy of Fame. A whole new crop of great songwriters and bands starting with Patterson Hood, Drive-By Truckers, Fiddleworms, Jason Isbell, to the inclusion of The Pollies, Alabama Shakes, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones have put FAME studios back on the music map and Billboard charts. Blake shares with the Crusader of Cool (and our live studio audience) the stories and the causes of the rebirth and the next generation of the legendary Shoals music sound and magic.  Plus, we find out what he thinks passes for "what's cool" and why Johnny won't get a little "beer buzzed" before his next live interview.What you will hear:> Who's the next great North Alabama musician or band out of the Muscle Shoals area? > Can a music writer be a fan and a critic?> Better music scene: Birmingham or Mobile?> Getting back stage passes from Eagles of Death Metal.Buy Blake Ell's incredible book - The Muscle Shoals Legacy of Fame at amazon.com. Special thanks to BugMaster for sponsoring SouthSounds Podcast Live and for Dan West and his recording and sound engineering Jedi skills.Crusader of Cool WTF?Crusader of Cool Podcast is more than a review show of "what's cool." It's a quest to learn what makes something "COOL" and how we use that knowledge to be a more intriguing and smooth conversationalist and drinking buddy. It's a study in the social science of COOL.Johnny Gwin, the Crusader of Cool, is not a "Cool" guy. He has never had a seat at the COOL KIDS table in the lunchroom and to this day is just a bit "out of the loop". However, he is a genuine curious soul that loves to discover fascinating sights, sounds, people, places, businesses, products, ideas and all things pop-culture that excites him and hopefully makes the world a more kick ass place. Join The Crusader of Cool on his quest to become a more enlightened vessel in the world of "how cool is that" by learning from the Zen-like teachings of the COOLOLOGISTS, who live on the top of Mt. Badass.