Kevin & Sarah Robinson
Kevin was born in Huntsville, but quickly became active in The Shoals’ music scene as a UNA student. After college, Kevin bounced around big cities producing music, from Nashville to Portland to New York City, and back to Portland again. Sarah, a classically-trained barber, had lived in the Portland area all of her life. She met Kevin, by chance, in Portland, and when a family illness brought Kevin back to Decatur, he rediscovered The Shoals and asked Sarah to come with him. The first time Sarah crossed the bridge into Florence, she “loved the riverbanks and deciduous trees. It looked like a little paradise. We went to Rivertown the first day and started making friends.” They found a historic, turn-key barbershop for sale in downtown Sheffield, which Sarah has lovingly restored as Do Right Man Barbershop. Kevin was able to reconnect to the music scene to start his own record label, Bless Yr Heart. They both live and work in downtown Sheffield.
“If you had told me two years ago that I’d be living in Muscle Shoals, I’d laughed my a** off. But having experienced living in NYC and Portland, and seeing it become what it is now, going back to here has felt like a preference.”
According to Kevin, “There’s a constant psychic static that exists in big cities. [The Shoals] just feels like a town that has just stayed doing what it is doing.” This lack of “psychic static” he says, enables musicians in the area to respect each other and make space to allow each other to create new ideas. “You have the benefit of doing it with childhood friends who are giving each other space to play and aren’t always waiting for their moment to shine. There is a friendship happening in the music, and you can hear it.”
At Do Right Man, Sarah serves clients young and old, from little boys getting their first hair cuts to old men who have been getting their haircut in this same building since they were boys. “I’ve realized we are all the same and we just want good things from life”. She loves barbering and the personal relationships that allow her to appreciate each person in her chair for their unique perspective. “I had friends in Portland who were working two and three job just to pay the bills. They were working so hard, they never had time for personal relationships”.
They both love what is happening in The Shoals and believe growth is imminent. “There’s this crew of amazing, scrappy young adults who are all trying to make and create their own clothing, art, music, bars and venues”, Sarah says. “People here are earnest makers and I love the way that community supports one another”. Kevin believes this community will help shape the future of our area, and would like to see more alternative opportunities like Airbnbs, food carts, and other atypical businesses be allowed in the community. “When you allow artists the agency to create things, wealth always follows.”
Reprinted with permission from Shoals Soul.
