Season 9 kicks off in the Shoals, a cluster of towns in north Alabama, defined by their relationship to the Tennessee River: Florence, Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. Native people said that river sang. That's one of the stories locals tell about how the Shoals became the music recording capital of the US. Power generated by Wilson Dam, which now spans that river, drove the rise of tee-shirt manufacturing in the Shoals. Trowbridge's Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop, founded in 1918, the same year construction on that dam began, is Florence's flagship. Over in Sheffield, at George's Steak Pit, Elaine Goodlowe has stood tall by that hickory-fueled pit for more than 40 years. In the Shoals, those story threads knit people and places together.

Havana Sandwich Shop, the Cuban restaurant opened by Benedit family in 1976, was arguably the first international restaurant on Buford Highway, the now seven-lane stretch of suburban road that runs north out of Atlanta. Other immigrants from across the world followed. By the later years of the 20th century, Buford Highway became the preferred on ramp for immigrants to the South who want to start and grow businesses. Today restaurants like Kamayan, a Filipino spot in Asian Plaza owned by Mia "Amormia" Orino and Carolo Gan, and Gula, a family-owned Indonesia sweet café across the street in Pinetree Plaza, showcase the results of their belief in what American has long promised.