The music scene of Athens, Georgia

I’ve learned that bar hopping in Georgia can be a bit like the classic ‘Who’s on First’ skit: 

“Let’s go watch some live music tonight.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Nowhere.”

“But I thought you wanted to see some live music?”

“I do, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Nowhere.”

“Well, we have to go somewhere.”

“I don’t want to go Somewhere, that’s in Augusta.  Let’s go Nowhere.”

“Alright, we’ll stay in then.”

“No, let’s go to Nowhere.”

“Isn’t that the same as staying here?”

“No it’s a Bar, and we should go Nowhere in Athens, or nowhere at all.”

From Somewhere in Augusta to Nowhere in Athens and everywhere in between, I saw some great live music in Georgia.  I was staying with a friend in Athens, which has been ranked as the number one music town by Rolling Stone.  The music scene is so extensive that even the local Terrapin Brewery has live bands play several days a week, and the local farmers market has live music in the park every Saturday morning.  Athens is also a college town, so the audience is full of future earners, currently learners, that probably don't appreciate all the music, and really can’t afford it, so the shows are often free.  In some cases you get what you paid for, but in most cases the musicians rock, and are working for tips and the hopes of a record deal to become future earners themselves.  (Somewhere in Augusta is the name of a popular sports bar where we watched team USA defeat Panama in the Gold Cup soccer final.) 

NOWHERE BAR

The ‘Nowhere Bar’ in Athens has great music and has also been ranked as the eighth best college bar in America, or so they proudly claim (but don’t cite).   At the Nowhere bar, the motto is, ‘Nowhere in Athens or nowhere at all.’  I visited the place a couple of nights and they always had live music and it was almost always good.   

On Tuesdays, they have ‘The Confessional,’ a night of singer/songwriters sharing the stage like musicians house party.  When I arrived, Geoff and Jeff of The Deadfields were on stage and quickly had my ear.  They had some great lyrics and good music.  One of the first songs I caught was ‘A little spark,’ which started out slow and depressed, like a country song about losing it all.  He sang: “All my oats are sown, all my old flames are cold…” However, quickly the beat and mood picks up as he explains his need to get away from the wife and house every once and a while to bar hop.  He explains, “A little hug can lead to her car, but I swear I’ll finish my beer before it gets that far.  I just wanna know I still got that spark.”  Their full band will return to play Nowhere again on 29AUG, and I suspect they’ll fill the house. 

The next songwriter on the stage sang ‘Hit Maker’: “I sneeze and hits come out. When I tell people I'm a songwriter they say ‘ok, but what’s your job.’  People don't know the songwriter they just know the band.”  Ironically, I didn't catch his name.  I asked, found out it was Matt Hudgins, and he continued with several more good ‘sneezes,’ before Vanessa and Elizabeth of Granville Automatic came on stage.  The night continued with three more acts and all of them were impressive.  In the crowd, I saw a man who looked like Ernest Hemingway wearing a cowboy hat two sizes too small, with a fiddle case between his legs tapping his foot as the hits rolled off the stage.  I expected him to head on stage with one of the acts, but he never did... a guy in tie dye, a ten gallon hat, and sunglasses did instead.

On a Friday night, I returned to Nowhere to catch Jet Edison, described as a ‘rock/fusion’ band, but they sounded like they had heavy influence from the days when rock was parting ways with the blues.  As they played, an old pool shark cased the room arm outstretched holding a house cue, like it was a dowsing rod and he was looking for a watering hole.  He spoke to a guy at the bar with something between a threat and invitation to play pool.  The guy declined as John Wayne looked on from the wood paneled wall.  Meanwhile, an older gentlemen, who looked like he had just returned from an afternoon on the links, leans over the bar and advises the bartender that they should bring the band back.  “I’ve been in here before, and these guys are good.  You should bring them back in on a Saturday.”  Never mind that the band is from Colorado, but I’m sure the bartender will chalk that up on his to do list right after taking out the trash.  Apparently, the ladies in the bar agreed, as they were handing the band shots between sets.  “We’re getting shots from beautiful women.  It’s good to be back in Georgia.  Cheers” the singer said, as they downed the shots and started their next song.

CALEDONIA LOUNGE

I caught a local act, Monsoon, on Friday at the Caledonia Lounge, voted the “Best small venue in Athens” by the Flagpole, a local events weekly paper.  I’d say it could also win in the “Best venue that starts with a ‘C’ and ends with Lounge” category.  The Flagpole had also written up Monsoon in their latest paper and put them on the cover as the “Latest band to take the City by Storm.”  The show started early, possibly because the band had a curfew.  The lead singer/songwriter/guitarist is only 17 and looks like Kristen Stewart as Bella in Twilight, dressed in short black dress, torn knit stockings and low black heels.  The base player looked like Lenny Kravitz son, although I may have been making that association because he was wearing a T-shirt with Lenny on it.  The drummer was the old man in the trio at 20.  They were good, and I suspect they are going to get better, since they’ve only been together for eight months. 

The crowd was mostly punk/goth teens, girls in boots, spike clad jeans and pink mohawks.  The venue was black: floor, walls, ceiling, save the fan and skylight, which was still letting in a little evening light.  Just to the right of the stage, a kid was working the lights with a lapboard of dimmer switches.  At first thought he was a sound guy working an equalizer, but he was throwing the switches up and down with abandon.  He had nice rhythm, and fancy finger work, and was tapping his combat boots as he went… I began to wonder if he might simply be an enthusiast and the sound-man gave him a board to play with, but finally it dawned on me that he was lights. 

Monsoon was followed by The Debutante Massacre.  If you have seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you would immediately think the band was inspired by the ‘Dracula Muppet Musical’ at the end of the movie.  They were a trio as well, with a charismatic, flamboyant singer in gray slacks, button down shirt, vest and yellow tie.  He was accompanied by an electric pianist and drummer.

I stepped out between acts into the back ally ‘deck’ area between sets, and overheard a pair of parents talking about their kids.  They were the only other people on the deck and the man said, “My 15 year old talks like he is 30.”  I assume he was proud of how mature they were.  When I went back inside the 'mature' teens were developing a small mosh pit, led by none other than the lead singer of Monsoon.  Meanwhile, the small 30 plus contingent stood back shaking their heads, remembering the days when we use to find that entertaining.

The last act I caught was The Jak Locke Rock Show, from New Orleans.  The lead singer, Jak, brought his own retro style microphone, wore a suit jacket and had the facial and body contortions of Jim Carrey.  As he sang he jumped and spasmed behind the mic like there was an electric pulse in the floor.  His drummer looked like the love child of the muppet Animal and guitarist Slash from Guns and Roses.  However, no sooner had I made that association, than he put his hair up, exposing a widows peak, and changing his look to Dracula with a pony-fro.  There last song was 'Hanna', and there happened to be a Hanna in the crowd.  “Oh great, there’s never been a Hanna in the crowd before.  We’re gonna hafta play this song more often.  This is dedicated to Hanna.” Jak said, and Hanna began to move toward the stage. Then the drummer quickly added, “We usually dedicate it to Right Hand; Hanna.” And, Hanna moved back away from the stage.

THE WORLD FAMOUS

 The World Famous (another name that could confuse people when you tell them where you want to go) is another popular and trendy spot, but the venue is small.  The day I went it was packed with pierced and tattooed metal fans.  The small room made it feel like I was at a concert in an artsy apartment living room.  They had an old, bright green ironing board in the corner set up to be used as a small table with homey barstools in front of it for seating.  There was a faux mounted Rhino’s head on one wall, local artwork covering the other and two chandeliers made of rusted, rolled and twisted metal and old belt-saw blades.    However, when you walk out, through the door below the mounted Rhino, you enter a bar instead of the apartment kitchen.  On the wall behind the bar is a huge classroom-style chalk board with the menu and artwork done in colorful chalk.  The drinks are served in mason jars, and they offer Famosa beer from Guatemala.  I think the bar is about as world famous as the beer, but both grew on me. 

THE MELTING POINT

Before heading over to The World Famous, I had caught the Claire Lynch Band, at The Melting Point, which is in a historic set of buildings that was an Ironworks factory in the 1800s.   Now, it’s a collection of shops, bars and a cozy inn.  The Melting Point has an open air courtyard with a stage for some shows, but it was sprinkling that evening, so I was glad our show was inside.  Inside, the venue is intimate with a small stage surrounded by tables which are backed by second level of tables about six feet higher, and then above that is a second floor balcony with one row of theater -style folding chairs and a second row of bar stools with a narrow counter separating the two.  I arrived early, but not early enough to beat the retirees, who had already filled the first two levels of tables, so I ordered a beer and headed up to the balcony.

The shows at The Melting Point start earlier than most, and like an early dinner buffet in Florida, the early evening show brings out the retirees.  Also, like Florida, I learned that Athens is a hot spot for retirement, along with its music.  However, I can’t understand why retirees would go to the early show.  They should be the ones that stay up all night, since they can sleep in every morning.  I guess 30 plus years of work related conditioning will doom us all to being early risers.   

I didn’t come to watch the crowd, and Claire put on a great show of Americana (Bluegrass, Folk, Swing and a little Gospel).  She and her band were charismatic and her sweet Tennessee twang made everything she said lovable.  After one of the first songs she said, “Dats a dad gun good’n!  Written by a guy from Georgia.  He lives on the left coast now.”  The crowd was smitten with her and the band.  They cheered wildly at the end of each song, and clapped, hooted and hollered throughout for any and all solo instrumentals.   At one point they even cheered for the song after Claire introduced it, to which she retorted, “I haven’t done it yet.” On the next song the crowd stayed quiet after she had described the historic civil war diaries the song was inspired by, so before she got started she asked “Well, do you wanna hear it?”  After a short break to chat with the audience, sign autographs and sell CD’s, the band returned to the stage and filled the second set with requests they received during the break.  As the night progressed more and more young people began to arrive as some of the older folks in the crowd began to retire early.   But most stayed and the show did not disappoint. 

TERRAPIN

Before I left Athens, I had to check out the Brewery and the free live music they put on a few nights a week during the summer.  People who love beer typically love the social culture of beer and Terrapin's summer brewery tours exemplify this.  They also manage to blend the beer with Athens music scene, which was one of the deciding factors for them establishing their brewery in Athens.  They love the music scene, and their name even gives homage to music.  One of the two founders is a big Dead Head, who believes the Grateful Dead's album 'Terrapin Station' is the greatest album of all time, so they named their beer after it.  Additionally, they happened to meet the band's artist early on, and he now does all the artwork for the beer labels.

The brewery occupies what was once a jeans factory on the outskirts of town, which they converted because, as they say on the tour: "If you have beer, you don't need pants."  I expected that the free live music they offer when they have tours would be performed in a small corner of a tasting room and a small crowd would come and go as tours filtered through.  Instead, I arrived to find an overflowing parking lot and a steady stream of beer enthusiasts wandering into the brewery from adjacent streets and parking lots.  Also, instead of a small tasting room, they had a huge grass covered lot next to the brewery with a few beer tents, food trucks and a large stage next to the building with a few vines of hops growing up the building beside it.  People were playing Corn Hole, tossing Frisbees and kicked back in lawn chairs enjoying the band on stage.  Every hour a guide would wander through the crowd with a beat up cardboard 'Tour' sign to announce the next tour of the brewery, and a small group of followers would fall in behind him as he disappeared back into the building.  The tour was both entertaining and informative and for ten dollars you got a souvenir pint glass, six half pint tastings, and two full pints from the selection they had on tap. 

‘Nowhere in Athens or nowhere at all.’ I’ll drink to that.

The Town Too Beautiful to burn

While touring some historic homes in Athens, I was told, on two separate occasions, that I should also visit the town of Madison, if I liked historic places and architecture.  The first girl told me that that it is known as the city that was too beautiful to burn, which led me to ask if Athens was burned.  She didn’t know, but the second told me that Athens had been outside of Sherman’s path to the sea.  “In Athens, we destroyed our own history in our efforts to modernize.”  She said with chagrin.  However, she admitted there does need to be a balance, and Athens had been doing a lot to preserve its historic buildings since the late 1970’s.

I decided to take a day trip to Madison, and learned that the motto ‘Too beautiful to burn,’ was not exactly true. Gen Sherman’s army did burn the railroad depot and warehouses in the city, but they did leave the town itself untouched.  Also, although it is a beautiful antebellum town, it was really saved by the people who new Sherman.  Before the Civil war began, Joshua Hill was a US senator who lived in Madison.  Hill knew Sherman and asked him not to burn the city.  Sherman honored the request, and reportedly ordered soldiers to guard all the homes in the city to ensure they were not burned as the army passed through, tearing up the railroad and destroying supplies the southern army might use.  Hill’s home is on the walking tour of town, and I thought it was one of the most impressive ones in town.  

Today, the town continues to preserve its past with almost extreme measures.  As I drove through town, I noticed that the only national chain business around are kept on the outer edge of town.  I also was told that someone had tried to open a Hardees restaurant, but the townsfolk protested.  It was built anyway, and designed fit into the antebellum style of the town.  This did not appease the people of Madison who refused to eat there.  The place quickly went out of business and reportedly the building remains empty.  I tried to find it, but only found a BP station the met the same fate.  

Another thing I found odd was the city center was dominated by brick buildings, but beyond the city center, brick was very rare.  Apparently it was not as beautiful as the rest of town, because the area surround the center square did burn, in 1869, just as the city was beginning to recover from the civil war.  It was rebuilt in brick, giving it a different look from the rest of the city.

I started my tour at the Roger and Rose house, where I met Betty.  She was my guide and knew a little about Madison, because she moved there as a young woman.  She was looking for work and had an aunt that was packing parachutes at an Air Force base, and she hoped she could get a similar job.  However, her mother was afraid Betty might meet a man in the Air Force, and she would never see her again.  “Mom heard about a job for AT&T in Madison, so she boxed me up and sent me here.”  

Betty started out as a switchboard operator back then and continued to work for AT&T for 30 years.  An impressive career, that came with a pension, but she wasn’t done.  She then moved on to being a bus driver, driving 104 miles a day to “collect up my kids” from around the county’s farms and return them again after school.  She drove the bus for another 22 years, but she still wasn’t ready to retire.  She told me “I have found that I like livin’.  And I’ve seen my friends retire and say, ‘I’m not gonna do nuttin’.  But they ain’t with us no more.  ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it,’ is what I say.” So, she got a job with the Madison Historic Society as a tour guide, where she has been for the last eight years.  I don’t know if you’re doing the math, but that is 60 years of work.  I didn’t ask her how old she was but if she started work at 20 she’d be 80 and still guiding tours five days a week.  I asked if she was a volunteer, and she said, “No, I get paid enough to put gas in the car, and buy myself an outfit now and again.”  

I was beginning to realize she was a bit of a historic treasure, as she told me about the Rogers House, the oldest home in Madison.  The first owner bought the lot $111 in 1809, when the town was founded, and sold the house a year later for $1000.  Not a bad return on his investment.  Over the years the house had 17 owners until it was bought by the city and restored to what it would have looked like in 1873.  In one room they had stripped the wall down to show some of the original wall paper.  Betty told me, “They would have nailed the wallpaper up in the fall and taken it down in the Spring.  No insulation here, so the wallpaper kept in the warmth, and the cracks between the boards let in cool air in the summer.”

As a switchboard operator she said she learned a lot.  “That movie The Help, that could have happened right here in Madison.  Mmhmm.  You better believe it.”  She told me many of the homes in town have been in the same families for generations, and the Stokes-McHenry House has been in the same family for seven generations!  All these families had accumulated a lot of wealth with plantations and pastures across Georgia.  For example, Dr Eligah E Jones had a home on Main Street and owned 114 slaves and over 3000 acres of land across the state.  He worked as a doctor with the Confederacy, and his beautiful Greek Revival home is now the Heritage Hall, donated to the city in 1977.  When Betty came into town the slaves were long since emancipated, but the town was still divided.  There was a colored neighborhood, many of the families still had servants and the ladies of the house gathered and gossiped much like they did in The Help.

“When I arrived I was that girl that the women talked about in church, but I had an Ace in the hole,” she told me.  Her uncle was a member of one of the well to do families, and when she sat with him at church one Sunday, and was introduced as his niece, suddenly opinions changed.   “I was that same girl they had been talkin’ about just last week.”  

I asked if she still felt like an outsider in the town.  “No, I feel like a Madisonian now.”  She raised a family there, and now she even has great-grandkids there.  She said when she first arrived she lived in a boarding house between the Baptist and Presbyterian churches.  “You can’t miss it.  Blue with white trim, right between the churches on Mains Street.”  My walking tour of the town included her old home, known as The Magnolia House.  It turns out that during the renovation, they discovered a trap door and tunnel, believed to have been used as part of the Underground Railroad.

After we finished touring the Rogers House, she took me next door to the Rose House, which was built by Adeline Rose in 1891.  It is a small and simple home, but what is most impressive about it is Adeline, who was born into slavery, but “was the hardest workin’est woman” in town according to everyone Betty talked to. Betty said she use to hear about Adeline all the time when she first moved to town and set out to meet her.  She never did, but discovered, “She worked for one family, but did the laundry and babysat for nearly everyone in the county.”  She lived in the house she built for 68 years, until her death in 1959.  She had a boy and girl but outlived them both, so in 1966 the city purchase the home and moved it to the present location. As the brochure says, “It was felt that it was very important to save this little house built out of the labor of love of a woman who was born into slavery.”

As we toured Betty asked where I was from, and when I told her Wyoming, she said, “Oh, never been out that far, but I hope to take a road trip with my boy one day.  He’s 53, but he’s still my baby boy.  Maybe even out to Washington, and then we’ll loop back down and come back another way.”  

I said, “Well you should take a little vacation, and get on the road.”  

“Ah, maybe next year… or the year after that.” 

She then went on to tell me, “My husband use to drive long haul.  Every time he went on a trip our boy would say, ‘Can we go momma, can we go.’  Well one time the brakes went out on the truck.  We were stuck out on the side of the road overnight, and trucks didn’t have air in those days, so we had the windows down.  Boy, those mosquitoes ate us up.  After that, every time he had a trip, our boy would say, ‘We can’t go momma.  The bugs will bite us.’  I guess the brakes going out was a blessing in disguise.” She chuckled.

Well Betty, when you take that road trip, I hope you enjoy Wyoming as much as I enjoyed talking to you.