Especially Proud of Macon, Georgia Tonight
We might be finally getting it guys.
We have talked so much about Macon’s past and have crept slowly towards it’s future… but I think we’re finally getting there.
Saturday night I attended a sold out show at the Cox Capitol Theatre. It was one of my very favorite bands: St. Paul & The Broken Bones. They’re based out of Birmingham, Alabama- a place where my father lived for part of his life. Members of their band have roots in Muscle Shoals, an Alabama city much like Macon in that it’s musical history has seen a very colored past. But one that seems to be also seeing a light of new appreciation.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones have a colorful history, their lead singer Paul Janeway is a preacher’s kid- and frankly he sings like it.
I love that SPBB counts Otis Redding and Sam Cooke among their influences. That’s the music I grew up listening to. I especially think back to a trip throughout Alabama to see my father’s family: Mobile, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham. Listening to tapes recorded from the radio of Otis, Sam, the Allman Brothers, Etta James, The Staple Singers and more. Listening to them as I fell asleep in the car, as I watched the pine trees pass me by.
Not for nothing- the opener Banditos were freaking badass also. A drunken fellow concert goer poked me as I was taking photos to ask if I was with the band. When I responded that I was not she emphatically told me that the lead singer was the closest thing to Janis Joplin that we would get in our lifetimes. Sometimes the drunk speak the truth, much like children, and I would agree in this instance.
And Macon sold the place out tonight. Showed up and danced along with the band. Screamed with the same delight that I felt inside.
Sadly, I had to leave before the concert was over- I’ve been fighting a cold and I needed to make one more stop before relieving by babysitters.
And that stop was at the Bourbon Bar to quickly check out Rhythm & Rye put on by my friends. Macon, you showed up here as well. The place was packed listening to music by DJ Shawty Slim, music which was a mix of Michael Jackson, hip hop, and house music. Something which you could listen to while hanging out with friends, have a drink, and still be able to hear each other and talk. Not a club setting, but a lounge.
I think the event at Bourbon Bar is exactly what I’ve been looking for in a venue: a place where I can go and hear some of the latest music mixed with a house beat, but don’t have to scream above the music for friends to hear me, and don’t have to fight the young people to get a seat at the bar. So many places advertise their events as being “for the grown and sexy”- come on you know you’ve heard that cheesy tag line. But this was really it. Effortless and cool. Without having to fight to get a drink, but still crowded enough to feel like you’re a part of something fun- in case you didn’t pick up on that from the cool atmosphere and badass music.
Macon, y’all turned out tonight. For something new. A new set of sounds. I think we’re finally turning the corner. I couldn’t be more proud.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
