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recruiter led to a 20-year career piloting C-130 cargo planes and doing administration work. During that time, he stayed active musically by forming a bluegrass outfit in his squadron that consistently won base-level talent shows, command-level shows and for four years took second place at the Air Force- wide competition. "We played all over the world," he said. "Plus, when we won contests it meant our job became practicing to win the next one, so that was a pretty good deal." Cullison retired in 2000 while at Robins Air Force Base and moved to Macon to be near musician friends. He also started attending guitar workshops and camps including the popular Nashcamp around Nashville and Warren Wilson College's Swannanoa Gathering in western North Carolina. It offers five separate weeks focusing on areas like guitar, mandolin, fiddle, traditional songs, Celtic music and contemporary folk music. World-class musicians teach and there's time to hang out, learn casually and get to know people. at's how he met player- teachers leading their fields like Robin Bullock and Steve Baughman, Jim Hurst, Preston Reed, Al Pettaway, David Grier and Muriel Anderson. Friendships were made. ings happened. All were among those who eventually came to Macon to play along with others Cullison met. It was fingerstyle guitarist Preston Reed who first started talking to Cullison about doing shows in Macon. Reed said he'd come, and Cullison did a show with him at the Douglas eatre in 2002. "Preston helped me so much and so did Gina Ward at the Douglass," Cullison said. "Another iconic guitar player who came and was a big, big help was Jim Hurst." ree-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year winner and sought-after teacher and studio musician, Hurst has done dozens of Cullison's shows. "ere's all kinds of music in Macon but Joe wanted to bring more bluegrass and acoustic fingerstyle players," Hurst said. "We became friends at Nashcamp, where I taught for 14 years. I encouraged Joe to do it – do it right away." Hurst said there's a unique trait to Macon audiences. "Most people traveling through Macon on the interstates don't have a clue what's going on or what the musical heritage is," he said. "But when I come to Macon, I know I'm performing for people with an upper-level musical knowledge and awareness. At Joe's, I know they're there to listen. at's a great situation." CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: STEVE BAUGHMAN AND ROBIN BULLOCK SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT AT CELTIC CHRISTMAS CONCERTS. GUITARIST DAVID GRIER WITH FREQUENT CONCERT-GOER YING ZHEN, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT WESLEYAN COLLEGE. NASHVILLE-BASED RECORDING ARTIST DAVID GRIER AT A HOUSE CONCERT AT JOE'S. WORLD-FAMOUS GUITARIST MURIEL ANDERSON PLAYS HARP GUITAR AT A HOUSE CONCERT AT JOE'S. 7 6 M ACO N M AG A Z I N E.CO M | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 0