Macon Magazine

have careers outside of the music industry, so the COVID-19 shutdown didn't affect them as much as it did others. "We still found ourselves feeling more disconnected than ever from our friends and fans," said Cassara, so they developed Work in Progress Wednesdays. Every Wednesday, on their Facebook group (BZKZ Fam), the duo shares some new creative work, whether it be a song snippet or an innovative idea, and they encourage others to share their own works in progress. "It's naturally more music focused," said Cassara, "but we also have people share paintings, pottery, gardening, all kinds of stuff. It's been a really nice way for us to stay connected and keep tabs on our awesome community through the pandemic." e Hummingbird is their favorite venue, and they've played Bragg Jam six years in a row, but they're in no rush to return to the stage. "Our shows are at their best when everyone can be together, carefree and having fun, so we'd like to wait until we can achieve that properly," Cassara said. ey've done a few livestreams for fun and have been considering the logistics of doing a livestream with their full band, but mostly they've been working diligently on their album, which is coming together nicely with some exciting features they can't wait to share with fans. "Many times, we've felt that we don't fit in anywhere," said Walters. "But over time, we grew as musicians and our friends did, too, and it feels like we all carved out a spot for ourselves, which at times isn't easy. It's a testament to the fact that, if you do your own thing and you do it well, eventually people will take notice. Being a musician in Macon has been nothing short of a blast. We love the 478." ANDRE JONES was a high school student in 1980 and enrolled in Mercer's Upward Bound, a college preparatory program that assists lower- income students in their academic pursuits. e program's final two weeks were devoted to on-the-job training, and Jones wound up assigned to 97.9 WIBB. I "I wasn't too excited, but I figured I'd go, maybe get a free T-shirt and an album," Jones said. Instead, he found himself working with legendary Big George reatt, who asked the Upward Bound students to create a new theme song for his morning show, and the end result was not only good, it was great. If "going viral" had been a thing back then, this song would've been a contender. Big George recognized the innate talent in Jones, and continued to invite him back to the station even after the mandated two weeks were over. Jones would help out around the station, do a little DJing and work parties every now and then. Jones flourished under the attention, and Big George offered him a primo on-air gig – the evening drive slot. "I'd get out of school at Southwest, go to the station and be on the air from 5 p.m. until the station went off the air," Jones said. At the time – the very early '80s – rap music was just starting to hit the mainstream, but it was considered more of a fad, and the station wouldn't play it in the mornings or afternoons due to listener complaints. "My show was the first hip-hop/rap radio show in Macon," he said. "It was the perfect place to play rap music – all the kids listened, nobody had YouTube. I was the only source for rap, and everybody wanted to hear everything I played." Even after such a lucky experience, Jones didn't consider DJing as a full-time career. With hopes of becoming a pediatrician, he headed to Howard University, where he majored in microbiology, but the high tuition cost proved too daunting. He returned to Macon and finished out his degree at Mercer – marketing, not microbiology. "You don't specialize in anything, you just get a job in business," Jones said. So, he got a job in business. Or rather, he got several jobs at several businesses. He picked up some work at the radio station and DJed at parties every now and then under the name AJ the DJ (@AJtheDJinMacon). But he couldn't shake this bad feeling – he'd wanted to be a pediatrician, and now he was a DJ, and he couldn't reconcile that. en he met a doctor who, after the two had been chatting for a while, said, "Man, it A ABOVE: ANDRE JONES 40 maconmagazine.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020

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