Macon Magazine

Leavell, as well as weddings of Gregg Allman, Jaimoe and Lamar Williams, Jr.). GABBA helped pay for the plaques and plans to install more as the Historic Macon Music Registry grows. Working to meet their goal of historic preservation, GABBA has started an archive of reference materials at Washington Library. Potter would like the public to help further their efforts by contributing their own artifacts. She said GABBA wants a comprehensive collection of materials on the Allman Brothers and other musicians from Macon, like Otis Redding and Johnny Jenkins. The archive has expanded recently to include Capricorn artists as well. "We want this so that anytime someone wants to learn or catch up on local music in the future, it will be there," she said. THE LIVE MUSIC EVENT & FANS REUNION GABBA's premier event is their annual GABBAfest, self-described on their website as "Macon's good-time reunion of ABB fans from all over the world," promising live music, visits to the Big House (Allman Brothers Band Museum) and plenty of Macon hospitality. When asked to talk about a "typical" GABBAfest event-goer, Potter laughed. "We have members young and old. We have the hippie type, all income types, all different backgrounds," she said. "You can't point to one person and say, 'that's a fan.' The music brings everyone together. They may be a CEO during the week and put on their tie- dye on the weekends." This music festival is a three-day Allman Brothers revival event that has featured Allman band members like Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Warren Haynes as well as related bands with Devon Allman, Berry Duane Oakley and Duane Betts. Others to grace the GABBA stage include Wet Willie, Cowboy, Les Dudek, Samantha Fish and young guitar impresario Brandon "Taz" Niederauer. "Through the years, we've had an impressive lineup rivaling any other Georgia music festival," Pinkston remarked. GABBA members also get an opportunity to play at the annual ALL THINGS ALLMAN: ROSE HILL CEMETERY When Rose Hill Cemetery was established in 1840, no one could predict it would become the final resting place of a legendary southern rock band, the first cemetery in America to have an entire band laid to rest at the same plot. That's the plan for one of the most visited grave sites in music history – making it a top must-see in Macon – where Duane Allman and Berry Oakley are interred side-by-side, their fatal motorcycle crashes taking their young lives just over a year apart. Decades later, in 2017, Gregg Allman would be buried here, too. Drummer Butch Truck's ashes would follow. In this sacred spot, two plots remain, so when the day comes, Jai Johanny Johanson, aka Jaimoe, and Dickey Betts can join the final resting place of their brotherhood. Rose Hill Cemetery is home to several attractions in Allman Brothers Band lore, which draw a multitude of tourists year after year seeking hallowed ground. The band shot the back cover of their first album behind the Bond Monument . Elizabeth Reed's grave is there, as is Little Martha. Steven Fulbright, Visit Macon's Vice President of Sales and Services, discusses the draw of Rose Hill for tourists – and perhaps the Allman Brothers – all those years ago. "Simri Rose designed Rose Hill to be a cemetery and a park. This was common during the time it was built. The mortuary monuments and marble out there are absolutely stunning, the sculptures are amazing, but also the horticulture, the number of trees and plants and shrubs are absolutely beautiful the way that they're dispersed throughout the cemetery. Also, the way the cemetery is terraced overlooking the river; it's a beautiful view. It's very inspirational, so it's a great place for people to go to be inspired, but also to reflect on lost loved ones." Visit Macon and the Historic Macon Foundation are collaborating to implement new directional signage on the grounds to aid visitors in finding their way around the 50-acre landscape, according to Fulbright. You can visit historic Rose Hill Cemetery (1071 Riverside Dr.) seven days a week, dawn until dusk. JUNE/JULY 2022 | maconmagazine.com 109

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