Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1474185
BACK FOR MORE: MOUNT PILOT In 1992, Chris Moorman, lead guitarist, and Mark Trawick, drummer, both Maconites, gathered seasoned musicians from the area and formed the band Mount Pilot. When asked why the name Mount Pilot, Moorman broke into a smile, saying, "Well, according to The Andy Griffith Show, 'EVERYTHING is better in Mount Pilot,' and it worked!" Everything was great with Mount Pilot. From 1992 to 1995, they traveled, played primarily original songs and left their audiences throughout the Southeast – but particularly at home in Macon – wanting more. The band developed deep connections in southern music stages, sharing shows with Drivin' N Cryin,' Brother Cane (with Chuck Leavell), the Derek Trucks Band, the Winters Brothers Band, the Outlaws and others. The flood of 1994 hit Central Georgia and the band hard, though, and then, as Trawick explained it, "We got caught up in the ebb and flow of life. Marriage, children and education got in our way and derailed us for a few more years." But on April 21, 2021, Society Garden in Macon invited all seven of the original members to return to the live music stage: Chris Moorman, Chance Moorman, Mark Trawick, Terry Bragg, Scott Park, Evan Godbee and Travis Bryan. The large audience cheered, sang along, danced and called for an encore at the end of the evening. Everything is better again for Mount Pilot. Drummer Trawick said, "We are ready to play. Now that we all have careers, we can choose where we play. We no longer have to live off truck-stop hotdogs." As the return of Mount Pilot proves, it's never too late to get the band – or its audience – back together again. — JANE WINSTON ALSO REUNITED On June 25, Macon's Moonshine Still will reunite for a night at Society Garden with original members singer/guitarist Scott Baston, drummer/singer Will Robinson, bassist/singer Ray Petren, guitarist David Shore, keyboardist Trippe Wright and percussionist Bill Jarrett. The band burst onto the jam band scene in the late 1990s with a relentless tour schedule, crisscrossing the United States with 200 shows a year. Now, 25 years later, the band returns to the place where it all began, together again for all who have missed Moonshine's live, homegrown grooves. PHOTOS BY RUSS CAMPBELL 70 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2022