Macon Magazine

arlier this year, a SPIN article by Jesse Fink traced the rise and fall of Capricorn Records and answered any lingering questions about how cold the creek was when Stephen Paley photographed the Allman Brothers Band for their debut LP's gatefold. The story also illuminated how a taste-making Southern music scene once attracted international rock stars, artists like Andy Warhol, governor and soon-president Jimmy Carter, and a BBC documentary crew to Macon, Georgia. Fast forward 50 years, and Macon is reclaiming its music city moniker with a boutique scene encompassing venues, studios, record stores, museums, events, festivals, tours, local radio shows, educa- tion programs, and a growing community of artists and entrepreneurs. Visitors are coming to explore, and musicians are coming to record. With all the positive media the city has garnered in the past year, don't be surprised if the BBC shows up again. Here are just a few of the live music spots to experience: E SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW JBA 425 CHERRY ST. In the four years JBA spent on the corner of MLK and Poplar, it became a central stomping ground for local music fans. Its mix of homegrown and touring bands, plus signature events like Music Therapy—the Tuesday jam session hosted by Kenny Ray Williams Band—and Thursday Karaoke with record store owner Willie D., are all settling nicely into their new, roomier home on Cherry St. CAPITOL THEATRE 382 2ND ST. The iconic Capitol Theatre first opened in 1916 as a cinema. Shuttered in 1976, the balconied, 650-seat auditorium was rehabbed and reopened in 2006. Successive naming rights sponsors Cox Communications and Hargray were integral in sustaining the historic space. But this past April, owner Moonhanger Group announced the venue would once again stand on its own under the original "Capitol Theatre" name. Teddy Swims, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and North Mississippi All-Stars have all taken the Capitol stage this year. MACON ARTS CENTER 4570 PIO NONO AVE. In 2020 during the height of COVID-19, Macon Arts Center opened its nine- and-a-half-acre entertainment complex in the old Whiskey River location with a series of outdoor concerts. Today the Center hosts some of Macon's largest A MUSIC POP-UP OUTSIDE JBA ON FIRST FRIDAY 68 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2023

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