Bands & Musicians in Georgia

Georgia's music runs deep. Little Richard and Otis Redding made Macon a soul landmark, Capricorn Records turned the city into a Southern rock capital around the Allman Brothers Band, and Ray Charles was born in Albany. Augusta raised James Brown. In the 1980s, Athens turned college rock into a national force through R.E.M. and the B-52s, and Atlanta later became the engine of Southern hip-hop with OutKast, the Dungeon Family, and trap.

Atlanta's Tabernacle and Variety Playhouse book the mid-size touring circuit, with Terminal West and the Masquerade on club duty and the Fox Theatre as the grand stage. Athens holds the 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre, Macon's Hargray Capitol Theatre lives again as a music room, and the Shaky Knees festival takes over an Atlanta park each spring.

OutKast, TLC, and the wider Dungeon Family came out of Atlanta, R.E.M. and the B-52s formed in Athens, and the Allman Brothers Band made Macon home. The state also raised Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Little Richard, and James Brown.

Atlanta concentrates the work: hip-hop and R&B sessions, indie rooms in East Atlanta Village, and open mics around Little Five Points. Athens still rewards scrappy bands on the 40 Watt circuit, and Savannah and Macon book weekend gigs. Players in smaller towns drive in for shows, or line up bandmates on BandMate before they arrive.