Music of Athens, Georgia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

and New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

and The B-52s, and several long-time indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

groups. Athens

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

hosts the Athens Symphony Orchestra

Athens Symphony Orchestra

The Athens Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Athens, Georgia, USA. The orchestra was formed in the 1970s.The first conductor was Albert Ligotti and performances began on April 28, 1979. The orchestra's offerings include a winter and spring Concert, and youth, Christmas and pops...

and other music institutions, as well as prominent local music media, such as the college radio station WUOG. Much of the modern Athens music scene is based around students from the large University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

campus in the city. The University sponsors Western classical performances and groups specializing in other styles.

Athens became a center for music in the region during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

and gained further fame in the early twentieth century with the founding of the Morton Theatre

Morton Theatre

The Morton Theatre, located in downtown Athens, Georgia at 195 West Washington Street, is one of the first vaudeville theatres in the United States uniquely built, owned, and operated by an African-American...

, which was a major touring destination for African American performers. The city's local rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

scene can be traced to the 1950s, with live music at Allen's

Allen's

Allen's is a hamburger joint and nightclub originally in the Normaltown neighborhood of Athens, Georgia, now located at the corner of Hawthorne and Oglethorpe Avenues.-History:...

Hamburgers in Normaltown

Normaltown

Normaltown is a neighborhood in Athens, Georgia, by the Athens Regional Medical Center. It was the first area of Athens to be wired for electricity after the completion of the Mitchell's Bridge hydroelectric plant in 1896. In the 1980s, Allen's in Normaltown was an early venue for bands such as R.E.M...

. International attention came in the 1970s when the B-52's began releasing the first of several best-selling recordings. Athens-based rock bands have performed in a wide array of styles, and the city has never had a characteristic style of rock; most of the bands have been united only in their quirky and iconoclastic image.

Music author Richie Unterberger describes the town as an unlikely center for musical development, as a "sleepy [place where] it's difficult to imagine anyone working up a sweat, let alone playing rock music." The success of Athens' local bands is apocryphally attributed to "something in the water." The contributions of Athens to rock

Rock music

, country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, and bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

have earned it the nickname "the Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

of the South", and the city is known as a birthplace for both modern alternative rock and New Wave music. Athens was home to the first and most famous college music scene in the country, beginning in the 1970s.
The formation of local bands like the B-52s, Ravenstone

Ravenstone (band)

Ravenstone is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1971 by Butch Blasingame , Dwight Brown, , Michael A. Simpson, , Ralph Towler and Bill Wilson...

, Azure Ray

Azure Ray

Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...

, Pylon

Pylon (band)

Pylon is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The band's danceable jangle pop sound influenced the Athens music scene and the 1980s American pop underground. Allmusic wrote that Pylon's "role as elder statesmen of the alternative rock explosion is unassailable".-History:All four members of...

, Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real were an alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, who gained some national exposure in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They recorded three albums, including two releases on Arista Records.-History:...

, Drive-by Truckers

Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...

, Widespread Panic

Widespread Panic

Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...

, Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

, Love Tractor

Love Tractor

Love Tractor was a band from Athens, Georgia and like The B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M., was recognized as a founder of the Athens, Georgia alternative rock scene...

, the Georgia Satellites, and R.E.M. had brought Athens rock to national attention by 1980.

Music venues and institutions

Athens' local music is based primarily in the small downtown area of the northern part of the town. The nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

40 Watt Club

The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB's, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and "New Wave music."...

is among the most famous indie rock venues on the East Coast; the club opened on Halloween in 1978, with a band called Strictly American featuring Curtis Crowe, founder of the club and future member of the band Pylon

Pylon (band)

. Other major music venues in the city include the Georgia Theater, (A converted cinema

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

that hosted both local and touring performers. The Theater burned down in June of 2009, but has been fully remodelled into a state of the art music venue reopening in early August of 2011), the Caledonia Lounge, the Melting Point, and the UGA Performing Arts Center, home to the Ramsey Concert Hall and the Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. The Morton Theater is a historic venue, a major part of the city's African American community in the early 20th century; it claims to be the only theater from that era remaining in operation.

Athens is home to the summer music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

Athfest

Athfest is a free annual music and arts festival in Athens, Georgia, first held in 1997. Jared Bailey founded the festival to promote the music of Athens, Georgia; he was formerly of the free alternative weekly Flagpole and the influential early nightclub the 40 Watt Club.- External links :*...

, the Athens Popfest and the late spring Athens Human Rights Festival and North Georgia Folk Festival. The college radio station WUOG (90.5 FM), the low-power (100.7) FM WPPP-LP

WPPP-LP

WPPP-LP is a non-commercial low power FM radio station in Athens, Georgia, USA. Owned by the non-profit Athens Community Radio Foundation, Inc., the station reaches listeners within a 15-mile radius of its studios near the University of Georgia campus...

and the free weekly Flagpole
Flagpole Magazine
Flagpole Magazine, often abbreviated to simply Flagpole, is an American alternative newsweekly that focuses on the cultural scene of Athens, Georgia and its surrounding communities. It was founded by Jared Bailey and Dennis Greenia in 1984 and is currently edited and published by Pete McCommons...

are the city's most prominent modern music media. Athens has never produced a major local label like many similar indie rock towns; the most important label of the 1970s and 80s was DB Records

DB Records

DB Records is a record label owned by Danny Beard. The label's headquarters reside in the Wax N Facts record store in the Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood of Little Five Points.-History:In 1978, Danny Beard helped some friends in an Athens, Georgia rock band...

, based out of Atlanta, though jangle pop

Jangle pop

Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds, with their electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based...

pioneers Kindercore Records

Kindercore Records

Kindercore Records is an independent record label based in Athens, Georgia, which was founded in 1996 by Ryan Lewis and Daniel Geller to document the emerging music scene in Athens, Georgia....

and Wuxtry Records were also Athens-based.

Local music institutions include the Athens Symphony Orchestra

Athens Symphony Orchestra

, Athens Choral Society (founded in 1971), Athens Youth Symphony

Athens Youth Symphony

The Athens Youth Symphony is a symphony based out of Athens, Georgia. The symphony was founded in 2001, and is currently directed and conducted by Karl Schab. There are usually two concerts per season with one being in the fall and the other in spring...

and the Athens Folk Music and Dance Society. The Athens Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1978 as a firmly non-profit, strictly volunteer organization, conducted by Albert Ligotti of the University of Georgia. The first performance came in 1979; the Orchestra now has two regular performances, one in the summer and one in the winter, and has also done shows for young people, pops concerts and Christmas concerts. In 1996, the Athens Symphony moved into its modern home, the Classic Center Theatre in downtown Athens.

The University of Georgia's Athens campus has long been an important part of local music. Country Music Hall of Fame song writwer and performer "Whispering" Bill Anderson attended UGA and used to play guitar around campus. The faculty of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music operate the Georgia Brass Quintet and Georgia Woodwind Quintet. Student institutions include the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, Men's and Women's Glee Clubs

Glee club

A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...

, several concert choirs, jazz bands, and brass and woodwind ensembles, the Redcoat Marching Band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

, the University Philharmonia and a Symphony Orchestra. The University of Georgia Glee Clubs launched a pair of offshoots now called Noteworthy and Accidentals
UGA Accidentals
The Accidentals are an all-male collegiate a cappella group. Formed in 1974, the Accidentals are the oldest a cappella group at the University of Georgia. The Accidentals are typically anywhere from 12 to 17 members and hold auditions every fall and occasionally at the end of the spring- History...

(female and male vocal groups, respectively), who are regionally known.

History

The earliest music in North Georgia

North Georgia

North Georgia is the hilly to mountainous northern region of the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of North Georgia were often scenes of important events in the history of Georgia...

, including what is now Athens, was that of the Native Americans of the area, principally the Creek

Creek people

The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...

and the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

. Athens was officially chartered in 1806, and began growing rapidly near the middle of the 19th century. By the time of the American Civil War

American Civil War

in the 1860s, the city was an important part of musical life in Georgia. The war accelerated the development of the city's musical importance, as Athens was largely spared widespread destruction while the larger city of Atlanta took a long time to recover. Major touring acts like the Dixie Family and The Slomans visited Athens during the war; the Dixie Family, a prominent touring group, performed disastrously, according to local newspapers, who said that the highlight of the performance came from four local African American musicians, and the Dixie Family had absconded with the concert's proceeds, which had been promised to the local Ladies Aid Society. In the 1870s, the city was almost half African American, and local black-owned industry flourished; among the residents was Bob Cole

Bob Cole (composer)

Robert Allen "Bob" Cole was an American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director.In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown , the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song La Hoola Boola was also a result of...

, born in 1868 to a musically active family. Cole would later become a pioneer in African American theater, known for works like the 1898 musical A Trip to Coontown.

African American industry, churches and other institutions grew rapidly in prominence through the end of the 19th century. The city's African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

community was well established by the beginning of the 20th century, when the corner of Lumpkin and Washington Streets became a major center for the city's black culture. This area was known as the Hot Corner, and was owned by a number of black professional businesses, as well as many performance spaces and a renowned opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

house in the Morton Building that hosted such national figures as Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

and Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

. The Morton Theater was one of the preeminent venues in the city in the early 20th century, and is the only such theater to survive to the present, though it was not in operation for many years, until re-opening in 1993.

Origins of the modern scene

In the 1950s, the city's musical life consisted primarily of dances at local venues like the American Legion Hall

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

and the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

, where popular bandleaders included most famously Jimmy Dorsey

Jimmy Dorsey

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

. The Canteen was a spot in Memorial Park in Athens, which became an important performance space after local musician Terry "Mad Dog" Melton and his group began playing there in 1958. The Canteen later hosted local Motown/beach

Beach music

Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...

legends The Jesters

The Jesters

The Jesters were a doo-wop group based in New York City who achieved success in the late 1950s. They were students at Cooper Junior High School in Harlem who graduated from singing under an elevated train station near 120th Street to the amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater, where Paul...

, who have continued to perform from 1964 to the present.

Later in the 1960s and into the 70s, locally prominent bands gradually changed from primarily cover bands to more well rounded groups, while the city's musical opportunities grew with the foundation of venues and institutions. This period has been called the Normaltown River of Music, and included long-time local performers like Mad Dog Melton as well as Brian Burke, Davis Causey and Randall Bramblett

Randall Bramblett

Randall Bramblett is an American musician and singer-songwriter, whose career as a solo artist, session player, and touring musician, has spanned more than three decades. He has worked with such notable performers as Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Elvin Bishop, Steve Winwood,...

, many of whom later worked with Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman

Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...

and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...

. The most influential local bands to emerge from this period included the Normaltown Flyers,and Dixie Grease. The oldest bar featuring live musice in Athens is Allen's

Allen's

Allen's is a hamburger joint and nightclub originally in the Normaltown neighborhood of Athens, Georgia, now located at the corner of Hawthorne and Oglethorpe Avenues.-History:...

Hamburgers where the Normaltown Flyers were the house band for many years. Allen's

Allen's

Allen's is a hamburger joint and nightclub originally in the Normaltown neighborhood of Athens, Georgia, now located at the corner of Hawthorne and Oglethorpe Avenues.-History:...

opened in 1955 on Prince Avenue, closed for a brief time, and has since reopened on Hawthorne Ave. as part of a restoration project. Bars like The Last Resort (currently the Last Resort Grille restaurant) opened in the 60s, beginning the local club scene just as some bands were beginning to gain some regional fame for Athens.

Rock

The rock scene in Athens dates back to the 1970s, when local music was based around house parties

House party

A house party in the English-speaking world is typically a type of party where medium to large groups of people gather at the residence of the party's host. In modern usage, a house party is typically associated with teenage or young adult crowds, loud music, dancing, and the consumption of alcohol...

, eccentric thrift store fashions and a wild and weird atmosphere. The foundation of the 40 Watt Club

40 Watt Club

The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB's, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and "New Wave music."...

nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

in 1978 helped to establish Athens' nightlife, which had previously suffered due to a lack of resources for community performances. Some clubs had come and gone during this period, such as the B&L Warehouse and others. On-campus performance locations at the university had been a major part of the local music scene, especially the Memorial Hall ballroom (Memorial Hall was the Student Union building at the time) and Legion Field (a natural quasi-ampitheater next to the outdoor Legion Pool swimming pool).

The 40 Watt Club became a well-known regional attraction for music fans, and was followed by the Uptown Lounge; with the local industry's growth in the 1980s, both the 40 Watt Club and the Uptown Lounge moved to larger spaces, the latter taking over the landmark Georgia Theatre

Georgia Theatre

The Georgia Theatre is a prominent music venue in Athens, Georgia, located in an old cinema. Many prominent acts from the early music of Athens, Georgia performed at the Theatre, including a range of folk, popular and country acts. The Theatre is on the Athens Music History Walking Tour sponsored...

. The early 1980s saw a host of new bands and venues appear, while the city's musical subculture became more diversified. LSD

LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...

, a hallucinogenic drug, was widely used in the college music scene in this era. Many members of Athens's most prominent later bands became locally renowned starting in the 1970s, including The B-52's.

Ort's Oldies, a used record store on Jackson Street, and its proprietor, William Orten Carlton, commonly known as Ort, were among the institutional figures that made the Athens music scene possible. Ort has an excellent memory for rock trivia, which served him well in running the store. Perhaps more importantly, his off-the-wall sense of humor and warmly iconoclastic personality (and his thrift-sale wardrobe) were regularly on display at parties, gigs and musical venues around town.

A final element in creating and sustaining the Athens musical culture was the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art

Lamar Dodd School of Art

The Lamar Dodd School of Art is the art school of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States.-History:...

. The great majority of Athens' musicians and their fan base were associated with the University's liberal arts curriculum, and the School of Art, rather than the music department, was the area where the creative and musical alliances that later defined the scene began forming in the 1970s. Michael Stipe

Michael Stipe

John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...

of R.E.M. was an art major (although he did not graduate), and the Art School incubated other major figures such as Curtis Crowe, founding member and drummer for Pylon

Pylon (band)

. The cinematographer for the documentary film Athens GA: Inside/Out was Jim Herbert, an art school professor. Herbert went on to direct music videos for a number of Athens bands, including 14 for R.E.M.
The B-52's and R.E.M. became by far the most famous musical products of Athens in the 1980s, when both bands launched a string of hits. Their roots in the city's local scene go back to the 1970s and early 80s. The B-52's formed after a St. Valentine's Day party in 1977. The members had little musical knowledge, but performed New Wave music

New Wave music

with a cheeky and humorous image and sound. They were known for their campy

Camp (style)

Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...

thrift store fashion, and their unusual and eye-catching music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s for hits like "Rock Lobster

Rock lobster

Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. This species is commonly called crayfish or crays in New Zealand and in Māori...

" and "Love Shack

Love Shack

"Love Shack" is a single by rock band The B-52's. Originally released in 1989 from their album Cosmic Thing, the single was the band's biggest hit song and first million-copy seller...

". Though the B-52's were the first Athens band to achieve national prominence, their popularity was soon eclipsed by R.E.M.. The future members of the band R.E.M. moved to Athens to work and/or attend the University of Georgia, including bassist Mike Mills

Mike Mills

Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...

and former drummer Bill Berry

Bill Berry

William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....

. The group began performing as R.E.M. in 1980. They became locally prominent, and released a single, "Radio Free Europe

Radio Free Europe (song)

"Radio Free Europe" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" was released as R.E.M.'s debut single on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone in 1981...

", that was a major college rock

College rock

College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...

hit. Their popularity grew with a series of singles, EPs and albums that made R.E.M. the top underground band in the country, finally breaking into the mainstream with 1987's "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

"It's the End of the World as We Know It " is a song by the rock band R.E.M., which appeared on their 1987 album Document, the 1988 compilation Eponymous, and the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987...

". By 1991's Out of Time
Out of Time (album)
Out of Time is the seventh album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on Warner Bros. Records in 1991. With Out of Time R.E.M.'s status grew from that of a cult band to a massive international act. The record topped the album sales charts in both the U.S...

album — which featured vocals by Kate Pierson

Kate Pierson

Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson is an American vocalist and one of the lead singers and founding members of The B-52's. One of the multi-instrumentalists in the band, Pierson played guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments...

of The B-52s — and its acclaimed follow-up Automatic for the People
Automatic for the People
Automatic for the People is the eighth album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1992 on Warner Bros. Records. While R.E.M...

(named after the motto of, Weaver D's, a local Athens soul-food eatery), R.E.M. had become one of the world's biggest rock bands. The band's style went through many evolutions but originally had a jangle pop

Jangle pop

sound and harmonies often compared to folk-rock band The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

; singer and songwriter Michael Stipe

Michael Stipe

is known for obscure, allusive lyrics delivered in a monotonous drone. The success of R.E.M. and the B-52's brought attention from major labels and music media to Athens, and many local bands received a career boost.

The band Pylon was a long-standing and influential part of the Athens scene, and became critical darlings in the 1980s, but never achieved significant mainstream success. This was partially because they eschewed several record contracts from the major labels due to a lack of trust in their corporate goodwill. Pylon's dance rock style was not very accessible or commercial, and was accompanied grating, chanting-style vocals, funky guitars and bass-heavy beats. Other 1980s local bands with nationwide alternative followings included Oh-OK

Oh-OK

Oh-OK was an American musical group from Athens, Georgia formed in 1981 with singer/lyricist Linda Hopper, bassist/vocalist/lyricist Lynda Stipe, and drummer David Pierce. Other members later included drummer David McNair and guitarist Matthew Sweet. The trio began practicing together at parties in...

, with Michael Stipe's sister Lynda Stipe, vocalist Linda Hopper (later of Magnapop) and future solo performer Matthew Sweet

Matthew Sweet

Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...

, Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real

and Love Tractor

Love Tractor

Love Tractor was a band from Athens, Georgia and like The B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M., was recognized as a founder of the Athens, Georgia alternative rock scene...

. The members of R.E.M. have remained fixtures in Athens as they have also become international stars, helping out local performers like Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt

James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...

, the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies

The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies are an American rock band, formed by Brant Slay and Ben Reynolds . The band was a major part of the music of Athens, Georgia, and were proteges of Michael Stipe, member of R.E.M....

and Jack Logan

Jack Logan

Jack Logan is an American singer-songwriter from southern Illinois. He began recording, however, after moving to Winder, Georgia. He created two comic books in the 1980s, starring Peter Buck of R.E.M...

. The Elephant 6 Collective, a group of like-minded indie bands, gained limited nationwide exposure starting in the mid-1990s with the rise of Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....

, Elf Power

Elf Power

Elf Power is an indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, and drummer Eric Harris...

and Olivia Tremor Control. The same period saw the Kindercore Records

Kindercore Records

Kindercore Records is an independent record label based in Athens, Georgia, which was founded in 1996 by Ryan Lewis and Daniel Geller to document the emerging music scene in Athens, Georgia....

roster find critical acclaim, including the bands Sunshine Fix, Masters of the Hemisphere

Masters of the Hemisphere

Masters of the Hemisphere are an American indie pop group, founded by Bren Mead and Sean Rawls. The two moved to Athens, Georgia, to attend college in 1996. There they met Ryan Lewis, co-founder of Kindercore Records, who played drums at the first Masters of the Hemisphere show. Jeff Griggs ...

, Japancakes

Japancakes

-History:Rhythm guitarist Eric Berg formed the band with the idea of putting ten musicians in a band without any rehearsal, and performing a D chord for 45 minutes . He continued performances with numerous instrumentalists before releasing their first recording If I Could See Dallas on Kindercore...

, Love Tractor, Gresham Disco and Of Montreal

Of Montreal

Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...

. Candy, a DJ store owned by Michael Lachowski of Pylon, opened in 1998; the store became an important part of the burgeoning dance music scene that produced Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse

Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...

, Phungus and DJ 43

In 1986 the legendary jam band Widespread Panic

Widespread Panic

was started in Athens. Panic (the moniker used by most fans) continues to call Athens home despite years of national and international touring that keep them on the road much of the year. No other Athens band represents the mix of rock, folk, country, and improvisational jazz better than Panic, with it's engaging array of original songs. In 2006, Widespread Panic gave an outdoor performance in Athens celebrating their 20 year anniversary attended by, according to some estimates, as many as 50,000 people. Panic performs an annual "Tunes for Tots" charity concert; the next "Tunes for Tots" show is scheduled for October 1, 2011 at the Georgia Theater.

Other styles

Athens is near the Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...

area of North Georgia; this is an important region in the development of several varieties of folk music, including the Appalachian bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

style and the Piedmont blues

Piedmont blues

Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...

. North Georgia's bluegrass heritage can be traced back to the 19th century, when bluegrass was a nascent style throughout Appalachia and North Georgia was home to major fiddling contests, beginning in the 1880s. A 1983 recording expedition by Art and Margo Rosenbaum documented the continued existence of many forms of folk music, including work songs, string bands, African American hymns and spirituals

Spiritual (music)

Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...

, banjo tunes and unaccompanied ballads; the collection includes a chapter devoted to Doc and Lucy Barnes of Athens. Athens' modern contributions to the field of bluegrass include the Packway Handle Band

Packway Handle Band

The Packway Handle Band is a bluegrass quintet originating as a part of Music of Athens, Georgia in 2001. The band is known for tight three- and four-part vocal harmonies, extensive and progressive original material, off-the-wall covers, and energetic performance dynamics around two tightly-spaced...

and Bluebilly Grit.

Athens' local country scene has never been as significant as the profusion of indie rock bands; however, modern Athens rock takes many elements from the folk, bluegrass and country traditions, including such bands as the Normaltown Flyers. The band Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers

have done much in recent years to make country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

a major part of Athens' musical identity. The rapper Bubba Sparxxx

Bubba Sparxxx

Warren Anderson Mathis , known by his stage name Bubba Sparxxx, is an American Southern rapper. His biggest hit is "Ms. New Booty" featuring The Ying Yang Twins which peaked at #7 in the United States...

, originally from South Georgia, has also helped diversify Athens' country heritage, by adding a rural image and elements of country music to his Dirty South style of hip hop music

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

.

Folk artists and Singer-songwriters have always flourished in the Athens atmosphere, albeit, as mentioned, not as significantly as Pop and Rock. Some of Athens' most notable solo (and sometimes, with band) Singer-songwriter performers include Nathan Sheppard, Corey Smith, Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt

, John Berry

John Berry

Sir John Berry was an English naval officer of the Royal Navy, and was in 1675 the captain of the annual convoy to Newfoundland that took place during the years of the colony's founding....

, Drive-by Truckers

Drive-By Truckers

, and Ricky Fitzpatrick.

Country Music also owes an ongoing debt to current and one-time Athens artists such as Brantley Gilbert, T. Graham Brown and John Berry.

Post-2000

Recently, Athens has produced some notable rock bands, including Venice Is Sinking, Circulatory System

Circulatory System

Circulatory System is a psychedelic rock musical ensemble formed by musician/painter Will Cullen Hart, and featuring Derek Almstead, Suzanne Allison, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Charlie Johnston, and Heather McIntosh....

, The Whigs

The Whigs

The Whigs are an American garage rock band from Athens, Georgia, consisting of lead singer and guitarist Parker Gispert, drummer Julian Dorio and bassist Timothy Deaux.-Biography:...

, Azure Ray

Azure Ray

Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...

, Stockholm Syndrome (band)

Stockholm Syndrome (band)

Stockholm Syndrome is an American Rock music band formed in Athens, Georgia as a collaboration between Dave Schools of Widespread Panic and Jerry Joseph of Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons...

, The Goons, Mouser, Sam Sniper, Dank Sinatra, Reptar, Cinemechanica, Space Ghost, Quiet Hooves, Chromazone, Casper & The Cookies, M Coast, I Come to Shanghai, The Woodgrains and the Suex Effect.

External links

40 Watt Club
Flagpole Magazine
Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia
Music history tour of Athens
WUOG 90.5fm, Athens' College Radio

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