Peach State: Pitch Perfect

    By: Jackson Hunter Rock       

              In the late 1960’s The Allan Brothers were performing in Piedmont Park, Atlanta. Meanwhile, the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the legendary 70’s band, sat and watched in awe as Duane Allman ripped a mesmerizing slide guitar solo up and down the neck of his Gibson Les Paul. The amount of musical talent that has come out of the State of Georgia is uncanny, and The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd were not the only artists to cut their musical teeth in the Peach-State. The Black Crowes, John Mayer, James Brown, Gladys Knight, Gucci Mane, Future, Young Thug, Collective Soul, and R.E.M. all have strong ties to Georgia.

              Lynyrd Skynyrd is known for hit songs such as “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.” They were originally from Jacksonville, Florida, but traveled to Atlanta because of the musical opportunities at the time. They were discovered by the legendary producer Cooper a Midtown Atlanta club known as Funochios. They were signed to his MCA-imprint label, Sounds of The South. This propelled them into international stardom and is part of the reason why it’s hard to go to a concert without somebody yelling out “Free Bird!”. Skynyrd wrote a song about Atlanta and released it on their album, Street Survivors. The song is called “Georgia Peaches.”

              By the late 1980’s, Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, was brewing two very talented artists: The Black Crowes, and Indigo Girls. The Black Crowes quickly established themselves as a legendary rock-group. Undeniably well-crafted songs such as “She Talks to Angels,” cemented their place in rock and roll-history. Indigo Girls presented a softer musical aesthetic, but just as high quality as The Black Crowes. After a few years of knocking around the Atlanta club scene, Indigo Girls found themselves performing their hit song, “Closer to Fine,” on Late Night with David Letterman.

              Ten years later, the Decatur venue, Eddie’s Attic, had a famous employee working there at the turn of the twenty-first century. John Mayer was the doorman at the historical downtown-Decatur club.  His name, music, and likeness have become unavoidable over the past twenty years as he was regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Though he was born in raised in Connecticut, he moved to Atlanta to pursue a musical career. He’s even dedicated and written songs about Georgia, “Why, Georgia?”  being one of Mayer’s most well-known songs.

              Georgia isn’t as populated as New York or California, and it isn’t often thought or talked about in terms of being a musical hub such as New York or California. Despite this, Georgia has a long list of extremely talented singers, rappers, guitar players, and producers who all owe the Peach State a debt of gratitude.  While the reason that Georgia seems to attract and produce so much musical talent is up for debate, the fact that it has produced more musical contribution than any other state per-capita is not.