Something in the Water: A History of Music in Macon Georgia 1823-1980

Reception 5:30
Presentation 6:00

The history of Macon, Georgia, has an exceptional soundtrack, and Something in the Water provides a lively narrative of the city’s musical past from its founding in 1823 to 1980. For generations, talented musicians have been born in or passed through Macon’s confines. Some lived and died in obscurity, while others achieved international stardom. From its pioneer origins to the modern era, the city has produced waves of talent with amazing consistency, representing a wide range of musical genres including country, classical, jazz, blues, big band, soul, and rock. As the book points out, the city’s influence stretches far beyond the borders of Georgia, and its musical imprint on the United States and the world is significant.

The story of music in Macon includes a vast, eclectic cast of characters, such as the city’s first music “celebrity” Sidney Lanier, entertainment entrepreneur Charles Douglass, jazz age divas Lucille Hegamin and Lula Whidby, big band singers Betty Barclay and the Pickens Sisters, rock and roll founding father Little Richard Penniman, rhythm and blues icons James Brown and Otis Redding, local country star Eugene “Uncle Ned” Stripling, Capricorn Records founders Phil Walden and Frank Fenter, and The Allman Brothers Band, one of the most popular groups of the rock era.

Something in the Water also offers a treatment of Macon’s leading entertainment venues, both past and present, like Ralston Hall, the Grand Opera House, and the Douglass Theater, along with local institutions such as Wesleyan College, Mercer University, and the Georgia Academy for the Blind, which trained generations of music students.