Gallery West is hosting a First Friday in May book signing and reception for Jerry Grillo, author of a Col. Bruce Hampton biography, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton, A Basically True Biography. \

Jerry is a journalist currently living in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.  After college, Jerry became a full-time journalist and has been doing some version of that work for the past 35 years. First in the newspaper world as a writer/editor/photographer at papers in New York, South Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, then in magazines as a longtime executive editor of Georgia Trend magazine, and now for Georgia Tech, where he writes about university research.

Jerry has worked as a freelance writer for a variety of publications, including Atlanta magazine and Paste, among others. He met Bruce in 2006-2007, and asked him if he could write his biography in fall of 2011 — he acted as if he was expecting the question and readily agreed.

He spent the next eight years (in between family and job responsibilities) working on the book, conducting at least 125 interviews, researching hundreds of publications, and for the last year or two of the project, writing like a madman. After Bruce died in 2017, he put the project down for four or five months, then took it on again and finished the book in Sept. 2019 and turned the manuscript into the University of Georgia Press.

Col. Bruce Hampton was a musical genius who is beloved by everyone who had an opportunity to meet and know him. He was an iconoclast who founded Atlanta’s avant-garde Hampton Grease Band in the early 70’s and later The Late Bronze Age. He formed the highly acclaimed Aquarium Rescue Unit in 1991.  Through that band, Bruce introduced the world to some of the greatest musicians of our time, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe, Oteil Burbridge, Rev, Jeff Mosier all began their music career in that band. He was a friend and mentor to Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi(Tedeschi/Trucks Band), Jimmy Herring and Duane Trucks(Widespread Panic), Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band and Dead & Company) as well as famous actor, Billy Bob Thorton who wrote “Jerry Grillo completely loves and understands the magic, the talent and the importance of Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret. You’ll disappear into Bruce’s world in this book, and you may not want to come out.”  The forward is written by another Georgia icon, Chuck Leavell.

Kirk West and Col. Bruce were close friends and over the many years of their friendship, Kirk had lots of opportunities to photograph him. Kirk has several of the best of those photos available for purchase at Gallery West.

This event will require social distancing and face masks. Wine, beer, water and soft drinks will be served.  The reception and book signing will be from 5 PM to 8 PM on Friday, May 7.

If you have any questions please contact Kirsten West at 478-972-1598