S5, E20: Travel to Listen: Why This Southern City Is America’s Most Underrated Music Town

Welcome to Travel to Listen, a new Unpacked series hosted by veteran music journalist Tim Chester. Over four episodes rolling out every other week, Tim takes us into the cities where music is more than entertainment—it’s the shortcut to a place’s soul. This week, he goes to the source in Macon: meet the people keeping the city’s legendary songbook alive, and find out why a trip here might be the most soulful detour you’ve never considered.

Transcript

Tim: Hi, I’m Tim Chester. This is Unpacked: Travel to Listen, and that is the sound of Macon, Georgia. As a freelance travel and culture writer, I’ve always loved music. In fact, I’ve spent the past twenty years exploring the world through the lens of music. As a reporter for magazines like NME, Spin and Afar, I’ve traveled to some of the world’s best festivals and music scenes everywhere from Manhattan to Malawi and Beijing to Berlin. One thing I learned pretty quickly music really is a shortcut to a city’s soul.

And in this new Unpacked series, we’re going to be taking that shortcut together. We’ll be diving into bright, bouncy Minneapolis funk, getting lost in music with the desert rockers of California, and hearing about big news at Detroit’s Motown Museum.

First up, I’ve got Macon, Georgia on my mind. Macon is a smaller city of some 150,000 people 85 miles from Atlanta, but it’s always punched above its weight musically.

Bom bom to the boot.

Tim: Little Richard helped kickstart rock ‘n’ roll here. Southern rockers The Allman Brothers, recorded at the city’s Capricorn Studios, and James Brown, laid down his first demo here with the Famous Flames—“Please, Please, Please”—at Macon radio station WIBB. Otis Redding, R.E.M. and Randy Crawford all have connections, and that’s before we even get on to the late, great Otis Redding, the soul legend behind “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”. And “Try a Little Tenderness”.

Try a little tenderness.

Tim: So if you were to show up in Macon today, what would you hear? I caught up with Charles Davis of the Macon Music Revue, a local band that plays big hits from the city’s famous sons, to find out how they are keeping the music of Macon alive.

Charles: I had a band that we had put together and was asked if we would do this thing called the Macon Music Revue, where we would take a lot of the songs from the artists that are known and the ones that are not so well known, that have been through Macon. And we kind of put together a set list of some of the hits and kind of use it as a bit of a tourism thing, but to kind of highlight the musical history of what is going on in Macon and what’s been going on over the past 50, 60 years. To say.

Tim: Last year, the band released a self-titled album on Terminus Records, and it’s a real love letter to the music of the city. I especially like their takes on R.E.M.'s “Losing My Religion” and The Allman Brothers’ “Stand Back”. Charles says the band is inspired by the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans.

Charles: The discography of a lot of the artists that have been through Macon it kind of make. Made me realize at least how much of the Macon Songbook is tied to what the American Songbook is when it comes to soul and R&B and blues, and especially southern rock.

A lot of those connections from tons of different artists have touched down in Macon and have had some sort of influence on that, and those influences have gone out into the world. So we are in a very special place when it comes to that stuff.

Tim: But don’t call them a cover band. What the Macon Music Review does is quite different to a cover band.

Charles: The idea of a cover band to me, is that you are taking the song, and you’re pretty much doing it exactly like you hear it on the radio. With us, it’s a bit different. I believe we inhabit this music and make this music our own.

Two of the guys who originated R.E.M. went to high school in Macon, Georgia. Really thought-provoking lyrics on top of this really poppy sound and arrangement around it.

Life is bigger.

Charles: To me, the lyrics, the reverence that it has, that song is a soul song to me. That song has a bit more of a—of a groove to it.

Tim: The version that Charles and his band does gives the song a whole new flavor.

Life is bigger, its bigger than you and you are not me.

Tim: For Charles, music has been a life-long love affair.

Charles: When I was born, my grandmother came to the hospital and put me in her arms for the first time, and when she looked at me, she looked at my parents and said, he’s going to be a singer. And they kind of laughed at her. And she went, no, no, no. He’s going to be a singer.

These arms of mine, they’re lonely…

Charles: My dad would always have like tons and tons of albums, so I was probably sneaking through listening to stuff when I didn’t have any business touching his stuff, but I did it anyway, and it introduced me to a lot of the music that I sing now. Like, especially when it comes to the Otis Redding stuff. I fell in love with everything Otis when I was younger, but then it really, as I think everybody does when they get older, you really start to appreciate it a little bit more. And then working at the radio station that I work at and being in the heart of the city, falling in love more with, you know, Little Richard and Wet Willie and the Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker Band.

I recall once upon a time. Living was so easy and I felt so fine.

Tim: The Allman Brothers were actually formed in Jacksonville, Florida, but quickly moved to Macon and began writing and rehearsing there, playing live in local venues like Grant’s Lounge and the Library Ballroom.

Charles: That Gregg Allman “Laid Back” album was recorded here in Macon at Capricorn Sound Studios. And, you know, for all of the acclaim that Gregg got with his band and his brothers, of course, with the Allman Brothers Band, I don’t think Gregg Allman gets enough credit for being a soul singer. Maybe because he, as they would say, is that blue-eyed soul. Maybe that’s the reason why they say that. But Gregg wrote R&B, Gregg wrote soul, and the way he sang it and the way he emotes is a beautiful thing. So when we do that song, I, like I said, I don’t, I don’t try to sing it like Gregg. I sing it like myself, but to make sure that we’re honoring him at the same time when we do it.

Tim: So where should music fans head to first in Macon?

Charles: I would definitely say for the Allman Brothers fans, the Big House here in Macon, where the Allman Brothers lived during their iconic rise in southern rock, is here. It’s just a gorgeous space to be able to see all the memorabilia and to see Duane Allman’s bedroom and to be immersed in that space.

Going to Capricorn Sound Studios is a beautiful space as well, but to get back into that studio, Studio A of Capricorn, which has pretty much been restored to its original glory. There are still, as I always like to say, there are still cigarette burns or what could be deemed as cigarette burns. And the vocal booth in there from the artists that were in there in the 70s.

Tim: Capricorn doesn’t just trade on its legacy, it’s become an essential stop for artists today.

Charles: It just feels good when it comes to the present as well. It has. Capricorn has a bit of that present feel to it as well. With all the artists that have been coming through recently. Blackberry Smoke and and Brent Cobb and Marcus King‘s brand new album was recorded there. Eddie 9V, a great blues band, they recorded their album there called Capricorn, and it was number one on the blues charts.

This old train is rattling the stone

So you’re getting a bit of the past and a bit of the present there as well. But also there is a great bar, um, called Grant’s Lounge, very historic in this town, the Grant family, um, very heavily involved, but it was one of the basically auditioning places for a lot of people that auditioned for Capricorn.

Tim: I asked Charles why Macon is such a fertile ground for such a diverse range of music.

Charles: Like I say, I work at a radio station, so we always kind of say, we’ve got a lot invested, that says there’s something in the water, and I truly believe it is. Um, even well before Macon was established, it was the home of the Muscogee Indians and their connection to this land and, and the feelings that they embedded into this land, I think, is a big piece of the soul of the town. And it’s just had this, this great ability of being a hub for a lot of things. I mean, like I said, there was times where, with all the booking agencies and publishing agencies that were in town, you had pretty much every artist in the soul and R&B era in the 50s and 60s especially. That came through Macon. I mean, Al Green and Elvin Bishop and Percy Sledge and and Jimi Hendrix was in town for a while, and if Johnny Jenkins was still alive, he would tell you Jimi Hendrix stole his entire style. Um, because Johnny Jenkins is a great blues player that came out of Macon and did his thing. So it’s just, it’s something that is rare in cities and you don’t see that everywhere, and especially a town of our size. I mean, you have your New York and your Chicagos and L.A.s and Nashvilles and things like that. But for a town like Macon to have the per capita amount of Grammy-nominated Hall of Fame artists that we have had come through this town, there’s not a whole lot of other towns that have had that, and so it makes it a very special place.

Tim: Macon may not be as well known as some of its southern cousins, but it’s very much part of America’s musical fabric.

Charles: There’s a thing that they say: Macon, Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Um, Macon for Capricorn Sound Studios, Muscle Shoals for FAME and Memphis for Stax and Sun Records. I think what kind of makes Macon stand out is that they’ve had a bit of a mix of everything. You’ve had gospel, you’ve had soul, you’ve had R&B, you’ve had rock and roll, you’ve had bluegrass, you’ve had jazz, you’ve had all of these things in the mix here in Macon.

Tim: And of all this music tourism makes you hungry, Charles has something for that, too.

Charles: I would say if you’re going to go anywhere, especially to catch a feel of the music of it as well. There’s a great restaurant called H&H Soul Food here in downtown Macon. It was started by Mama Louise and Mama Inez, and they were the people who cooked for the Allman Brothers when they were broke and just performing out in the streets and performing at the parks. And they loved, especially Mama Louise, they loved her so much that they took her on the road with them for years during their career. And the food is phenomenal. Top-notch soul food, great meat and three. But you’ve got memorabilia all across the walls in that building. Um, and so there’s just something about this town, man, that just, it doesn’t, it doesn’t disappoint.

Tim: After the break, we’re going to hear a lot more about Otis Redding and the people keeping his legacy alive.

The city’s most famous son, of course, is Otis Redding. And in March 2025, the Otis Redding Center for the Arts opened, providing musical education for local kids and a museum for visitors. It was the culmination of a vision started by Redding decades ago, as his grandson, Justin Andrews, who is director of special projects and outreach at the Otis Redding Foundation, explains.

Justin: So my granddad, when he was alive back in ‘60, it was about ’65. He did a music camp out at his ranch for kids to come in and be around industry professionals, you know, work on music and arts programming and so on and so forth. The groundwork was really already laid for us. It just took us about 50 years to figure out this is — this is kind of what we need to be doing.

Tim: The team quickly realized there was a demand for this kind of thing in Macon.

Justin: We had our first music camp, Otis Music Camp, as we call it, in 2008. The first camp we had maybe had about seven to eight kids, and it was a week-long program. And now flash forward to today. Here we are going into 19 years of Otis Music Camp. That brings us to the center, is where I’m sitting today. We opened up the center in 2025.

Tim: The center has become a real hub for the community, a space for kids to come and try their hands at making music while learning about Otis Redding and other musicians.

Justin: We have a full working studio and practice rooms and lab spaces and amphitheater stages and interactive tables and, you know, all kinds of things to grasp that young mind, to let them, a feel like they’re having fun, but also they’re learning and creating at the same time. So now to see them actually walk into this building and for them to have a sense of ownership and pride in this thing and, you know, just watching their faces light up that first time they came in here, I mean, it was absolutely incredible.

Tim: Otis Redding sadly died in a plane crash at age 26 in 1967. But his widow, Zelma, has continued his legacy. In fact, there’s a movie in the works, Otis and Zelma, set to star John Boyega and Danielle Deadwyler, on the 10 years they shared together. When the center opened last year, Zelma said, “It fulfilled the dream of my late husband.”

Justin: Education was always number one to him because he never got a chance to finish school. My grandmother never had the chance either, so he was very, very big on kids finishing their education. That was the mission and the reason for him for purchasing his own plane. It wasn’t just for him to be like, Hey, I got a plane, no, it was for him to get his backing band, the Bar-Kays, who were all 16, 17, 18-year-old kids to get them back in school on Monday morning. Because he said, If you’re going to tour with me, you’re going to go to class on Monday morning.

Tim: The center is also home to the Otis Redding Museum, where travelers will find a wonderland full of memorabilia from the life of the King of Soul.

Justin: What we have in there is pretty much a huge archive of all Otis Redding things that my grandmother has, just a small part of what she has. So you will see, of course, you know, plane tickets and gas tickets and programs and posters, of course. Pictures. The actual briefcase that went down in the wreckage is on display as well in the museum. The bandstand that he used for his band is on display. Telegrams after the death from all these different artists coming in. These are the real artifacts that he had when he was here. And I think that’s what sets us apart. So never be afraid to stop by. It could be a good time that you might get let in by me or my mom or my grandma. Just you never know what might happen.

Tim: The museum attracts visitors from around the world. I wondered if anyone was surprised by what they learned when they visited.

Justin: Everybody knows the music, but when people come into our museum and then they understand, A. how much of a businessman he was. I mean, to be 22, 23 years old, thinking about starting your own record company and doing businesses, especially in the Jim Crow South in the ‘60s, is almost crazily unheard of for a black man.

The second off of how oriented he was with family. I mean, he was the ultimate family man. He loved his kids, loved his wife, loved being at home. He was a farmer. You know, he had cows and chickens and horses and things of that nature. I’ve never ran into anybody that’s ever had a bad story to tell about Otis Redding, ever. Every story I hear has always been uplifting, or how my granddad helped them through this, that and the third. And how his music has changed the lives of people, so on and so forth.

Tim: I asked Justin where music fans should go to immerse themselves in the music of Otis Redding.

Justin: Well, first off, come to us. Come to Otis Redding Museum number one. Number two, I will send you to the Douglas Theatre. he Douglas Theatre was a place where he really got his start. Really? Around here. He was in the teen talent competitions. He won 15 times in a row, and they asked him to never come back because he never gave anyone else the opportunity to win.

Tim: The Douglas Theatre was built in 1921 as a space for African American performers during segregation. The historic building has recently hosted evenings of live jazz and a play about civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer.

Justin: Another thing that I will say involved in that is Capricorn, Capricorn Sound Studios. Now, my granddad purchased what turned into Capricorn Records because that was what he wanted to turn into his own record company and things of that nature. So that’s why he purchased the building, the studio and the office space. Of course, we all know he didn’t live to see that and it turned into Capricorn, but in my opinion, there would be no Capricorn without Otis Redding.

The last place I’ll really throw it off to you is, um. I’m going to send you to the Rookery is where I would send you. Go to the Rookery, get you a big old burger at the Rookery, and just enjoy the music and the vibes and everything. They love Otis Redding as well, so of course when you walk in, of course, I’m sure you’ll hear some Otis on the tunes somewhere, because every time I go in there, it’s like it just starts playing when I walk in and I don’t know if they’re pushing the button back there to play it as I walk in, or it just happens to be on rotation.

Tim: I asked Justin if there’s one song that sums up Macon, Georgia, and he had the perfect choice.

Justin: Crazy enough. I’m going to throw this one at you. “A Change Is Gonna Come”. That is the song I throw at you.

I was born.

Justin: To see where Macon came from 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago to where Macon is now and what Macon is doing to continue to stay on the map. A lot of change has definitely happened through that.

I’ve been running ever since. It’s been a long, long. Long time coming. But I know, I know change has gotta come now. Oh yes it is. Oh man, oh man.

Tim: If you want to learn more, check out the show notes for resources to help you do just that. We’ve included links to the music venues and musicians, and even a playlist for your next flight or road trip. This has been Unpacked: Travel to Listen, a podcast of Afar Media. The show is a part of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. The podcast was produced by Aislyn Greene, Nikki Galteland and me, Tim Chester. Music composition by Chris Colin. I’ll be back in two weeks, getting down with the funk scene in Minneapolis and hearing about the city’s plans for celebrating the 10th anniversary of Prince’s untimely passing.

See you then.