They All Start Somewhere | Bragg Jam- My Picks
This weekend is the Bragg Jam Music, Arts & Kids Festival in Macon, Georgia- and while many of these musicians are on their way to successful launches of their careers I think sometimes we forget how each of them have started. Generally, each band or musician you see on stage is going to get their start in their hometowns and many times it’s with something as simple as a jam session.
I experienced my first one of these at the Midtown Keyclub several months ago when one of Macon’s hometown boys came back from performing in Europe. If you are only used to seeing bands perform from a setlist, an experience like this might be a little awe inspiring. With this performer were several other musicians, alternating throughout the evening and they literally played on the fly right then and there. No setlists.
The Hummingbird is going to host one of these types of jam sessions. It’s going to be this next First Friday- August First, and “The Jam will begin at 6pm on August 1st and continue till 8pm. Milk Money will be playing later that night at 10pm, and Daniel Walker from Milk Money will be sitting in on the Jam” according to Kelly Holland. She also told me later in our conversation that she “didn’t exactly get permission” to do this, so we need to make sure to turn out and let the Bird know if we want to see more of these.
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Bragg Jam- the hardest part about this weekend is always choosing what exactly to see. We are featuring some interviews here on this site but to give a brief synopsis of which bands I am most excited about see below:
Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires
For those of you who read The Bitter Southerner (and if you don’t you should) you will know the lead singer of this band was recently featured in an interview on their site.
I’m loving their raw, Southern Rock revived sound. And as Chuck Reece wrote about their lyrics, they are so thoughtful and true regarding the journey and history of Southerners. I love it because they wrap so much historical fact in to their lyrics, it’s not just fun songs but songs that have meaning and heart. And it’s not just Glory to Ol South- it’s the truth of even our ugliness.
I’ve seen them perform twice- at the Cox and at Second Sunday, and yet this is one of those youthful bands whose sound can reach any audience. I especially love how they can do a cover of a song that you might not expect for their sound (I won’t give away any surprises) but can also pull off their own originals.
Come check out the band that Alan Walden swooned over last year- I missed them at their Macon debut during last year’s Bragg Jam but made sure to not miss a show since. Well worth checking out this year even if you have seen them.
I myself have written about them before– not only are they a dynamic set of performers but they are *nice* too. I don’t know about y’all, but if I have a good interaction with a band before or after a show it makes me love them that much more.
” They first sang together at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in Talladega in the late 1930s. To put that in perspective, the group predates the attack on Pearl Harbor and the development of the twelve-inch vinyl album (only ‘78s’ were available at the time). When they began singing together, “separate but equal” was still a sad summary of race relations in the United States.”- from their website http://www.blindboys.com/about/biography/
Holy Jesus. This is who I am most excited to see, this is one of those bands that I think for those who are my age- unless you are really tied in to the history of music- you have heard them before without even being aware of it. When I hear names like Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Bon Iver- hell even Kanye West- I become damn near giddy. I can’t even believe we have this here on our horizon.
If y’all miss this performance- even just a portion of it- I don’t even know what to say.
There are many other bands that I want to see, but it’s just impossible. However we will be highlighting more of them here so be sure to return during this week!
Love to all y’all,
Molly
