Athens Music

Talking About the Passion

The markings of Athens’ musical past are documented in buildings, steeples and trestles across town.

While the university has been the focal point of Athens since the town’s creation, the past 30 years has seen it become known for something else – its music scene. Some say it was the water, while others say it was the summer heat, or just a way to pass the time. Whatever the reason, there was something about Athens that made people want to play music, and just as many people eager to listen.

The spark of the scene can be traced to Valentine’s Day, 1977. Five friends, calling themselves The B-52’s, played six songs (including Rock Lobster) at a house party on Milledge Avenue. Within a year they would play New York City, and a year later would release their debut album to much fanfare worldwide.

The B-52’s success started a small ripple of bands – Pylon, Method Actors, Love Tractor – that became a tidal wave with the creation of R.E.M. in 1980. Throughout the years Athens has been home to many bands and musicians – Widespread Panic, Indigo Girls, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, Drive By Truckers, Danger Mouse and Matthew Sweet – that found an audience beyond Athens’ borders.

 

Here are a few of the highlights:

The Church and Murmur Trestle

Located at the corner of William and Oconee streets sits the steeple (top right) for the old St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, the spot on April 5, 1980 that R.E.M. played its first show. The church was the home of R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe and guitarist Peter Buck. The church was torn down in 1990 to make way for condominiums.

A block away on Wilkerson Street sits the Murmur Trestle (top left) at Dudley Park, made famous by a photo on the back cover of R.E.M.s 1983 album Murmur. The trestle was used to bring the Georgia Railroads original line into downtown Athens. The county was set to demolish the trestle in the 1990s, but efforts from R.E.M. fans lead the county to vote to keep it.

 

Georgia Theatre

Sitting on Lumpkin Street downtown, the Georgia Theatre first hosted music in 1978 after years as a movie theater. It remained a music hall for a few years, hosting such luminaries as The Police and B.B. King, before becoming a movie house once again. In 1989 it became a music venue again. A fire inside the Theatre in the summer of 2009 shut it down, but the owners reopened the legendary music house in summer 2011 to great fanfare.

 

40 Watt Club

On the corner of Washington and Pulaski streets sits the sixth location of the 40 Watt Club (top center), a spot where it has remained since 1990. Created by Pylon drummer Curtis Crowe for a Halloween party in 1979, the club (originally above The Grill on College Avenue) got its name from the single 40-watt light bulb that lit the space.

It has been housed in buildings on Clayton and Broad streets during its almost 30 years in existence.

Aside from hosting early shows from Athens’ legends such as Pylon, R.E.M., B-52’s and Love Tractor, the 40 Watt has welcomed a who’s who of rock history, including Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco and Radiohead.

 

Morton Theatre

Located on the corner of Hull and Washington streets, the Morton Theatre holds the title of the city’s oldest venue.

Monroe Bowers Morton oversaw construction of the Morton building — it was one of the first African-American built, owned and operated theaters in the country. Duke Ellington, Louie Armstrong and Bessie Smith performed at the Morton through the 1930s and 1940s.

The nonprofit Morton Theatre Corporation purchased the building with government funds in 1980. It then became practice space for many Athens bands until it was renovated in the early 1990s and returned to its former glory as a premier music concert hall. It also hosts musicals, dramas, church services, weddings, dance concerts, receptions, poetry readings, and pageants.