Newspaper Page Text
Photo by Aaron Schorch
Left photo: Prisca, Cleveland P. Jones and Chelsea Shag perform cuts from Stevie Wonder's classic album,
Photo by Isadora Pennington
"Songs in the Key of Life.” Right photo: ATL Collective’s media director, David Feldman.
Covering the Classics
ATL Collective recreates famous albums at live shows
By Isadora Pennington
If you never got the chance to hear Jimi
Hendrix, The Beatles, Michael Jackson
or James Brown play live, ATL Collective
is recreating their classic albums around
Intown to much acclaim.
Founded back in 2009 by a couple
of musicians, the Collective is an
organization that hosts shows featuring
live, local music at shows that cover
classic albums from start to finish.
The concept took form when the owner
of the now closed Danneman’s on Edgewood
approached local musician David Berkeley
and asked for help booking live music on the
roof of the building. Berkeley then reached out
to his friend Micah Dalton, and together the
two established ATL Collective. Rather than
hosting an open mic in the space, they instead
sought ways to bring local musicians together
for concerts that would also draw a crowd.
In comparison with performances by
cover bands, this concept has the ability to
apply to a wide variety of sounds. Because
the organization curates the musicians that
they bring together for these concerts, they
are not limited to working within one genre
or vocal range, for example.
Throughout the years, the shows have
grown in size and popularity, leading to
finding new locations that can handle
even bigger crowds. In 2012 the Collective
covered Michael Jackson’s Thriller album to
a sold out crowd of 200 at the Music Room,
and by 2014 they were selling out 600-
plus seat shows at Terminal West for James
Brown’s Funky Christmas. All told, they have
been pulling from a pool of more than 200
singers and another 200 members of their
house band, and have covered more than 75
classic albums since the company’s inception.
The organization has also sought to form
partnerships with some local businesses,
which has provided even more opportunities
to spotlight local artists. Most notably, they
are sponsored and supported by Mailchimp,
Old Fourth Distillery, Criminal Records
and Terminus Tees, as well as the myriad of
venues where they play. They recently hosted
a show for Delta featuring 25 local artists, for
example, and they enjoyed playing as part
of the Atlanta Jewish Music Fest in March,
covering Beastie Boys’ Licensed to III. “It was
larger than life,” recalled David Feldman,
Content and Media Director.
Feldman felt an instant connection with
ATL Collective when he joined, and cited
a particularly moving concert based on the
Beatles’ Abbey Road as his inspiration to get
on board. “I thought it was just the coolest
thing,” he continued, “we are really onto
something.” Since then, he’s played a major
role in the overall looks of ATL Collective.
His ad agency, 3 Owl Media, handles the
logo, website and visual branding.
Today, the team consists of: the original
cofounders David Berekely and Micah
Dalton; David Feldman and Rhiannon
Clark, who handle operations and booking;
Robbie Handler, who acts as music director;
technical director Joel Siebell; and graphic
designer Thomas Lockwood. The diversely
talented team is united around the common
goals of producing top grade music and
uniting the local music community. “It’s
everyone’s favorite second job,” Feldman
said with a laugh.
ATL Collective already has some killer
shows on the books for this year, including
recreating Hotel California by The Eagles at
City Winery on May 19.
To find out more about ATL Collective
and keep up with the upcoming concerts as
they’re announced, go to atl-collective.com
or follow them on social media at facebook.
com/atlcollective. nn
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