Newspaper Page Text
November 20, 1991
Flagpole Magazine
Page 11
Let Heather Murphy take you,
Through Atlanta Darkly...
A friend visiting the bustling metropolis of Atlanta once
told me that if there were one more club that featured folk
music, we’d surpass Greenwich Village as the acoustic
capital of North America. I shuddered.
I've never really thought of Atlanta as THE place to see
folk or acoustic musicians, but somehow, it’s earned that
reputation, good or bad, depending on your musical tastes.
I guess that just as Manchester has earned the reputation
for breeding trippy dance music, v and Athens as the city
with the largest number of musi
cians, Atlanta can take pride in
being known as “The Unplugged
Capital of the United States.’' Hey,
it makes more sense than "The City
Too Busy to Hate.“
Besides the obvious (The Indigo
Girls). Atlanta has some well known
and darn good acoustic musicians
wandering around Kristen Hall is some
one I love to hear, but can't go see in clubs
because I start bawling every time she sings
"Howie" Shawn Mullins isn’t actually from At
lanta, but he plays here quite often and gets a
great response For awhile, Shawn was play
ing by himself, but he recently added a drum
mer and back-up guitarist, without succumb
ing to the electrical urge. Like Kristen, Shawn
is currently awaiting the release of his second
album, writes his own songs and can send a
strong message in just a few verses.
Even though she's earned a reputation as
a “rock ’n’ roller", Michelle Malone used to be
a folkster. She even had an album in 1988 on
Aluminum Jane records called "New Experi
ence" which featured the now famous scratch-
yass moan "Coffee and cigarettes...". Now
that Michelle’s split with her band Drag the
River, she’ll probably start doing a few acoustic gigs again,
just don’t ask her to play “Big Black Bag", that request
sends her on a tirade about a woman's prerogative, blah,
blah, blah.
While Caroline Aiken usually plays with her band Cold
Shot, she has been known to do a coffee house set solo,
sans amp, unplugged ... you get the point. On the flip side
of that is Natalie Farr, who went from being a solo artist to
full-fledged band in just a matter of weeks. With a back-up
guitarist, drummer and supposedly a keyboardist. Natalie
plans to release another album soon, but she can't think of
a name for her band, so if you’ve got anything more origi
nal than "The Natalie Farr Band" in mind, give her a call.
Big supporters of acoustic/folk music include clubs like
the Trackside Tavern in Decatur. Amy and Emily are regu
lars there and show up on stage every now and then.
Manager Eddie Owen is one of the nicest and fairest guys
in the business and regularly schedules all-day benefits for
the Georgia Environmental Project and organi
zations that help homeless people find jobs and
housing. Even with competition from a neigh
boring bar, Trackside never seems to have a
problem with low attendance. Their bartenders
are friendly, no posers staring down their noses
at you, and when you leave, your ears don’t ring
all night.
One of the newer places in town is Homage,
on Trinity Avenue, near the capitol. While they
don't have a liquor license, they do serve cof
fee and don’t care if you brown bag it. u ’s a
funky little place that kmda reminds me of a
San Francisco "beatnik" bar I stumbled into
once.
Other clubs in town schedule acoustic
musicians regularly, but somehow, the
atmosphere isn't quite right. The Point
is pretty good for small shows ...
intimate, says my walking the
saurus. Thomas. I don't
bigger weekend shows,
butyou usually end up stuck behind Emory frat
boys trying out their fake ID’s for the first time.
What used to be the Little Five Points Pub is
now Fellini's Pasta, complete with the Five Spot Lounge.
They book all kinds there (La Brea Stompers played an
ear-splitting set not too long ago), but the atmosphere
is better suited to acoustic gigs.
So I’ve counted up on my fingers and toes, and figure
about six Atlanta clubs are reguiar supporters of live
acoustic music. Seven if you count the Oxford Bookstore
coffee cave on Pharr Road. Clubowners who’ve tried an all
acoustic format tell me they'd love to have a more active
scene in the city, but there’s just no money in it. Imagine
that. Clubowners worried about their profit margins Who'da
thought.
A Civic Meeting
“A clear majority says they don 1 want to build anything
There's no question about that."
Thus spoke Tal DuVall, representative of Athens-Clarke
County super- district 10. Needless to say, he staunchly
supports the notion that Athens “needs’ a civic center, and
he is directing all his efforts towards ensuring that it gets
built Well, Mr. DuVall was right, most of us don’t want to
throw away 22,000,000 tax dollars on a project that will
benefit a select few and will be subsidized by the rest of the
county Up until now, Athens has gotten by just fine without
a civic center.
The Surreal Theatre
Maurice Greenia Jr.
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C-HUNDRED FILM CORP
LIGHTHEARTED NATION / J.m McKay
JUST HOLD STILL / Jem Cohen
FIGURES/James Herbert
We would like to invite you all to the first meeting of
Citizens for a Choice, a group dedicated to finding out
exactly where the majority of Athens stands on the Civic
center issue. We have a hunch that there are a lot of folks
out there who aren’t too happy with our government's
handling of this project. If you feel likewise, then come on
down to the Downstairs Cafe on Thursday night (Nov. 21)
at 8:00 p m., and let’s see if we can get something done,
before it’s too late. For more information, you can call
Citizens for a Choice at 353-3298 or 353-6888
The Citizens for a Choice
Now Available at WUXTKV
i "T r* T T
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