Annual Opelika Songwriters Festival showcases top musical talents and the good times to be had in the sleepy railroad town. By Frank Etheridge Downtown Opelika sure is a sweet lil’ bubble to be in. Bordered by two bridges and bisected by railroad tracks, the charming historic corridor dates back further than the town itself, as the Montgomery and West Point Railway Co. line arrived in 1848 — six years before Opelika (the Muscogee term for…
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Is Rolling Into Columbus By David Turner It was July 9, 1971, and all of Shea Stadium was shaking. Staff engineers were afraid the building might collapse. Whole sections of seating rode up and down as tens of thousands of screaming fans rocked to the music booming from the stage. The band and the crowd in the jam-packed stadium were locked together in the pure celebration called rock and roll. It took The Beatles three…
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What happened to live music? By Miguel Juarez I don’t like to romanticize “The Good Old Days” because I firmly believe the world we are building is better every day than what it used to be. If that’s not the case, it is us who are failing. Just like every generation before us, it is our responsibility to pick up what we were given and run with it as far as we can. I was…
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For Another Year of Jazz By Miguel Juarez And just like that, we’re halfway through the decade. There’s a saying that goes, “The days are long, but the years are short,” and 2025 came lighting fast. Thanks to all of you who are reading this and who are supporting live music and the arts, the Columbus Jazz Society made it another year and is able to continue advocating for our unique culture. We have been…
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The story of local band Skydog Gypsy comes with a pocketful of legend. By Frank Etheridge “There are people who have been to hundreds of our shows — and that’s more shows than I’ve played,” Josh Becker (half) jokes about the rabid fanbase for Skydog Gypsy. Four (or five) phenomenal talents playing transcendent tunes with jaw-dropping prowess, the seminal Columbus jam band – in the four (or five) years following its 1998 debut at the…
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Rising folk-rocker Tommy Prine comes to Columbus with much more than a last name. By Frank Etheridge When the Local chatted with Tommy Prine by phone from his home in East Nashville in mid-April, the ascendant rock/folk/country singing poet had not yet come down with a case of pneumonia that would shelve his band’s Deep South string of shows, which included a stop at the Loft in Columbus. He had, however, already embarked on a…
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Gospel Jazz By Dr. David Banks Just as there are at least seven different styles of jazz music, there are at least seven distinct styles of gospel music. It would follow naturally then that the styles, at some point, would overlap or crossover. “Gospel/Jazz” has been coined out of this overlap as a distinct style of music because of what both styles have in common. The same conditions which gave rise to gospel also gave…
Read MoreSinger IveY Ruth Jones – Steps Into A New Unknown Enjoying an IPA from Maltitude at Banks Food Hall after work, Ivey – such a future of Columbus rock ‘n roller she’s on a first-name basis with the scene – says she enjoys the rhythm of the freelance lifestyle, going between seasonal work as a self-professed river rat who “loves to show off Columbus” and a gigging musician. “With both, it’s all Go! Go! Go!…
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Jazz On the Rise There’s nothing like a positive “I told you so” moment. About a year ago, I made a bold claim at one of our monthly board meetings that jazz was on the rise in Columbus and the surrounding areas. We were brainstorming ideas on how to breathe life back into our city’s jazz and live music scene. Faking confidence, I spoke life to what I was hoping for, though I’m not sure…
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With The Infectious Groove of the Macon Music Revue By Frank Etheridge The Loft will shake with the deep sounds of Southern rock and roll history this month, with the sights and sounds of our down-the-road sister city’s musical heritage taking up residence in The Loft’s gorgeous Green Room space for a performance to be remembered. Much more than a tribute group, this radical crew of exceptional musicians will channel Macon’s iconic hitmakers in a…
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