Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford brings John Quincy Adams back into the conversation with a debut book about principle, power and an extraordinary second act By Monica Jones For Bob Crawford, American history did not begin as a career plan. It began with books on a tour bus and a question big enough to keep him reading: Was there a line connecting the nation’s founding to the America he was living in? Crawford, best known…
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Six years after a handful of musicians planted the seed, Talbotton BluesFEST is growing into a regional celebration of music, history and the people determined to preserve both. By Monica Jones There is a moment along the drive from Columbus to Talbotton when the traffic thins, the sky opens and West Georgia really begins showing off. The roads curve through farmland and tall pines. Small towns appear and disappear. Less than an hour from Columbus,…
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Five seasons in, a $600,000 expansion brings new characters, nightly trick-or-treating and more ways to make fall memories at Callaway Resort & Gardens. By Andrew McCrory Some people welcome the fall season by willingly entering a dark building where strangers are paid to terrify them. Gracie Thompson is not one of those people. “I’ve been to haunted houses before that were too scary for me,” she said. Fortunately for Thompson—and anyone else who prefers pumpkins…
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The Columbus Artists’ Guild opens its annual Members Exhibition—and its community—to artists and art lovers across the Chattahoochee Valley. By Monica Jones Ask Columbus Artists’ Guild President Julian Ripple to name his favorite piece of art, and his answer is simple: “The next one.” It is not a clever way of dodging the question. For Ripple, an oil painter who has experimented with other media but always finds his way back to oils, each new…
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By Monica Jones There is a particular kind of magic in discovering a band before everybody else. Maybe it’s three songs into a set when you realize you haven’t checked your phone in an hour. Maybe it’s a band you’ve never heard of playing a song that suddenly catches you, and leaves you reaching for your phone to look up again later. Maybe it’s simply October in Columbus, the air finally behaving itself, music spilling…
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The Proving Ground Opens at the Columbus Museum By Andrew McCrory When Columbus-born artist Coulter Fussell returns to The Columbus Museum this September, she won’t simply be arriving for an exhibition opening. She’ll be returning to the halls where she first became fascinated by the art world. Her father once served as a curator at the museum, and Fussell spent much of her childhood wandering its galleries and absorbing the art that would eventually help…
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Bikes Off Broadway brings 25 years of fellowship, remembrance and one hell of a good time to Woodruff Park By Monica Jones It began on Broadway in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when members of Columbus’ motorcycle community came together to honor those who had fallen and create a new space rooted in fellowship, remembrance and service. Twenty-five years later, the name has changed and the gathering has moved a few blocks toward the…
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Still Driving Forward More than 60 years after a Columbus police officer began teaching adults to drive, Barber’s Driving School is serving a fourth generation of local families while reaching students across Georgia and beyond. By Monica Jones Ask almost anyone who grew up in Columbus about driving school, and there is a good chance the name Barber’s will surface before the question is finished. Some remember the marked training cars on city streets. Others…
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Why Columbus Chose to Invest in Local Journalism By Monica Jones When a community decides local journalism is worth investing in, it’s making a statement about more than newspapers. It’s saying that informed citizens matter. That local stories matter. That understanding what happens in city hall, our schools, our neighborhoods and our businesses is essential to the health of the place we call home. That is exactly what happened this month as the Georgia Trust…
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Cold drinks. Serious food. Familiar faces. And a local bar with plenty of bite. By Monica Jones There are places in Columbus that don’t need much explaining. You either know them, know somebody who knows them, or have driven past enough times to wonder what all they’ve got going on in there. The Dawg House is one of those places. It’s a sports bar and grill, sure. There are pool tables, darts, cold drinks, karaoke…
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