Local Music
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The Arts
Porchfest 2026: Here’s Some Itinerary Suggestions
The annual Historic Athens Porchfest is coming up on Sunday, Oct. 18, and students in Kyser Lough’s First Year Odyssey seminar on music in Athens have scoured the 200+ Porchfest band lineup to build a few custom, themed itineraries for attendees. We’ll give you the first 4-5 shows to visit,…
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Home & Garden
Tour Unique Homes Behind Music at Historic Athens Porchfest
The porches are the centerpiece at Historic Athens Porchfest on Oct. 18, but there’s so much more to the homes hosting musicians and bands at the free community event. Porchfest hosts opened up their residences before the crowds to students in a journalism seminar on home and garden writing class.…
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Athens-Clarke County
Historic Athens Porchfest Returns for Its Eighth Year
Denise Sunta spends weeks matching hundreds of bands to hundreds of front porches, making sure no two sets at the same time land next door to each other and that no musician playing in multiple bands gets double-booked across neighborhoods for Historic Athens Porchfest. This year, a University of Georgia…
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The Arts
Sweet Tea Pedigree Breaks Out at Jam in the Streets, Georgia Theatre
Concertgoers still trailed into Paloma Park as five University of Georgia students walked onstage. But the crowd erupted into rowdy applause when an electric guitarist ripped the first notes of “Layla” by Derek and The Dominos. Sweet Tea Pedigree’s pop-up show on March 27 launched Jam in the Streets, a…
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Athens-Clarke County
After Loss of Bassist, The Original Screw Tops Celebrate His Life at Porchfest
The Original Screw Tops are playing at Sunday’s Historic Athens Porchfest, but things are different this year following the recent death of longtime bassist Jeff Evans. “To be honest, I’m still in shock because he had this heart condition,” vocalist Marcelo Buril said. “It was one of those days…
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Environment
Sustainable Merch Finds a Home in Athens’ Music Scene
In Athens, a town known for its DIY approach to music, local bands and students are rethinking a critical part of the music industry: merch. Right now, streaming accounts for 84% of recorded music revenues in the United States. The thing is, musicians aren’t earning the majority of their revenue through collecting…
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Athens-Clarke County
Keeping Athens In Tune: How Two Venues Built a Music Legacy
Athens has long been a birthplace of musical innovation, launching acts like R.E.M., the B-52s and Widespread Panic. This project explores how two of its most iconic venues, the Georgia Theatre and the 40 Watt Club, collaborate to sustain the city’s vibrant music scene. Through interviews with venue staff, we…
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Q&As
Q&A: Student Band Shares Ambitious Plans
The Squatches, a student cover band that debuted in April and has performed at events including Porchfest, shared their beginnings and plans for the year. Q: What went into the making of this name — what inspired it? Harry Greenspan: Freshman year, we would hang out in the dorms, me,…
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Q&As
Q&A: From Pumpkin Patches to TikTok: Tapley Meets Audiences Where They Are
Wim Tapley, lead vocalist and guitarist of the Athens band Wim Tapley & The Cannons, has seen the band’s following grow to over 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The band is on the lineup for Historic Athens Porchfest on Oct 15. Comments trimmed for length and clarity. Q: When…
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In-Depth
Getting Known When You’re Not Known: Local Musicians And How They Promote Themselves
Throughout the 20th century, musical artists have created promotion techniques to give themselves the best chance to become successful in the industry. Before the internet, a lot of this promotion was analog, meaning promotion through posters and word-of-mouth. Drew Beskin, the current general manager of the Georgia Theatre, can recall…