Local musicians will put on a benefit concert Thursday to support the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, which, along with the Sports Hall of Fame, has been hit hard by state budget cuts.
The bands are playing for free, sponsors are covering the costs of opening the Cox Capitol Theatre for the show and proceeds will benefit the music hall, organizers said.
The concept was just local musicians supporting the music hall of fame, said Dan Zook, an organizer and saxophonist for Mag Tard, one of the bands participating. Musicians being notoriously low on cash ... we figured the best we could do was to put on a show.
The fundraiser is just one piece of a broader effort to raise money and awareness for the hall of fame, but the statement it makes is bigger than that, museum director Lisa Love said. In fact, there was so much interest from the music community that this may turn into a regular event, according to Macon City Councilman Tom Ellington, who came up with the concert idea.
There were a lot more musicians interested in helping than there was room on the stage, Ellington said.
Both halls of fame have been struggling, cutting jobs, cutting hours and generally tightening their belts as the state made several budget cuts. Both have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual funding, both fear more cuts as the state deals with a struggling economy and both depend on heavy state subsidies to keep their doors open.
In fact, the music halls board said it might have to close the museum later this year if it couldnt raise $225,000 to keep the 43,000 square foot downtown building open through the end of this fiscal year, which comes June 30. Love said the hall has made some significant progress toward that, but didnt want to give an exact figure Tuesday.
She said she was very confident the hall would meet its goals through a combination of fundraising and additional cost cuts.
Zook said area musicians should be the first ones to support the hall. He said Thursdays show should be a good mix of the old school and the new school mixing it up.
Ellington said the concert series might not raise all the money the hall of fame needs, but hes hoping it will strengthen the link between the hall and the local community, particularly the musicians. There are also plans to pass a new penny tax on hotel and motel stays in the Macon area, with some of the proceeds benefiting the sports and music halls, but that plan cant move forward until the Georgia General Assembly goes back into session, probably in January.
Chris Hicks, who has played with the Marshall Tucker Band and The Outlaws, is probably the biggest draw for Thursdays concert, with Mag Tard and Roly Bots also hitting the stage. Hicks, a guitarist and singer, usually shows up with an assemblage of special guests and friends, Love said.
So thats part of the fun, is going to see what Chris Hicks does, she said.
To contact writer Travis Fain, call 744-4213.
