Column: 2023 looks to be a banner year for art, entertainment in Middle Georgia

The first days and weeks of 2023 indicate the New Year will be one for the record books in terms of art, entertainment and good opportunities to get out and about in Macon and Middle Georgia.

The end of 2023 holds promise with the county’s new amphitheater being completed and possibly the Otis Redding Foundation’s new educational center opening, but in these early days, some of Macon’s oldest tried and true venues are making sure the year is off to a fast start.

If you thought there’d be a first-of-the-year breather after all the 2022 holiday season offered, think again.

As proof, here in shotgun blast fashion, are a few early highlights mainly from the worlds of music and stage.

— At the Grand Opera House on Monday, Jan. 9, The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine presents the classic Tchaikovsky ballet “Swan Lake.” This is only weeks after The Nutcracker of Middle Georgia graced the Grand’s stage with Tchaikovsky’s equally famous seasonal ballet.

According to the Grand’s Julia Ruben, the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine’s 55 dancers have drawn acclaim for their performances across Europe and now bring them to Macon and the U.S.

“They’ve appeared here before and I know a lot of people are looking forward to this performance,” she said. “Their ’Swan Lake’ is certainly as masterful production and it’s nice having a professional company present such great family-friendly entertainment.”

Ticketing and information are at www.thegrandmacon.com but there you’ll also find Elle Woods showing up for the national production of “Broadway: Legally Blonde – The Musical” on Thursday and Friday, Jan 12-13. That means there’s not only been back-to-back ballet at the Grand but now back-to-back professional touring stage shows.

But that’s far from all. As part of the “much more” at the Grand is a turn from classical music and dance to classic rock – but with a twist.

On Jan. 21, founding Allman Brothers Band drummer Johnny “Jaimoe” Johnson brings “Big Band of Brothers: A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers” to the stage the Allman Brothers frequently played on in the late-1960s, and early-1970s. The show is based on the album of the same name and features a list of illustrious jazz luminaries and guest artists who give the Brothers’ tunes new life in a different dimension.

— Jaimoe’s appearance at the Grand offers hometown flare but so does Robert Lee Johnson’s appearance at Grant’s Lounge Saturday. The Macon blues guitarist is known nationally for his pioneering work in soul and funk playing in support of Percy Sledge, James Brown and others.

There’s always something going on at Grant’s but Thursday, Jan. 12, two significant national touring acts will take the stage and are a good representation of the kind of acts heading this way more and more. They’re Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown and GA-20. If you take note of guitar magazines you’ve seen GA-20 on the cover of several in the past few months. The relatively new Boston-based blues outfit has done well on Billboard charts as well as they testify to the long-lived power of Chicago blues.

But if you follow touring rock bands out of Nashville with long histories and who have guitar players who hail from Texas – or if you follow guitarists who’ve built huge followings on social media like Instagram – then you might know or have followed Tyler Bryant.

Playing since he was 6 and performing steadily since 13, Bryant was touted as a guitar prodigy by the likes of Eric Clapton and Vince Gill and won a Robert Johnson Foundation blues guitarist award. But on a personal note, I never knew him as that. I knew him as one of the many guitar players you’d run across more and more on Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic. For me, he was one I heard and followed and continues to enjoy.

And now the two band’s tour brings them to Macon and to Grant’s which seems especially appropriate considering its history and Bryant’s classic blues-rock virtuosity.

Appropriately, I reached out to Bryant through social media.

“We’re thrilled to be coming to Macon to play some music,” he messaged me. “Georgia is responsible for so much of our favorite music and we can’t wait to tip our hats, play some rock and roll and have a great time. We’ve been lucky enough to play all over the world but it’s always good to get to play in the South.”

I knew it was the band’s first time in Macon but wondered if Bryant had been here before in his long touring career and appearances in support of acts other acts and people like Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, Heart, Paul Simon, B.B. King and more through the years. Having toured since his early teens, the most definitive answer the late-20s Bryant could give was, “I believe it is.”

If you check out Bryant and the band anywhere online and love music that draws from a certain style and era, you won’t want to miss the show.

And by the way, that Boston band didn’t name themselves after a Georgia highway. The name comes from a classic guitar amplifier made by Gibson guitars in the late-‘50s and early-‘60s.

Go to www.historicgrants.com for tickets and more Grant’s information. For the bands, go to www.tylerbryantandtheshakedown.com and www.ga20band.com.

— A look at the Hargray Capitol Theatre also highlights the level of touring acts coming to town more and more.

On Jan. 21, Charlie Starr will appear with Benji Shanks. Starr is frontman/guitarist for Blackberry Smoke, one of the foremost national proponents of Southern Rock in a jam band fashion.

Then, on Jan. 28, Samantha Fish comes to the Capitol. Fish has Macon connections through duets she’s done with Devon Allman and connections to the Allman Family Reunion Tour. That’s fitting and says something, but you can’t pigeonhole Fish there as she leaps across musical genres nor can you simply put her on the shelf with great women guitarists like avant-pop star Annie Clark/St. Vincent. Fish stands on her own in every way and is worth seeing.

More at the Capitol at www.hargraycapitoltheatre.com.

The coming days, and year, offer a lot at small and large venues and there’ll be more on that in days ahead, but reaching into February shows nothing stops as local talent takes the Grand’s stage the first week of the month for the Macon Civic Club’s Annual Musical Revue and then Feb. 13 as the Macon Mercer Symphony Orchestra performs.

Then there’s a significant event that isn’t entertainment itself but rather an effort to help those in and connected to the music industry bridge Macon’s musical heritage with the future. It’s the Capricorn Music Business Summit on Feb. 25 which will bring in experts who’ve achieved success in their field of music. That includes multi-award-winning Mercer University graduate and Nashville producer Steve Ivey whose work has landed at No. 1 on the Billboard charts 17 times.

The event is limited to 125 participants so get information and register early at www.capricorn.mercer.edu/music-business-summit.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.

This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 7:00 AM.