BOX SEAT: Spreading the Macon narrative

Macon is an incubator for musicians and many artists have spent substantive time here. This is true for contemporary artists like Young Jeezy and Jason Aldean, as well as those who no longer top the charts, including James Brown, who is the subject of an ongoing exhibit and lecture series entitled "James Brown: The Macon Factor."

The exhibit at Washington Memorial Library was curated by Muriel Jackson, head of Genealogy and the Historical Room, and it displays James Brown in photographs and news articles. (You probably already know Muriel if you've had to research anything about Macon's history.)

The lecture series is facilitated by American historian Deborah-Patrice Hamlin, daughter of Macon native and educator Lewis Hamlin Jr., who served as James Brown's music director in the 1960s. The lectures focus on the parts of Brown's life that are excluded from the larger historical narrative.

Brown had a way of reinventing himself and navigating the waves of the industry. As popular music changed over the years, so did his nicknames, which included Soul Brother Number One, Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr. Dynamite, Mr. Sex Machine and Godfather of Soul.

Many would agree that the showman was a singular character! He is reported to have been born on various dates in several different places such as Barnwell, South Carolina, or Augusta. Brown had even stated that he was born in Macon.

Whenever and wherever he was born, Brown's connections to this city continued even after he became a world famous entertainer.

Deborah-Patrice Hamlin talks about those connections in her next presentation at the library on Feb. 4, which heralds in Black History Month, and she features Brown's first appearance at New York's famed Apollo Theater. That concert resulted in the album, "Live at the Apollo," which was coincidentally recorded on the elder Hamlin's birthday, and it was shortly thereafter that Brown's career took off.

Also a vocalist and current finalist in the Knight Foundation Cities Challenge for her "The Tindall Project: Voices from the Hood" project, Deborah-Patrice Hamlin continues to support the community in which her family is rooted. Her BronzeTone Center for Music & History (www.bronzetonecenter.org) is a treasure of music and history.

She proudly shares what her late father told her, his students and James Brown: "The road is essential to your development as an artist and musician." And she doesn't hesitate to add, "It is important to explore the world, but you should never forget from whence you came."

Contact Melanie Byas at melanie@retrowarehouse.com.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "BOX SEAT: Spreading the Macon narrative ."