It’s an Allman Brothers-flavored weekend in Macon
It’s an Allman Brothers flavored weekend this weekend with Skydog 74 on for Sunday and The Allman Betts Band appearing at a live, socially distanced, drive-in concert at the Macon Coliseum today.
But the 4,000 or so people who typically attend the annual Skydog Music Festival won’t be heading to its usual location at Central City Park – now named Carolyn Crayton Park – like they have for the previous 14 years and where the original Allman Brothers Band used to give free concerts.
Due to COVID-19, the festival celebrating guitarist Duane Allman and the band’s music and legacy will be online only as a Facebook Live event of a live performance emanating from the Hargray Capitol Theatre from noon until 5 p.m.
As usual, organizers said there will ABB favorites but this year the band’s “Idlewild South” album will be recreated note-for-note.
Or pretty close to note-for-note, according to Skydog founder and director Glenn Harrell who began the event in 2005.
“Back that first year Duane was going to be 60 and I was looking around to see what people might be doing to celebrate,” he said. “Duane was born Nov. 20, 1946, and of course died tragically in a motorcycle accident in Macon in 1971. But I didn’t see anything going on for his birthday so I talked to some musician friends and we put together Skydog 60 at the park. Each year we update the number to reflect Duane’s age and this year he would have been 74.”
From the beginning, Harrell said the concert has not only gathered musicians and fans to remember Allman and the band but also to benefit local charities helping those experiencing hunger and homelessness. Harrell said it’s something people have told him Allman would have been proud of and it’s a nod to the H&H Restaurant and “Mamma” Louise Hudson and Inez Hill who took pity on the near-starving musicians in their early days and gave them free and low-cost meals.
For the past four years, canned goods, cash gifts and other contributions have been made to Depaul USA’s Daybreak Day Resource Center. This year during the noon to 5 p.m. virtual concert, Daybreak staff will be on hand to accept donations brought to them at 174 Walnut St.
“We want people to take part by donating five items from the list we have online during the Facebook Live concert but donations can still be made anytime,” Harrel said, “We hope people donate throughout the year. They really do good work there.”
A list of needed items are on both Skydog and Daybreak’s websites along with information on the virtual festival and how to contribute.
Their sites are wdawebs.com/skydog and depaulusa.org/events/skydog and Facebook and Facebook Live event links can be found by searching Skydog Music Festival and Skydog 74.
In addition, those making cash donations online at the Daybreak site can qualify to get a link to an audio/video cover recording of “Idlewild South” made by the festival’s Skydog Rhythm Section at Mercer’s Capricorn Sound Studios last month.
“So you can watch on Facebook Live, donate items to Daybreak and donate online to get the ‘Idlewild South’ link,” Harrell said. “Those are three of the four ways to participate and the fourth is to purchase a Skydog 74 T-shirt. They’re online, too.”
Sister Theresa Sullivan leads Daybreak and said the kindness and donations of fans and organizers of Skydog have been a huge help, especially in light of the strain put on charitable organizations such as Daybreak by the coronavirus pandemic.
“They provide wonderful music but are also people who really care about others,” she said. “We appreciate them and the fact that instead of saying it would be too hard to do the concert this year they found a way to do it. We’ve already had the first person come by saying they were donating as part of Skydog.”
She said donations from last year helped ease tensions as social distancing and shortages began this year.
“One of the things on our list was toilet paper so we had a really good stock when toilet paper began running out,” Sullivan said. “That was one less thing to stress about and helped us focus on other things and adapt to meet needs.”
Anyone wanting to donate but not wanting to go online for the current list of needs, it includes new men and women’s underwear sizes M-XL, new men’s white T-shirts sizes L-XL, body wash, paper towels, sturdy backpacks, insect repellant, cloth masks, latex-free gloves, and adult winter hats and gloves.
Harrell, who owns and operates the commercial audio company Wesley Audio out of Gray, said the Skydog Festival is a volunteer effort made possible by “a bunch of busy people” like himself.
“There are just a lot of people here who still love the music of Duane and Gregg Allman and Berry Oakley and the rest of the band and what they created here in Middle Georgia,” he said. “The fact we can do this year after year shows the appreciation people have for the music and what Daybreak and others are doing.”
As for the Betts Allman Band, gates open for their Coliseum drive-in concert today at 5:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are advertised from $135 to $225 and available at maconcentreplex.org/event/the-allman-betts-band with band information at allmanbettsband.com.
The Allman Betts Band includes the sons of several original Allman Brothers Band members. Devon Allman is the son of Gregg Allman, Duane Betts is son of Dickey Betts and Berry Duane Oakley Jr. is son of Berry Oakley.
If that’s not enough Allman, you can also catch Shaun Berry Oakey – son of Berry Oakley Jr. and grandson of Berry Oakley – playing most weekends around town. He lives in Macon and plays frequently with friends and with his band, The Maconites. You can keep track of him at facebook.com/shaunbomusic.
Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.
What you need to know
What: Skydog 74
Where: Facebook Live
When: Noon to 5 p.m., Nov. 22
Cost: Donation to Daybreak Day Resource Center
Information: www.wdawebs.com/skydog, www.facebook.com/skydogmusicfestival, www.depaulusa.org/events/skydog
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 7:00 AM.