Surely most of you have experienced being in the presence of a proud Grandparent, you know the one who can easily whip out a fan-folded slew of proudly carried pictures of their grandkids at a moments notice pointing out out where each and every image was taken.  “This was at little Timmy’s first birthday and this one here was taken at the zoo and Samatha was scared as the dickens of this here big turtle.”  All it takes is asking a simple question like “how are the grandchildren?” to get the photographic ball rolling complete with funny stories and such.  As of late, I have begun to feel sort of like that when it comes to the Augusta music scene.

Now mind you, I’m no Grandpa but it sure feels good when I’m out of town and a discussion about what I do is followed by a response like “yeah I’ve been hearing some good things about the Augusta music scene.”  Like that proud Grandparent I find myself gushing and eventually breaking out a Lokal Loudness or CONfederation of LOUDness business card and writing all kinds of Augusta web addys on the back. (because you just can’t properly explain the whole scope of our musical family simply by sending people to Lokal Loudness or Confederation of Noisemakers)  I can remember a time when all I COULD say was “stop by and visit my website” because there really wasn’t much else online and now I can go on and on for hours about Steven Uhles’ Chronicle coverage, Verge magazine, Confederation of Noisemakers, the Soul Bar message board and of course, Lokal Loudness.  (On occassion I will remember to slip in a Metro Spirit mention if I’m able to recall an article featuring a lokal artist within the previous month)  The Augusta music community is flourishing and I would have to say that the family is not only getting along pretty dang good, it is stronger than it has ever been.

Now for those of you who tune in to CONfederation of LOUDness every Sunday (or on archive sometime after) you have surely been a earful witness to Stak and I not only raving about Augusta music, but the occassional rant as well.  Sometime I’m sure that some listeners think we just like bitching and moaning but here’s the thing, and I know those of you who are parents can relate - Parents love their children unconditionally.  They serve heaping helpings of praise when a kid does good yet are there to offer proper criticism and parenting when a child falters.  Both reactions are done out of love and a desire to see that child grow to the best of their potential.

The Augusta music scene is loaded with potential and like proud parents we are proud as a peach when it shines and concerned when it slips back a step or two.  Of course neither Stak nor I are the supreme authority on how to be the perfect musician (well Stak may tell you otherwise) or even how to create the perfect band but it doesn’t take a musical Einstein to spot “stupid musican tricks” you know. 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I for one am extremely proud of our musical community.  I’m humbled that I get to enjoy being a part of it.  The musicians in Augusta are not only as incredibly talented a bunch as you’ll find in any city but their ability to jump in and do their part to make our community the best it can be as a whole is amazing and believe it or not, a rare thing.  I found that to be the case recently when I asked a member of a highly popular Atlanta band if they had played shows with another highly popular Atlanta band and the response was “Who? I never heard of those guys.”  I had to figure that either this guy only comes out of the band room to play gigs or he has ego-selective memory.  Either way, I felt sorry for the guy especially when he was able to tell me the names of a couple of Augusta bands after not even being able to recall one of the bigger bands in HIS own music scene.      

Why would ANYBODY want to be THAT GUY in the family?

Stoney