Georgia Was Country Before Country Was Cool

All I could think as I sat in Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia among 66,000 screaming fans was, “We’ve come a long way, baby.”  Macon native Jason Aldean, the first artist ever to play the Bulldogs’ stomping ground, rolled his Night Train Tour into Athens on April 13 with fellow Georgians Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett on the bill, along with Jake Owen. The lone non-Georgian facing a sea of red and black, Owen earned a deafening roar from the crowd when he said that although he might be from Vero Beach, he, too, hated the Florida Gators.

With 11 No. 1 hits under his belt and more than eight million records sold, there is no doubt that Jason Aldean has reached superstar status. He has sold out every date on his Night Train Tour this year, including Madison Square Garden, and it was just announced he will host the 2013 CMT Music Awards along with actress Kristen Bell on June 5. His longtime friend and hunting buddy Luke Bryan is on a similar career high, having kicked off 2013 with his first headlining tour and first album debuting at No. 1 and having been named Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, which he co-hosted in April with Blake Shelton.

Aldean and Bryan are part of a long legacy of country music greatness in Georgia. At the dawn of radio, Fiddlin’ John Carson, a seven-time champion fiddler, made his broadcast debut on Atlanta’s WSB radio on Sept. 9, 1922, and almost overnight, he became a national radio star. Another fiddling champion, Gid Tanner, a chicken farmer by trade, and his band, The Skillet Lickers, featuring guitarist Riley Puckett and fiddler Clayton McMichen, scored a hit record, the first of many, in 1926. The Skillet Lickers are said to have been Columbia Records’ hottest selling country act at that time.

In the 90-plus years since John Carson and Gid Tanner sawed their fiddles for fans, Georgia artists have commanded a formidable presence in country music. In 1956 at only 11 years old, Brenda Lee, who had been born in the charity ward of Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital, was offered a contract by Decca Records. Known as “Little Miss Dynamite,” Lee parlayed her distinctive voice into hit after hit, including the signature song “I’m Sorry.” In 1957, 19-year-old Whisperin’ Bill Anderson wrote “City Lights” from the rooftop of a Commerce hotel and soon found himself with a career as a singer, songwriter and personality that is still flourishing after more than five decades.

Also during the late ’50s, a group of young Georgians including Jerry Reed, Ray Stevens and Joe South played in the house band together at Atlanta’s National Recording Corporation, owned by local music publishing legend Bill Lowery. Each went on to have multiple country and pop crossover hits—Reed with songs like “Amos Moses” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and Stevens with “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “Everything Is Beautiful,” among others. Joe South wrote Lynn Anderson’s signature hit “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” and Georgian Freddy Weller had a No. 2 hit with the country version of South’s pop smash hit, “Games People Play.”

In 1990, Newnan’s Alan Jackson hit No. 1 with “I’d Love You All Over Again” and Travis Tritt, who was born in Hiram, did the same that year with his second single, “Help Me Hold On.” Just a year later, the pride of tiny Monticello, Trisha Yearwood, stole the hearts of American country music fans with her debut single, “She’s in Love with the Boy,” which became the first of a long line of No. 1 songs.

Two decades later, Georgia artists still command a formidable presence on the charts. Sugarland, featuring Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, began a hitmaking streak in 2004 with their debut single, “Baby Girl,” and have since sold more than 14 million records and earned numerous awards. After playing clubs for years, Zac Brown Band’s debut single for Atlantic Records, “Chicken Fried,” climbed to No. 1 in 2008, setting the stage for the group’s phenomenal success. Augusta natives Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, better known as two-thirds of Lady Antebellum, had their first No. 1 in 2009 with “I Run to You,” and their second chart-topping single, “Need You Now,” won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Brantley Gilbert, Kip Moore, Randy Houser and Lauren Alaina are all Georgia-born artists making a significant mark in country music, and homegrown songwriters Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip and Hilary Lindsey are among the most successful and sought-after tunesmiths in the business today.

Several of Georgia’s country stars made tour stops in their home state this spring, and summer brings two of the hottest shows around. Don’t miss Luke Bryan’s Dirt Road Diaries Tour at Aaron’s Amphitheatre in Atlanta on July 14, and Zac Brown Band joins Kenny Chesney on his No Shoes Nation Tour! at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on August 3. A word of advice, though. Always pay attention to the singer at any country bar in Georgia—odds are pretty good that you’re witnessing a future Nashville star.