Localzine: Athens, GA - Jellocat

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Localzine: Athens, GA

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Localzine: Athens, GA

Written by Hillary Meister & David Barbe

(This piece originally ran in the CMJ music magazine in 1996).

"This is a great place to live, but why would anyone want to visit? This is a medium-sized college town -- we don't have Disney World, the Empire State Building, or anything lke that," says David Barbe, bassist extraordinaire for Sugar, noise-maker in Buzz Hungry, and studio engineer/producer who also claims "dogs run Athens." He's not just referring to the Dawgs, the University of Georgia football team, but to the furry beasts that everyone in town seems to own. "Dogs, R.E.M., and Ort.," David laughs. "They're great citizens of Athens," he says of R.E.M., "but there's more to here than them. You can't throw a CD in town without hitting a musician." There are at least 200 bands in Athens, and there are more studios per capita here than probably anywhere else.

Athens is a tiny place. The University of Georgia is the mainstay of the town, and the student population makes up one-third of the population, the totla of which is roughly around 80,000. Therefore, just about every business in Athens, especially those downtown, attempts to cater to student desires. Those businesses also tend to run on the University clock, so beware if you travel to Athens during holiday times or the last part of summer, when many shops, restaurants, and bars shut down for a few days to a week.

(All quotes are from David, the rest from Hillary)

Restaurant Hang-Outs

Taco Stand (670 N. Milledge Ave., 549-2894) "I've been going there three times a week for practically 14 years. I worked there... If I had one meal left in the world, I'd have the bean burrito deluxe, extra hot, no microwaving."

Grit/Guaranteed (199 Prince Ave., 543-6592 (Grit): 167 E. broad St., 208-0962 (Guaranteed)) "I'm a fan of the Golden Bowl at the Grit." Guaranteed has great juices. These places cater strictly to the vegetarian and feature some pretty cool dishes.

Harry Bissette's (279 E. Broad St., 353-7065) "Laura Carter (Jack o'Nuts) used to work there as a chef. They have fancy food -- uptown New Orleans style. Stuffed fillet with blue cheese, rare, with a glass of bourbon, that's what I'd have!"

The Last Resort (174/184 W. Clayton St., 549-0810) Excellent stuff like praline chicken, fried green tomatoes and other sorts of gourmet-style dishes.

Cookies and Co./Chocolate Shoppe (198 College Ave., 353-2461 (Cookies): 216 E. Clayton St. 549-8473 (Chocolate)) "I'm a brown bagger -- always liked the sandwich and apple shoved in a bag. I buy cookies for my kids on occasion at Cookies and Co."

Allan's (1294 Prince Ave., 353-9341) "Best hamburgers in town! Small, but remember: quality over quantity!"

Record Stores

Wuxtry (197 E. Clayton St., 369-9428) "Right downtown, perfect location. Where else would anyone want to go? You can get anything here, just about, and they have a separate store next to the main one with used CDs and tapes."

Big Shot Records (164 E. Clayton, 543-6666) Same as Wuxtry, almost, but they carry a lot more mainstream stuff, too. If you're looking for that new Michael Bolton album, you'll find it here.

Book Stores

Old Black Dog (1700 S. Lumpkin St., 549-2449) "I like books as much as I like records, and the Old Black Dog carries more hard-to-find things and cool books than anywhere else."

Jackson St. Books (260 N. Jackson St., 546-0245) Millions of used books. Well, maybe not millions, but an awful lot of every kind of book you can think of, all used.

Clubs

40 Watt (285 W. Washington St., 549-7871) "Of course, there's the 40 Watt, which is already pretty legendary." The big daddy: it holds about 1,000 people. Loads of cool bands play here -- everything from Luscious Jackson to Robyn Hitchcock.

Atomic Music Hall (140 E. Washington St., 369-7315) "This is where Buzz Hungry plays a lot. It holds about 500 people, and the history of the place is amazing. It began as the Paris Adult Theatre with X-rated movies, turned into the Uptown -- a legendary place in Athens; then the Colorbox, purely disco; then the Chameleon Club, which everyone called the Ham Leon club because the 'C' and 'e' on the sign were wiped out; then the Shoebox, which was co-owned by the 40 Watt people; and now it's the Atomic. They bring in a lot of alternative type stuff, usually punkish in nature."

Georgia Theatre (Corner of Lumpkin & Clayton St., 549-9918) Also a big club with about a 1,000 capacity. Usually, the more southern-fried bands paly here, and they tend to cater more to the college frat crowd.

High Hat Club (321 E. Clayton St., 549-5508) "We play here sometimes too. They're mostly jazz and blues and sometimes do rock." A truly eclectic place that began as a blues club. Blues and R&B are still their mainstay, but they've brought in all kinds of other fantastic acts. On Tuesday nights, they feature the Hot Burritos, who bring in guest vocalists/musicians like Vic Chesnutt, Kelly Hogan and even, yes, Mike Mills.

Bars

Engine Room (245 W. Washington St., 454-3800) A cool place to hang, featuring microbrews and all sorts of other beers, full bar, and lots of booths to sit at.

Foxz Tavern (1294-1/2 Prince Ave., 546-8209) "An old neighborhood hang-out. I've lived close to it -- it's a place to get a drink, and there's not too many people there."

The Globe (199 N. Lumpkin St., 353-4721) The academic hang-out bar with just beer, wine, and a killer selection of bourbons. Bring in the dissertation you're working on, read some Shakespeare, and down a few bourbons. They sometimes show movies or have acoustic performances upstairs.

GA Bar/Roadhouse (159 W. Clayton St., 546-9884 (GA): 149 N. Lumpkin St., 613-2324 (Roadhouse)) If you wanna get smushed trying to get a drink, these are the places to head to. Cool bars, grungy in that bar kind of way, loud rock music, sometimes bands, and sometimes the GA Bar has rather interesting, uh, visuals on teh television... closed-captioned, at that!

Coffee House

Jittery Joe's (243A W. Washington St., 548-3116) "Minors go here, and not the ones with the little lights on their hats." The decor is that art-deco kind of Southern trashy look, and they built a little back room movie theatre/poetry reading place. Kids in Athens hang out here or at other coffee houses instead of at the clubs. Look for Jesus in the coffee cup on the ceiling.

"All travelers should feel welcome to come and visit Athens -- just don't stay too long..." says David. Remember to tune your radios to WUOG 90.5 FM, the college radio station; WPUP 103.7 FM has beocme a commercial-alternative station. You can bring your dog, too...

All phone numbers are in area code 706.

The new album by David Barbe's band Buzz Hungry is At the Hands of our Intercessors (Compulsiv). Hillary Mesiter works for the Interactive Studios part of the Atlanta Journal Constitution (check out "Y'all!" on the web at http://www.yall.com) and was the music editor at Athens' Flagpole magazine (P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603) for four years. Learn more about David Barbe.

To see the original clipping this story comes from click:

Part 1
Part 2