1/12/07, 5:45 pm EST

Assignment One Finalist: James MacDonald on Athens, Georgia

Think you can do better? Prove it, by entering our our contest. Win prizes and get your work published. We’ll announce week two’s assignment Monday, 12:00 p.m. EST.

Note: This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing competition.

by James MacDonald
Age: 18

Built on the foundation laid by REM and the B-52’s, and further furnished by the Elephant 6 Collective led nineties, the Athens music scene has long been considered legendary. It was not for nothing, that the small college town in northeast Georgia was named one of the top areas that rock in the Rolling Stone College Guide. There’s never a lull in the music schedule. With many clubs and bars, and even more stages, Athens is rocking pretty much every night.

To understand the music scene of the little town just off of the kudzu covered highway 316, you must first look at the sheer volume of top-rate and well-known acts that have played at the various venues. One look at the famous 40 Watt Club’s list of past acts that include performers as varied as Wilco, George Clinton, Iggy Pop, and Run DMC, and you can see that virtually everyone has been through Athens at one point or another during their careers. Though Atlanta may often get bigger names, Athens can lay claim to hosting these troubadours in their earliest years, before they become known worldwide.

Perhaps, that’s Athens’ best asset. The home of the University of Georgia sees many bands at the beginning of their careers. For only five to twenty dollars a concert, the appreciative audiences can catch tons of up-and-coming bands and a mainstream headliner or two. Even the local groups are so numerous and eclectic in style, that anybody could be big in a year or two. Although known for the quirky pop and rock of bands like REM and Of Montreal, Athens has also produced such acts as Danger Mouse and the Drive By Truckers. Part of the fun of a Friday night, in addition to drinking, is finding the next national hit.