Carlisi, who now lives in the Florida Panhandle, retired from .38 Special in 1997. Since then, he played in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame house band for nine years and performs at charity events. Carlisi and Donnie Van Zant started a couple of bands together, playing teen clubs in the area when they were in high school. “Most of the musicians around Jacksonville, Orange Park and Green Cove Springs knew each other.” Carlisi’s neighborhood was rich with talent. Billy Powell, who became the keyboardist for Skynyrd, lived three blocks away. Skynyrd founders Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Allen Collins also lived in Jacksonville. “We’d go over to Billy’s house and play,” says Carlisi. “Leon Wilkeson was two streets over, and I’d jump on my bike and ride over to Allen’s house.” When Carlisi went off to college in Atlanta, Ronnie, Billy Powell, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Bob Burns took to the road. After Carlisi graduated from Georgia Tech, he, Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes founded .38 Special. Several years later, when Skynyrd and .38 Special’s rehearsal studios were near each other in downtown Jacksonville, Carlisi and producer Kevin Elson sat down with Ronnie after recording a demo. “I remember sitting there, just Ronnie, Kevin and me, and Ronnie just started singing — he never wrote down the lyrics; they just came to him,” he says. “I picked up a dobro and we worked on the arrangement together. That was ‘Four Walls of Raiford.’” After the air crash in 1977 in Gillsburg, Miss., that killed six people, including Ronnie, the band’s survivors quit performing for 10 years. Johnny brought the group back together a decade later with Rossington and other musicians. They still perform at area events. Although they’ve traveled the globe making music, these days, Johnny and brother Donnie live next door to each other on several acres in Clay County. They still make music and travel, performing as The Van Zant Brothers. “We moved back to Clay County 40 years ago and found this great land with horses out near the Black Creek Swamp,” Johnny says. “We traveled so much that it’s nice to be back in Clay County. We love it here.” The brothers often get together in their backyard studio to work on projects. “Right now, we’re working on a gospel album,” he says. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” He’s also still performing and recording with Lynyrd Skynyrd. As for the legacy Skynyrd has in Clay County, Johnny says he has high hopes. The 90-acre Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park in Lake Asbury was built in 1992 and is a popular place for recreation. “You know, it’s great to live here,” he says. “Maybe one day, they’ll even put a Skynyrd museum here.” exploreclay.com
Atlanta-based journalist Pamela A. Keene went to high school with Jeff Carlisi and later wrote about Southern Rock, Capricorn Records, and the Allman Brothers Band when she worked at The Macon Telegraph and News.
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