Folio Vol. 39, Issue 6

Iconic Music Legacy

Kaili

Good

Ambar

Ambar

Ambar Ramirez &

Kaili

The Pinz Are Antagonizing the

FOLIO STAFF:

KERRY

AMIYAH

Face

But Not

In Conversation with Damien Starkey & Jasin

Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

Bobby Amaru’s Time with Burn

Carmen Macri

Shelton

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Roots of Greatness

Teresa

Southern Roots, Jacksonville Soul: The Allman Brothers Band

Teresa Spencer

Flirtin’ with Legends: The Unstoppable Ride of Molly Hatchet

Carmen Macri

The Van Zants

Carmen Macri

The Pyles

Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

Icons of Rock

Kaili Cochran

Honorable Mentions

Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

There’s

Teresa Spencer

BEHIND THE COVER: It’s In The Water: Jacksonville’s Iconic Music Legacy

Bands/Artists Incuded: Damien Starkey, Flipturn, 95 South, Rick Derringer Band, Jasin Todd

Cover art made by John Lawless

KAILI COCHRAN

DREW

BOUQS & BRICKS

BOUQUETS

To the St. Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival for being named the fourth Best Cultural Event event in the country by the readers of “USA Today.”

BRICKBATS

To Florida Statute 316.3045 , which prohibits music from being plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet, became enforceable on July 1, 2022. Some have criticized the law, suggesting it disproportionately affects certain demographics. It does pose infringements on personal freedoms and some believe the law is being used as an excuse to pull drivers over for other reasons. Note: According to JSO public records, 67 tickets for the noise violation were issued to drivers in 2023.

at us:

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

HOROSCOPES

With Venus in retrograde from the first of the month to the 27th, it will be the season of feeling and healing, Aries. Your attention will be pulled inward as you take the month to self-reflect on how you give and receive love. On March 14, the Virgo full moon lunar eclipse will bring an emotional release, so, no, you weren’t crashing out… There was a reason for those tears.

Song of the month: “Swim Between Trees” by Flipturn

ARIES TAURUS

You may find yourself caught in a loop, replaying past events, Taurus. A hidden truth about a former relationship is about to surface, stirring a deep desire to turn back time. While time itself may not be linear, your actions can be — and this revelation offers a chance to bring closure to something that’s been weighing heavily on your mind. Use it as an opportunity to heal and move forward with clarity.

Song of the month: “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Gemini, and do you know what else is too? Success. Your success is not defined by those around you. Your success should not be affected by the abundance or lack thereof from those you hold near and dear. Venus and Mercury being in retrograde for most of the month might stir up some inner conflict, but stay true to who you are and you will come out unscathed.

Song of the month: “Second Chance” by Shinedown

GEMINI CANCER

Is your passport up to date, Cancer? If not, you might want to take care of that because March has you craving adventure. With Pisces season in full swing, your curiosity is sparked and your soul is ready to explore. Whether that means booking a trip abroad or diving into a new creative class, this month invites you to step outside your comfort zone and embrace the unfamiliar. Song of the month: “Rollin’” by Honey Hounds

You have always been a free spirit, Leo, but this month will have you craving something more substantial. As the Pisces sun shimmers in your eighth house of relationships, you will find yourself focusing on the closest, most “meant to be” connections … and nothing else. Good luck with that! Venus’s retrograde will hone in on your love life, and truth be told, secrets will be revealed.

Song of the month: “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard

LEO VIRGO

No one understands hard work quite like you, Virgo — and while that’s something to be proud of, it might also be a quiet call for rest. When was the last time you truly paused? March encourages you to take a step back and reflect on what you really want. Remember: quality always outweighs quantity. Give yourself permission to slow down and realign with your deeper goals.

Song of the month: “Burnout Days” by Flipturn

March is the perfect time to aim for your biggest goals, Libra. You’re ready for success with no need to settle, as the creative Pisces sun lights up your sixth house of work and wellness until the 20th. But remember, don’t get caught up in the hustle. This month you’re being pushed to move forward without sacrificing self-care or burning out. It’s totally possible.

Song of the month: “Shedding Dog” by Hogbean

LIBRA SCORPIO

It might as well be Scorpio season with the way the planets have aligned for you to have your best month yet — Scorpio fully unleashed. With Mercury and Venus both in retrograde for most of the month, your relationship sector is on fire with new and past lovers making their way (back) into your life. It is time to dust off the cobwebs, kid.

Song of the month: “Smello Coffee” by Teal Peel

SAGITTARIUS

Sagittarius, it’s in your nature to lend a helping hand — sometimes more often than you should. While your generosity is admirable, it often comes at a personal cost. This month you’ll be confronted with the imbalance of give and take because, lately, it feels like all you do is give, leaving little for yourself. Pisces season encourages you to prioritize your own sense of security. Take some time to recharge at home, either solo or surrounded by your closest, most supportive circle.

Song of the month: “The Butterfly in the Valley” by Patsy’s Daydream

CAPRICORN

With Pisces sun lighting up your house of communication, you are sending out more signals than a satellite, and Capricorn, the world is listening. Whether in romantic or platonic relationships, March will have you take a step back and figure out what is worth salvaging and what isn’t. It’s OK to be a villain in someone’s story if it protects your own peace.

Song of the month: “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit

AQUARIUS

If only all problems were as easy as solving them, Aquarius. This month, you’re feeling the pressure from two sides — rethinking your spending habits and confronting your attachment to material things. Retail therapy might offer a quick fix, but it won’t solve what’s really going on. It’s time to reflect, release and reset.

Song of the month: “Flirtin’ With Disaster” by Molly Hatchet

PISCES

Happy birthday, Pisces! You’ve been patiently waiting for your moment, and it’s finally here — so make it count. Your season brings the ideal energy for a personal glow-up. Whether it’s setting fresh goals or revamping your wardrobe, don’t be afraid to put yourself first. This is your time to shine and reinvent.

Song of the month: “Reflection” by Glass Chapel

FOLIO WEED

Easter Sunday falls on 4/20 this year, and what better pregame could you have for that than Cannabash 2025: Journey to the Emerald City, which takes place at the Emerald Station April 19 from 2-10 p.m.? Located near the intersection of Liberty and 14th Street in Springfield, the event includes food and drink, demonstrations and freebies, talks and consultations with industry professionals, and music from Caleb Joye and DJ Dr. Doom from 93.3 FM. Heck, I’ll be there, too, so come say hello!

Cannabash events have been happening all over the city since about 2018. After pausing for 2020 and 2021, they resumed in 2022. Last year’s event was held at Havana Jax, drawing over 1,000 people. This year will be their first event at the Emerald Station, which is a key component of the Phoenix Arts District. “They just opened, and we did not want to miss this opportunity for partnership,” says Dr. Rene Pulido, who has owned and operated the event’s main sponsor, Emed Multispecialty Group, since 2010. “It is long needed in Jacksonville, very professional and a great opportunity for up-and-comers who work in art.”

General admission tickets are just $10, but admission is free for anyone with a medical marijuana card. At this point, it seems that everyone and their mother (my mother, anyway) already has their med card by this point, but activity in that regard has spiked in recent weeks. New applications tapered down a bit last year because everyone assumed that Amendment 3 would pass. But that’s a whole other story, and you read that last month.

I spoke with Dr. Pulido just the other day, and here are the highlights of that discussion.

How many patients have medical marijuana cards in Jacksonville?

Unknown! I looked for that number but could not find it.

How many doctors are licensed here to prescribe the cards, and how does that compare to Florida in general?

What made you focus on cannabis as part of your medical practice?

I was always a critic, but when I got my license for my cancer patients I was not prepared for the unbelievable benefits and it grew from there. Now, we are the largest medical marijuana card provider for northeast Florida.

How has your specialization in the cannabis field impacted your overall business, and in particular your skills and connections as a doctor?

I believe that treating people with cannabis has greatly expanded my knowledge of medicine, especially holistic care. It reminds doctors that medicine used to be a calling before it was hijacked by large insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

How do you assess the current situation with the cannabis scene after Amendment 3?

This is a crazy time when it comes to politics, and I am frequently torn for what is best for our population. I like the idea of having more access for the

people, but at the same time, I don’t want the system to be taken advantage of. Like, for example, I don’t want this treatment in the hands of minors who don’t have medical issues.

How closely are the doctors in this field locally and statewide networked with each other? That is, to what extent are the doctors involved in the political aspects of the scene, particularly in terms of legalization?

My family tries to do as much networking as possible. For example, my brothers Dr. Mario Pulido, chief medical officer for St. Vincent’s, and Dr. Danny Pulido, head of the ICU for Baptist Beaches, hosted a family-oriented day for the Duval County Medical Society recently. Like many other aspects of politics, there is a lot of polarization when it comes to the legalization of the recreational use of cannabis.

4/20 is on Easter Sunday. What are your plans for the day?

4/20 is a relaxed day for my family but we DO plan to celebrate 4/20 on 4/19!

I am one of about 90 in Jacksonville. Overall, 2,181 Doctors can currently prescribe in Florida.

The Birthplace of Southern Rock Jacksonville,

Words by Kaili Cochran

Beaches, museums, restaurants, St. Johns Town Center and the Jaguars. These are all things that come to mind when you think of Jacksonville. But beyond its attractions, Jacksonville is known for a deeper connotation as “the birthplace of southern rock.”

Jacksonville got this name because it was where many of the well-known and local southern rock artists called home at the time. The peak of its identity was in the 1960s and 1970s. During this decade, Jacksonville had music venues and bands on practically every corner.

According to media scholar Michael Ray Fitzgerald, the biggest factor that led to Jacksonville being one of the hottest music cities at the time was baby boomers.

“Teenage boomers developed into a huge, new market for entertainment,” Fitzgerald wrote.

This began the rise of radio, dances, concerts and other music-related events. Multiple forms of listening to music both live and pre-recorded were becoming popular, and the teenage boomers were embracing it whenever they could.

“To [their] parents, it must have looked as if they were taking over the world — and they were,” Fitzgerald wrote.

The first southern rock band to form in Jacksonville was The Allman Brothers Band, formed in 1969. Though they moved to Georgia the same year,, they already had a lasting impact on other rising artists in Jacksonville. Lynyrd Skynyrd was next in line.

By 1970, Lynyrd Skynyrd had become a top band in Jacksonville, headlining at some local concerts, and opening for several national

acts. Throughout the 70s, they went on to create what is recognized as the “southern sound” through a mix of country, blues, and British rock influence. By 1973, they were known around the world.

Not long after, other local bands such as Cowboy, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, and 38 Special followed in their footsteps and began making their own southern rock sound — and putting Jacksonville on the music map in the process.

Good Girls Go to Heaven, Groupies Go Backstage

The show begins like any other. Overhead lights dim, stage lights flare and the crowd roars. Backstage, a woman adjusts her smudged eyeliner and pulls her fur-lined coat tight as she watches the band take the stage. She’s not with the band or part of the crew—at least, not officially. She’s a groupie.

The term “groupie” has long swayed between admiration and criticism. On one end of the spectrum, groupies were seen as sexual fanatics — symbols of anti-feminism and obsession. On the other, they were celebrated as the purest form of feminist rebellion: Women who did what they wanted, when they wanted, with whomever they wanted. The only part of the groupie identity that’s never been up for debate? A deep love for the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, the music — and yes, the men.

My first encounter with the term “groupie” was when I watched the 2000 film by Cameron Crowe, “Almost Famous.” The moment the credits rolled, I sprinted to my mom and told her two things: one, I needed Penny Lane’s fur-lined suede coat, and two, I wanted to be a groupie. She looked at me, a 15-year-old girl riddled with acne and insecurities, with fear in her eyes.

My mom grew up in the late ’60s and ’70s, when rock ’n’ roll and groupies were sweeping the world in a haze of sex, drugs and screaming fans. Her idea of a groupie was wildly different from the romanticized version I saw on screen. I saw women like Penny Lane — played by a young Kate Hudson — who famously said, “We are not groupies. Group -

other women like her? Well, I’m so glad you asked. While you might recognize the name Penny Lane from the Beatles song, it’s not actually about a woman — it’s about a suburban street in Liverpool. The Penny Lane character in “Almost Famous,” however, is a different story. Cameron Crowe has said that the character was inspired by several real-life groupies he met during his time writing for Rolling Stone, most notably Pennie Trumbull.

Trumbull, born and raised in Portland, Oregon, dove headfirst into the rock ’n’ roll scene of the 1970s. She co-founded The Flying Garter Girls, a group of women who traveled the country following — and inspiring — famous rock bands. Each girl adopted a nickname, and Trumbull chose Pennie Lane, partly in reference to the Beatles song. The alias wasn’t just about privacy; Much like her fictional counterpart, it created a kind of mythos, allowing anyone to imagine themselves in Penny Lane’s shoes.

That said, not everyone agrees on who most inspired the character. Pamela Des Barres, the queen of groupies, has long claimed that Penny Lane in “Almost Famous” was based more on her than on Trumbull or Bebe Buell, another famous groupie. She’s also argued that the film presented a skewed — and at times, misogynistic — view of what it meant to be a groupie.

In one of the film’s most heartbreaking moments, Penny Lane overdoses after learning that Russell Hammond (played by Billy Crudup) traded her to the band Humble Pie in a poker game — for $50

son for groupiedom. In her 1987 memoir “I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie,” she recounts her wild, unapologetic adventures in the rock ’n’ roll scene, including romantic ties to legends like Keith Moon, Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger. What sets Des Barres apart from other groupies, however, is that she proudly claimed the title — at a time when groupie was still a word whispered with judgment. She didn’t just embrace it; she put it on the map, turning a once-dismissed label into a badge of honor.

But the groupies that Frank Zappa spoke of in a 1969 Rolling Stone magazine, “Groupies are very influential on the record market… If you’re a hit with the groupies, you’ll sell 15,000 records in LA alone,” are now long gone.

The fall of the groupie can be traced to a multitude of reasons. For one, the times changed — the bands got sleazier, the drugs got harder and the glamorous sheen of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle began to fade. With the release of “Nevermind,” Nirvana and the grunge movement ushered in a new era of music that rejected excess and ego.

Then came John Lennon’s assassination — an event many point to as the start of a growing divide between celebrities and the general public. Gone were the days of casually bumping into your favorite musician at a bar. The internet only widened that gap, making artists more visible, but paradoxically, less accessible.

ies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We are here because of the music. We inspire the music. We are Band-Aids.”

Fortunately for my mom—and unfortunately for me—I was born in the wrong era (though I’m still on the hunt for that coat, but I digress). The real question is, who is Penny Lane and what happened to

and a case of Heineken. In an interview with Vulture, Des Barres criticized the scene, saying it reinforced a damaging stereotype and ignored the agency and passion that real-life groupies brought to the rock ’n’ roll world.

Des Barres has become something of a spokesper -

Today, in an age where social media, digital access and online ticketing have replaced long lines at the box office, the term “groupie” has quietly faded from the mainstream. In its place? Mega-fandoms and fan page profiles.

The inside scoop on one of Jacksonville’s favorite bands

by Amanda Laferriere

Photos

MAMA,

Words by Carmen Macri

MADE IT: FLIPTURN

Before delving into this, I must confess that my unwavering love for Flipturn, who happens to be one of my all-time favorite bands, may introduce some bias. However, if we can set aside personal preferences and have faith in my impeccable taste, let’s proceed.

I’ve always had a feeling that I was experiencing a musical era my future kids would envy — just like our parents brag about witnessing the prime of Lynyrd Skynyrd or The Rolling Stones. So when I stumbled across a small local band back in 2018, I had a gut feeling they were destined for greatness. And sure enough, they’re already “Halfway” there. (Yes, that song pun was intentional.)

The band’s journey began back in high school when a group of teenagers turned after-school jam sessions into something much bigger. Frontman Dillon Basse, bassist Madeline Jarman and lead guitarist Tristan Duncan started out playing in a garage, but once they began writing and releasing songs like “Chicago” and “August” (which is still topping the charts), their popularity exploded. As their sound evolved, so did the band, welcoming guitarist/synth player Mitch Fountain and drummer Devon VonBalson. What started as a hidden gem in Fernandina and Jacksonville quickly became a must-see act that took the nation by storm.

And I don’t say that lightly. The band is now headlining their own music festival, Playground, along with major festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Shaky Knees, Hangout and Austin City Limits — to name a few. They even landed a spot as the musical guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” earlier this year, all leading up to the release of their sophomore album, “Burnout

Days,” which includes breakout songs like “Rodeo Clown” and obviously, “Burnout Days.”

Thanks to my relentless (and admittedly shameless) fangirling, “Folio” managed to land a quick interview with the band ahead of The Burnout Days Tour to get the inside scoop on band life and the inspiration behind the album loved by so many.

“There wasn’t necessarily a particular moment that shaped the direction [of the album], but rather a collection of experiences from the last few years of touring,” Basse explained. “Themes on the album like burnout, addiction, codependency, existentialism and identity issues all came from experiences we’ve had whilst learning to cope with the side effects of touring and being away from friends and family so often.”

Flipturn has a way of crafting music that feels deeply relatable—nostalgic, cinematic and packed with emotion. Each song tells its own story, pulling you in like the soundtrack to a moment you didn’t realize you were living. That kind of authenticity is likely why they’ve skyrocketed to stardom. And with that kind of reach, it’s no surprise they found themselves performing on national television — because playing in front of millions of people? That’s no small feat.

“It was such an amazing experience. I’m a huge fan of the show, so I was trying to manage my expectations going into it, but the day truly lived up to all I hoped for it to be. We got to take a little tour of the space, get hair and makeup touch-ups done, and got to meet Jimmy too,” Jarman shared. “Everyone was so kind and took great care of us.

We were so excited to play, and we’re so glad that everything went swimmingly. Afterward, we were on cloud nine and couldn’t wait to tell our loved ones how everything went. We received so much love from Jacksonville and Fernandina too, so it was great to know that we had people cheering for us on the opposite coast of the country.”

Every band has to start somewhere, of course, we were just lucky enough to have them start so close to home. But that doesn’t stop the “oh shit!” moments from happening when you see your hidden gem of a band take off and rise up the ranks. Naturally, we wanted to see if the band had any similar “oh shit!” moments.

“I feel like it’s just a constant feeling, but the most recent time I’ve been hit with it was the text confirming that Roadrunner in Boston sold out,” VonBalson expressed. “Still feels unreal to me.”

Jarman chimed in with her feelings on the matter as well.

“It’s still extremely surreal that we’re living our dream, but after working our tails off for almost 10 years, it’s finally starting to feel like our dues are paying off,” Jarman shared. “Every year, we love to make a list of both attainable and dream goals we’d like to achieve, so for us, that’s a great way to kind of visualize what we’ve done over the course of a year since touring life can feel like a crazy whirlwind at times. We’re incredibly thankful to everyone for sticking with us over the years and helping us grow.”

Flipturn has long outgrown their “small-town band” label, stepping fully into their role as bonafide rockstars. But that doesn’t mean they’ve left their roots behind. They still show plenty of love for our beautiful city—so much so that they filmed their “Burnout Days” music video in a living room, surrounded by close friends, yours truly … and also Trevor Lawrence.

LET’S GET PERSONAL WITH FLIPTURN:

Carmen: Do you have a personal favorite song from the album? What makes it stand out to you? (For the record, I’m torn between “Rodeo Clown” and “If It Is.”)

Devon VonBalson: “Tides” is definitely my favorite track. I don’t think we have any other song like it. It always takes me back to the cabin in Asheville, North Carolina where we wrote it. Can’t help but get Tristan’s riff stuck in my head every time I listen. Also, it has my favorite drum tones we’ve ever captured. Huge shoutout to tape machines!

Carmen: Your music often has this nostalgic, cinematic feel. If Flipturn were scoring a movie, what kind of film would it be, and who would direct it?

Tristan Duncan: I would personally love our music in a Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson movie.

Carmen: Your live shows are high-energy, almost cathartic. What’s the weirdest or most unexpected thing that’s ever happened during a performance?

Mitch Fountain: My favorite — and also weirdest thing — that happens during performances is when people throw rubber chickens on stage at us. I have literally 45 rubber chickens in a box at home because people throw them on stage. It’s my favorite thing ever. Ha ha!

Carmen: If you had to describe your personality using only one song (not your own), what would it be and why?

Madeline Jarman: I think I would say “Shuffle” by Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s kinda skippy, upbeat and a little different. They’re also my favorite band, so I think anything by them feels like a piece of my personality.

Carmen: Your lyrics capture a lot of emotion: What’s a line from one of your songs that took the longest to perfect?

Dillon Basse: The line that actually took the longest to perfect was from the song “Swim Between Trees” — “My love’s a dragonfly who paints her eyes in every color.” When writing, I like to put in inside jokes in a lot of songs that can be understood by many, but only a few will know why I put it in. My partner Zoe has a dragonfly tattoo on her thigh and her family has this strange obsession for dragonflies, so I really wanted to find a way to throw that word into a song. There were a few songs I tried to force the word into, but it just wasn’t working … I almost didn’t use it until the first day of recording the record when I started writing the lyrics for “Swim.” It finally felt like it fit perfectly with the theme of a song and with the flow of the lyrics.

Carmen: Florida has shaped your identity as a band. What’s the most “Florida” thing about Flipturn — good or bad?

Madeline Jarman: I think the most “Florida” thing about us is that we all love Pub Subs. Truly nothing better. We don’t get to have them too often on tour, but if there’s ever a Publix in the area, you can definitely bet we’re getting that for lunch. A tour delicacy.

Carmen: You’ve played some huge festivals and intimate shows — what’s one venue or stage still on your bucket list?

Devon VonBalson : I’d really love to play The Caverns in Tennessee. It’s a dream venue.

Carmen: What has been the craziest experience you have had while on tour?

Dillon Basse: There really are too many to recall, so I’m not sure if this will be the craziest one of all, but the most insane thing we ever attempted to do as a band was play our Audiotree session in Chicago the morning after playing a show in Minneapolis. We didn’t leave the venue until 1 a.m., and it’s about a seven-hour drive to Chicago. We had to be there by 10 a.m. for the session. So we basically drove through the night, stopped at a hotel to sleep for literally 45 minutes, loaded our gear into the studio and played live on the air with pretty much zero hours of sleep…

Carmen: If Flipturn were a cocktail (or mocktail), what would be in it, and what would it be called?

Tristan Duncan: Honestly, I think the band would all agree on something more refreshing with a lil’ bit of funky. Maybe there’s a fun riff on a bee’s knees or something!

Carmen: What’s a song or album that completely changed the way you think about music?

Mitch Fountain: There are so many albums that do this every year to me. When I was a kid, it was “Where The Light Is–Live in LA” by John Mayer. This year it has been “In Waves” by Jamie XX.

Carmen: If you were banned from a different U.S. state for an extremely specific and ridiculous reason, what would the state be, and what did you do to get kicked out?

Tristan Duncan : Texas. For all the reasons you’d assume someone would be banned from Texas.

JJ Grey & Mofro

Words by Kaili Cochran

JJ Grey and Mofro was formed in 1998 by JJ Grey himself. Mofro’s first album was released in 2001. They went on to create eight more albums. Now, JJ Grey and Mofro has recently released its 10th album — after nine years — and for the first time in the band’s history, it is self-produced by Grey.

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Grey started performing beyond North Florida as his career began to grow . Today, Grey and his band continue to play over 75 shows a year across the U.S. and around the world. But through his songwriting he continues to go back to his roots in Jacksonville.

“He has written passionately and articulately about his love for the untrammeled environment of his North Florida home and continues to advocate for its preservation,” his website reads.

Throughout his career he has performed with vocals, guitars, keyboards and harmonica, making him a multi-talented musician.

“What is Mofro?” Grey said his friends Daryl and Donnie used to call him that as a nickname. Every once in a while when Grey got to work Donnie would acknowledge him by saying “What’s up, Mofro?”

“And he just kept calling me that. So then later on I was like well, you know, it sounds Southern and doesn’t really mean anything … it’s just what some guys nicknamed me,” Grey said.

The “mofro” of this band consists of Eric Brigmond, Marcus Parsley, Dennis Marion, Craig Barnette, Pete Winders, Todd Smallie and Katie Dutton.

Grey and Mofro are going on 27 years and earlier this month returned to the U.S. from touring in Europe.

Eric Brigmond

Eric joined the band in 2016 but had known JJ for a while prior. Eric lived in North Florida and attended UNF and studied music performance. Before joining Mofro, he was a multi-instrumentalist for Donavon Frankenreiter.

Pete Winders

Pete joined Mofro in 2018 and currently tours with them. Before this, from 20082011, Pete had toured across the U.S. as well as Brazil, Europe, Japan, and Australia with different bands.

Craig Barnette

Craig re-joined the band in 2015. He’s one of the original band members and drummer for Mofro. He also played on the second album, “Lochloosa.” Outside of Mofro, Craig has been teaching drums and percussion for over 20 years in Jacksonville.

Todd Smallie

From Missouri, Todd joined the band in late August 2010 after contributing over 15 years to the Derek Trucks Band where he had been its first bassist.

Katie Dutton

Although she writes and performs her own songs, she has been one of the vocalists for Mofro since 2023. She is currently on tour with Mofro in Europe in early 2025. Katie is also currently a vocalist at Bold City Classics, Bay Kings Band and Atlantic Alibi.

Dennis Marion

From Jacksonville Beach, Dennis is an accomplished trumpeter and has been with Mofro since 2007. It’s been said that he can play almost anything from classical to jazz on his trumpet.

Marcus Parsley

Marcus joined the band in early July of 2015. He is the trumpet player on the album, “Ol’ Glory.” Though a Jacksonville native, Parsley went to New York in 2002 where he launched his career and became known for his jazz and R&B playing.

Photo by Dafydd Owen

JJ Grey YouTube Video

JJ Grey Instagram Video

JJ Grey Instagram Video

JJ Grey Instagram Video

Photo by Mikhail Gorelov

JJ Grey YouTube Video

JJ Grey Instagram Video

Up & Coming

Riding the Cold Wave With Glass Chapel

Words by Ambar Ramirez

Every band has its origin story — and for Jacksonville’s own cold wave trio Glass Chapel, it all began brewing in 2022 at the Bold Bean in Jacksonville Beach. By day, frontman Jake Phillips was serving up matcha lattes and double shots of espresso; by night, he was lost in a haze of synth loops, carving out a solo sound under the name Falling Dots.

After a quick jam with another musician that didn’t quite stick, Phillips crossed paths with Angela Sitzler and Nick Phitides the current started humming. Like any good blend, it took a little time — and a few reconfigurations — to get the recipe just right. At first, Phillips picked up the guitar, Sitzler took on synth duties and Phitides laid down the bass. But the sound didn’t fully come together until a reshuffling brought everything into focus.

Phillips took over as lead vocalist, Phitides moved to guitar, and Sitzler started pulling double duty on synth and bass. The result? A moody, cinematic sound steeped in Cure-esque nostalgia — equal parts shadow and shimmer.

While Glass Chapel may have started as an idea from Phillips, it’s clear the band is anything but a solo effort. Instead, it’s a true team project with all three bringing their own strengths, ideas and creative energy to the table. From writing to arranging to experimenting with sound, everything is a collaborative process. Musically, they pull inspiration from bands like The Cure, Cold Cave and Soft Kill, but Glass Chapel has carved out a sound that feels completely their own.

Scan QR code to watch the music session with Glass Chapel filmed at Bedlam in Mayport!

Photo by Amiyah Golden taken at Bedlam

Teal Peel

This quad has merged their individual talents to permeate the indie-rock genre with their own flair. Teal Peel has taken their local sound nationwide as they are currently embarking on a cross-country tour.

Patsy’s Daydream

The birth of Patsy’s Daydream transpired from the desire to become a Patsy Cline cover band. Years later this group has established their own unique sound in addition to their renditions of the famous singer’s discography.

John Wes

The dedication to his pen, his craft and the telling of his story has made this Jacksonville rapper highly respected amongst his peers, locals, and listeners from all over. Wes continues to create music that is a testament to his devotion to the art form.

Lifted Riffs

This trio is embraced by many locals as they absolutely shred out during their live performances at many venues around the city. Lifted Riffs is making strides to reach more ears, as they gear up to release more original music.

Honeyhounds

This “funkadelic, blues rock” band has amassed a dedicated fan base as they have graced many stages and are the masterminds behind Honey Island Music Fest in Atlantic Beach.

Sunchild

Founded by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brooke Garwood, this dreamy folk project ripples in from the eastern shores of Jacksonville. Sun Child has a sound reminiscent of days spent on the beach— introspective and honest.

Slippery Rick Band

This Jacksonville band is spreading its sound to new listeners as they continue to rock out at various shows near and wide. With their debut album, “Rick Conscious” recently turning one, the Slippery Rick Band continues to bask in their hard work and dedication.

Annie Dukes

Annie Dukes has received much love and recognition as they have played at Surfer Girl Pro and continue to push out their projects that are accompanied by hard-hitting visuals such as their “Cherry” music video.

Jeremy Ryan

Jeremy Ryan wears many different hats on his trek to success as he produces, writes, directs and raps. The consistency in his craft has allowed him to amass a vast audience; with a million views on YouTube and numerous awards.

Words by Amiyah Golden

Sailor

Sailor has taken the world by storm with her hit single “Pookie’s Requiem” that has now been remixed to feature R&B singer Summer Walker.

Sailor has formed an image that is congruent to her likes and heritage by often sporting Black teeth and pink bows with the painting of her teeth serving as an homage to her Vietnamese culture.

L.O.V.E. Culture

A “League of Vibrant Energies” — more commonly known as L.O.V.E. Culture — has taken the city (and beyond) by storm with their heavy-hitting flows and intentionally crafted beats.

From 19,000 listeners on Spotify in 2024 alone to a prior collaboration with Sprite, this collective continues to reach new heights.

Scan QR code to listen to some of these Up & Coming hits!

Up & Coming

Hogbean

A group of friends (who all happen to be extremely talented) have come together to form Hogbean, a cosmic swamp country band that is like no other. These collaborative efforts are evident as they are always on one accord — sonically and creatively — in their storytelling and performances.

...or Back Again?

The Pinz are Antagonizing the Jacksonville Rock Scene

Words by Carmen Macri

“Turns out we clean up OK…”

Jacksonville’s own rock band, The Pinz, are making their highly anticipated return to the music scene—and fans couldn’t be more excited.

“The [last] reunion show being such a success was a big inspiration,” Walter Clough, lead vocals and guitar, shared. “We kind of looked at each other after the show and were all like ‘holy sh*t that was actually rad’.”

Clough recently relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, crediting the move as the catalyst for his return to the music scene.

“I started going to see shows again and the songs just started coming,” Clough recalled.

Clough says he’s always had an antagonistic edge, and moving forward, he wants to channel that energy into the music scene—just in a more mature, nuanced way. He and the band agree there’s something different about their latest songs, calling them the most genuine and honest he’s written yet.

“I just want to be an antagonizer in the space,” Clough shared. “I’ve had an antagonistic attitude since I was born, but have to find a nuanced, mature way of communicating the art. We as a band agreed there’s something different with these songs. They are the most genuine, honest songs I’ve written.”

The band is set to make their big return to Jacksonville on June 14 at Jack Rabbits.

Photo by Curren Schwartz taken at Vooswar

Scan QR code to watch the music session with Hogbean filmed at Vooswar!

Photo by Ed Kalanoc

Julia Gulia

Words by Teresa Spencer

Julia Gulia is a cover band based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, known for their energetic performances of primarily 1990s and early 2000s music. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist Andrew “Andy” Jones, his brother and drummer John Jones, and bassist Mark McHone. The trio’s musical journey began in the local dive bars, house parties, and garages of Jacksonville.

Before forming Julia Gulia, Andy and John were part of a hardcore metal band called Whispers. After some lineup changes, they reconnected with McHone, whom Andy had met in 2008 during their time in the band Mind Slip. This reunion led to the creation of Julia Gulia. The band’s name, Julia Gulia, is a nod to a character from the movie “The Wedding Singer.”

While they are primarily known for their covers, Julia Gulia has also ventured into original music. Their first EP, “No Place Like This,” was released in July 2021 and includes tracks like “No Place Like This” and “I Need A Drink,” reflecting their personal experiences and love for live performances. In 2024 They released “Growing Growing Gone” which had nearly 50,000 streams on spotify following the first few days of release. Last month the band also released a new single “Beds Are Burning”. We project these guys will be going far in their musical career. Andrew’s voice and vocal range is complex and shines bright in pitch and tone. The cords and beats of every song they perform is tight and energetic bringing the crowd to their feet singing along and dancing or at minimum fist pumping.. Essentially, they ROCK YOUR FACE OFF!

Words by Carmen Macri

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus were one of the lucky ones— essentially hitting it big right out the gate, commercially, that is. They spent their early days performing at small local venues across Northeast Florida, but everything changed with the release of their debut album, “Don’t You Fake It”. The album shot up the charts, went certified gold and put them on the map with hit singles like “Face Down,” “False Pretense” and “Your Guardian Angel.” I think I can speak for the masses when I say “Face Down” was on a constant repeat —whether it was blasting from local radio stations or crammed into our pocket MP3 players. Even now, it takes about two seconds of that iconic drumbeat to unlock the sleeper agent in me.

This Jacksonville emo rock band, whose older stuff now falls under the Gen-Z genre divorced dad rock, came to fruition back in 2001 when childhood friends Ronnie Winter and Duke Kitchens started a band while attending an AP music theory class. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus officially came together in 2003 after recruiting members from other local bands. As for their name? It was the result of a democratic process — random words were tossed on a wall, and the band voted for their favorite combination.

During this time, the band continued to build a strong local following but struggled to gain recognition outside of Florida. That didn’t slow them down, though — why would it? They knew what they had to offer. Undeterred, the core duo — vocalist Ronnie Winter and guitarist Duke Kitchens — began rebuilding The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They focused on blending emo-pop, screamo and alternative rock. Soon after, guitarist/vocalist Elias Reidy and bassist Joey Westwood, who had previously played together in the metal band In Fate’s Hands, joined, along with drummer Jon Wilkes, completing the new lineup.

Face Down,

Their dedication and fiercely loyal fanbase eventually caught the attention of Jason Flom from Virgin Records in 2005. This led to the release of their debut album, “Don’t You Fake It,” in July 2006 which skyrocketed them into stardom. By November, the album had sold over 500,000 copies and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Needless to say, Jacksonville couldn’t gatekeep The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus anymore. They were now known worldwide.

Like many bands, especially those with over 20 years of performing under their belt, their lineup has evolved over time. The current line-up consists of Winter (lead vocals, keyboards and acoustic guitar), Joey Westwood (bass), Josh Burke (lead guitar and backing vocals), Randy Winter (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Espy (drums) and Nadeem Salam (keyboards)

Unlike many bands, the members of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have navigated their careers with surprisingly little drama — no breaks and no hiatuses. It’s been smooth sailing, and they’re still going strong — touring the world and dropping new music for their fans. Their bond with listeners has always been tight, almost personal, and that connection continues to define their journey — even as the band has transitioned into a more Christian-emo rock direction (more spiritual than biblical).

I had the awesome chance to chat with frontman Ronnie Winter about the band and their journey out of Jacksonville — OK, technically Middleburg, but close enough. Here’s how it went down.

Winter: You’re not allowed to ask me about the current political climate.

Carmen: Ha ha ha. I wouldn’t dream of it.

Winter: Thank God.

Carmen: Alrighty, for starters, I do just wanna say that Face Down was the first song I ever remembered learning the lyrics to.

Winter: What, no way! What an impact. This is such a fun topic for me. I’m kind of gabby this morning.

Carmen: Please don’t stop. I love this. OK, so how did growing up in Middleburg shape your sound, and do you think the Florida music scene still influences your approach to songwriting?

Winter: What a fantastic question. Let’s talk about Tom Petty, right? He’s from Gainesville and I’m from Middleburg, which is essentially the same woods,

different band with a different lead singer, but I really liked them. But like I said, Limp Bizkit, when they got signed, I remember talking to Damien from Burn Season. We were both local unsigned bands at the time, but we knew each other and we played shows together and also competed against one another on show nights. We became friends and when he got signed to Elektra, we were ‘like no way Bobby and Dan got signed to a record deal —these are our friends that we know. So we just jumped hard-core into it because you know Limp Bizkit got a deal, Yellow Card got a deal, Burn Season got a deal. Sounds like somebody from Middleburg needs to step up and represent. You know what I mean? So we were like, the water is warm over here for some reason, let’s just give it a shot. So if it wasn’t for all of those bands making it, I don’t think we would’ve chosen that. We probably would’ve fallen into some other college type career, so I’m just grateful we grew up in a scene where young bands were making it, getting record deals, getting out there and getting their music heard. We grew up in a town where that was happening, you know what I mean? So we just went for it.

Carmen: It’s crazy how many bands, especially in that time, the late 90s, early 2000s. It was like you said, everyone, all these bands were just getting signed one after another. It’s crazy to think about cause it’s not really like that anymore.

Winter: Yeah, keep in mind, I’m micro focusing on Jax

Carmen: If you could go back and give your 2006 self one piece of advice, before Don’t You Fake It dropped, what would it be?

Winter: Wow, what a cool question. I don’t regret anything. I think life is like a river, and we’re in little boats that just kind of float down. A lot of people think that they want to take the power, you know, wanna be like ‘oh, wow, I remember when I made this decision. It changed my whole life.’ The problem

But Not Out

like the same trees that are in Gainesville are connecting [to Middleburg]. So really, I’m from where Tom Petty’s from when you think about it.

Carmen: Ha ha ha. Okay.

Winter: So, I listened to a lot of that, a lot of Skynyrd, a lot of Molly Hatchet and just all that awesome Jacksonville Southern rock. I know when I was growing up, when I was 11 or 12 years old in Middleburg, I was so proud of our Southern rock bands and you would see them all the time in public. My brother still runs into them today, all the time, but you would see the members from these bands and you would go up and talk to them and they’re so cool. They were older, but who gives a crap it was still amazing. Because it’s a small, undeveloped town, these guys are like mega stars, you know. They all have crazy accomplishments, awesome music and everybody knows their songs. I’ll never forget when Limp Bizkit got a record deal because we’ve seen them a couple times locally, and I can remember, I think it’s called the milk bar —that was the sickest club ever. If you got the milk bar you were gonna make it, man. You were on your way up in Jax, and then after that was Free Bird Live, that was kind of the next step after Milk Bar. But we saw Limp Bizkit there and we were just like whoa, like they’re so good, you know, like the drummer, the bassist, everybody in the band was amazing. Then we started playing the scene locally, and then I saw Yellow Card which was a completely

with thinking like that, is it works great when the decision that you made is awesome, but it’s terrible when the decision you made is life-changing. I have learned to look at life like I am just in a little boat floating down the river, so in that case, I wouldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t tell myself anything. If I were to somehow send a dove with a note or something like that, dropped in my hand, it would probably just say ‘true happiness doesn’t come in a bottle’ or something like that. Because no one really warned us about drinking. We were so young when we went out there. We just drank too much. Other than that, it’s been a hell of a ride, man. It would probably be the only thing, what a small detail, right?

Carmen: I love that, life is like a river and you’re just floating in a boat.

Winter: That’s it, man, you don’t gotta stress, you gotta trust.

Carmen: Your sound has evolved over the years, what is one risk you’ve taken musically that felt the most rewarding, even if it didn’t land the way you expected?

Winter: Wow, another awesome question. You have done your homework. You know what is kind of annoying to me? That emo country is popular now. Ronnie Radke just put out a song with Jelly Roll, right? It’s emo country. Well,

you know, I did emo country in 2009 first. I was the first. We did an album called Lonely Road, and everybody said it was too country and too southern rock, so they didn’t like it. Maybe now in 2025, those haters are able to absorb the emo country I gave them that they weren’t ready for. It wasn’t scene enough for them, but now emo has evolved, so they’re ready to try new versions of it. I think if we released Lonely Road today, it would go huge.

Carmen: You were just ahead of your time

Winter: It’s a full on country song with a gospel choir and acoustic guitar in the beginning. I mean it’s emo-country, man, but they weren’t ready. They weren’t ready for it.

Carmen: They weren’t. Well, you know what? Just re-release it. Just post it again. Say ‘hey guys, remember this thing I did? Check it out now.’

Winter: Yeah. Did somebody say emo-country? Let me dust this one off.

Carmen : That’s incredible, you really should. Alright, this is our last question. If you could add any random instrument to one of your songs, no matter how bizarre, what would it be and how would you make it work?

Winter: Any instrument that’s cool and funny. I’m gonna say this Japanese —and if I’m wrong, please don’t crucify me— but it’s this kind of plastic flute looking thing with a face on the bottom. Have you seen that?

Carmen: Nope

Winter: Oh my gosh, well congratulations to you cause you’re about to have a wonderful day when you find this on reels. It’s like a saxophone, but the bottom of it is like a happy face and you kinda, I don’t even know how to play it, I guess you kind of sing into it and then it morphs your voice into this like violinesque sound. Yeah, believe it or not, I somehow did a decent job of describing that. (He is referring to a Japanese Gudetama. And he did a fantastic job at describing it)

Carmen : You know, I’m picturing it in my head. Crystal Clear

Winter: I am going to send you a link to enjoy.

Carmen: Please do. Is there anything else you wanted to add at all?

Winter: We’re proud to be from Jacksonville. We really are. A lot of people don’t know this part of our story, but before we were signed and we were just running around playing any show we could, we met so many friends that are still friends today. Local musicians, a lot of different people have played with my crew over the years, and they all have lived in Jacksonville. All my family still lives in Jacksonville. We’re excited for Rockville, can’t wait for Rockville. Did you talk to Danny Wimmer?

Carmen: No

Winter: He’s from Jackson and he kinda had a hand in like pretty much everything we’re talking about. He’s a very influential guy, so I just wanted to say thanks to Danny and all the people that I met along the way, I still love you guys. All you guys

In Conversation with Damien Starkey & Jasin Todd

Starkey Unplugged

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

The Beginning

The year was 1998. Jacksonville was still riding the wave of local music legends while continuing to birth a new generation. At 16, Starkey, alongside drummer Bobby Amaru, looked to the trailblazers like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the rising stars like Limp Bizkit. Inspired by their success, they thought, “If these Jacksonville bands can land record deals, so can we.”

Smakt Down, later Burn Season, started like any other rock band — in a high schooler’s garage. Their earliest demos were recorded at the Music Factory studio in Jacksonville Beach with Starkey on lead vocals, Amaru on drums and studio owner Michael Ray FitzGerald filling in on bass. They then went on to record a set of demos at the Hole of The Pigeon Studio where Limp Bizkit’s Sam Rivers was the production assistant. That set off a domino effect: Rivers connected the band with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, who had his own record label. With Flawless Records showing interest, other labels soon followed, leading to the band signing with Elektra Records.

From there it was smooth sailing until they hit a small but potentially costly snag — their name. They were called Smakt Down, which, while not the same as World Wrestling Entertainment’s SmackDown, was close enough to raise legal red flags. Rather than risk a drawn-out lawsuit, the band and their lawyers decided it was time for a rebrand. “Out with the old, in with the new,” as Starkey put it.

That’s when he came up with Burn Season. At the time, he was dating someone in Middleburg where the local farmers regularly set fire to their fields in a process known as burn season. Driving to his girlfriend’s house, he kept seeing signs announcing its arrival, and the name just stuck.

“We got our first deal two months after graduating high school, and we didn’t think for a second that we weren’t going to get a deal because all of our friends’ bands were getting deals… Everybody was doing that in Jacksonville, and people just didn’t understand how prevalent that was,” Starkey recalled. “They were all blowing up, all those things were happening. So it didn’t seem out of touch for us, you know what I mean? It seemed like this was normalcy.”

During

With a binding record deal, the band went on to record their first debut album in the City of Angels — Los Angeles. But the album never made it out of the studio. In 2004, Elektra Records merged with Atlantic, leaving Burn Season and many other acts without a label. But then in comes Bieler Bros. Records, a South Florida-based independent label, to save the day… or in this case, to save the record. Bieler bought four of the songs from the unreleased Elektra record and gave Burn Season studio time to record eight new ones.

With the album finished, Burn Season hit the road with Skindred, Nonpoint, Sevendust and Papa Roach, building buzz ahead of its release. Their efforts paid off when “Carry On” dropped as a single, giving the band the momentum they had been hoping for. But the momentum wasn’t enough, Burn Season faced a harsh reality when they finally released their debut album and prepared to hit the road. They entered a crowded landscape with countless other artists vying for tour spots at the same time — creating fierce competition for bookings, audiences and industry attention.

“When I was 16, I would have told you that I knew everything, I could have convinced you that I knew everything. And then at 19, I would have looked at my 16-year-old self and been like, you’re a f*cking idiot. You know nothing. But then once again, probably try to convince you that I knew everything,” Starkey said. “And on a professional side, I feel like you just gain wisdom over time. There’s no other way to gain it. That’s how it works.”

After two record deals and more than 40 recorded songs, the band ultimately parted ways in 2007 to explore new projects. From 2007 to 2011, Starkey took on the role of singer and songwriter for Society Red, alongside former Puddle of Mudd rhythm guitarist Adam Latiff, ex-Puddle of Mudd lead guitarist Paul Phillips and Brad Stewart of Shinedown. In 2009, Burn Season briefly reunited, independently releasing their second album, “This Long Time Coming,” and playing a show at the dearly missed Jacksonville music venue Freebird Live. Over the years, the band would sporadically come together — writing a few songs, releasing an album — engaging in a game of cat and mouse that carried on until 2020, when they put out their final (for now), self-titled album.

“And, the sad part is, I don’t even know how you grow a music scene now,” Starkey expressed. “I feel like it’s so different, like it’s such a different thing.”

In 2010, when Puddle of Mudd bassist Doug Ardito left the band, Starkey stepped in to fill the role until 2013.

Photo by Josh Hansbrough

“Being a producer, I think at this point in my life, is my preferred role. Being on stage and playing in front of people and doing all that was the preferred role for, you know, anybody picking up a guitar and wanting to be in a band and wanting to do all of that. And then, you realize that comes with a price and you also realize that it’s a very different lifestyle,” Starkey explained.

Driven by a desire to stay creative while exploring new horizons, Starkey transitioned into production. Since making this professional pivot, he has written and scored music for over 70 TV shows and films, including “American Reunion,” “Nitro Circus Movie,” “Freeheld,” “Pawn Stars,” “Bar Rescue” and “Undercover Boss.” On the production side, Starkey has collaborated with some of the industry’s biggest names, writing and producing for artists like Saliva, Daughtry and Avril Lavigne.

“I would say some of the things that I’m most proud of would be passing that wisdom on to other people,” Starkey shared. “So that maybe they don’t have to learn some of those other harder lessons that I had to learn along the way.”

Bobby Amaru’s time with Burn Season

Before fronting chart-topping bands and touring the world, Bobby Amaru was just a Jacksonville kid chasing heavy beats and raw emotion. With Burn Season, a band forged in Florida’s humid underground rock scene, Amaru cut his teeth as a teenage drummer — pouring himself into every guttural pulse and chaotic rhythm.

“Well, Damien and I started jamming, probably we were like 15 years old, and then we were doing Smakt Down locally for a couple of years building up our local scene,” Amaru recalled.

During our impromptu phoner with Amaru, the current lead vocalist for Saliva, reflected on the gritty underground scene that once thrived in Jacksonville. Now distanced from the local circuit, Amaru fondly remembered the venues that helped bands like Burn Season rise to the top, such as the basement venue Milk Bar, Freebird Live and Club 5.

Todd to the Bone

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

The Beginning

“It’s never really been about me. I’m always more of a support person so I try to support the other artists that I’m with, you know. I just kind of immerse myself in whatever they’re trying to do, chameleon style.”

Born and raised in Lake City, Todd first picked up a guitar when he was in the sixth grade. It was a blue Teisco Del Rey, now a collector’s item, that he got as a gift from his mom. Todd remembered playing it at church and often straying from the usual gospel music to something a little more his speed.

As Todd grew up, his guitars grew up with him. Starting the strings on a Teisco, Todd now carries his old faithful, a Gibson Les Paul Standard in Tobacco Burst named Brown Sugah — broken neck and all

“This is Brown Sugah. I mean, look at her. This is all me, man,” Todd expressed. “I got her when we got the record deal, I would say 2001. I’ve played her through everything.”

Shinedown’s origin story started under a completely different name (as is usually the case) — Dreve. Frontman Brent Smith signed a record deal under Dreve with Atlantic Records in 2000, but the label was unhappy with Dreve as a whole and dropped the band before an album was released

but kept Smith, who they felt was worth developing as an artist.

“The singer [Brent Smith] was a great songwriter and is a great songwriter. I mean, look at the charts, I think he’s got more songs on the radio than anyone in the history of ever,” Todd said.

When Smith moved to Jacksonville in 2001 to kick off his new project, he enlisted bassist Brad Stewart as the first member of Shinedown, connecting through local music producer Pete Thornton. While recording demos at a small local studio, the studio owner suggested they meet her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who soon became the band’s third member. Drummer Barry Kerch completed the original lineup, standing out as the seventh

Scan QR code to read the rest of the story!

Photo by Jetrail Photography

drummer they auditioned. The group collaborated on demos and submitted their work to Atlantic, which gave them the green light to record a full-length album. The rest, as they say, is history.

“I am a firm believer in what you think, that’s what it is, man. Like, I don’t see how it can be any other way,” Todd shared. “And that’s all I’ve ever thought about since the fifth grade, I knew that I was going to do music live.”

During

“Leave a Whisper” debuted on May 27, 2003. Though it wasn’t an instant hit, the band’s dedication was undeniable — they hit the road for a 24-month tour, playing more than 400 live shows. Thanks to relentless touring and a string of successful singles, the album eventually went platinum in the U.S., selling over 1 million copies. Of the four singles that were released from this album, all four landed in the top five of Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.

“So there’s like, six people in the audience your whole life. And I can always remember showing up to the Freebird, and it’s like, yeah, there’s six cars there,” Todd recalled. “And then with Shinedown all of a sudden, we show up and it’s like the whole parking lot is filled up. From then on for me, that’s all I give a shit about. I don’t care about anything else, you know? But, man, just to see that parking lot filled up.”

Shinedown was on a high. After completing their nearly 2-year-long tour, they got to work on their second album in 2005. Within six months, the band wrote and released their second studio album, “Us and Them.” Although it debuted higher than “Leave a Whisper” at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, it sold fewer copies. However, the lead single, “Save Me,” became the band’s first track to hit No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, holding the top spot for an impressive 12 consecutive weeks.

While Shinedown was steadily rising and back on tour for their second album, Todd admitted that, creatively, playing that type of guitar wasn’t fulfilling him. He felt the music was too simple and wasn’t pushing his artistic boundaries. And while still loving what he was doing, he wished he was able to move the creative horizon.

“There was none of that. It was like kind of a dumbed-down version of everything. So if anything, I think we evolved as far as, like shredding from that f*cking Eddie Van Halen type stuff or whatever, you know?” Todd explained. “Or dual harmonies from the ’70s, like Skynyrd and sh*t was what we loved. And we became more of a ... our producer was like, ‘there’s no money past the fifth fret.’ So it just dumbed everything down, you know? It got more about writing songs versus showing off how great you were.”

After wrapping up the tour for their second album, Shinedown was offered a six-month deal by Atlantic Records to deliver their third. But Smith wasn’t on board with the tight deadline and pushed for — and received — an 18-month extension. Time pressure wasn’t the only issue, though. Behind the scenes, tensions were rising, and internal conflicts eventually led to the departure of members Stewart and Todd.

“Dude, this sh*t will draw you in… You know, I would have never thought that we would have done anything with this stuff. I never thought about quote-unquote making it or any of that,” Todd expressed.

Photo by Sean Moorman

Now

Todd left the band in 2008, taking a step back from the music scene to focus on himself. During this time, he embraced new hobbies and allowed himself the space to reconnect with his passion for music and creativity. This break gave him the opportunity to rediscover his love for the art in a way that he hadn’t been able to while immersed in the demands of the band.

“Time away for me is going around experiencing different cultures. I’ve been all over the world, luckily, through this, so I’ve gotten to see how different people are,” Todd shared. “The world is so vast and so cool.”

In 2014, Todd joined the band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, finally finding his missing puzzle piece.

“I remember the first show I played with them was with He Is Legend in Atlanta, and we played downtown at the Masquerade and it was f*cking sold out and the walls were sweating. There could have been three people in there or there could have been 3,000, but those three kids or the 3,000 are singing every word and they are hanging on to every word,” Todd recalled. “This guy is like a messiah, you know, which is what I look for in a singer, a frontman. I can never do that. I can never have that control. But these guys have this thing where they’re just like me and they draw you in.”

After a brief hiatus following lead singer Dallas Taylor’s serious ATV accident in 2016, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster began to stir rumors of a return in 2022. When they officially announced their comeback, their first show sold out of presale tickets. Since then, the band has been gradually re-establishing their presence in the scene.

“I just, I love music, I love to play it live,” Todd said. “I think I’ve said this, 20 years ago with ‘Folio’ [and] it’s the same thing, man. That’s what this is all about, playing it live, connecting, trying to get that transfer. Call me crazy.”

Scan QR code to watch the full interview with Starkey and Todd!

Words by Shelton Hull

HOMETOWN HEROES

A look back at the rise of 95 South

Technically-speaking, March 1 was the day after Black History Month ended. But Mayor Donna Deegan chose that day to make one more little bit of local Black History when she declared the day to be “Whoot, There It Is” Day in the City of Jacksonville, which 95 South helped put on the musical map when their hit song of the same name dropped in the spring of 1993.

Speaking on behalf of the mayor (then engaged at the Gate River Run), Councilman Johnny Gaffney led a ceremony to mark the occasion that Saturday afternoon at James Weldon Johnson Park, mere feet away from the front door of City Hall. Attendees included the group, their friends and family, as well as fans, some of whom weren’t even born back then.

The current lineup includes Carlos “Daddy Black” Spencer and Michael “Mike Mike” Phillips, but they all basically grew up together. “The 95 South story kind of evolved from a couple of different things,” Spencer says. “We started out as dancers for a group called the Chill Deal Boys; they started doing music back in ’88. Me and Artice were dancing, and Mike was in Chill Deal Boys. So when we decided to do 95 South, there were several members; you listen to that first album, and you hear Black, AB, Jay Ski, C.C. Lemonhead, K-Nock, Mike — but he had another name, Peabody. When the groups decided to do different things, he branched off and went with 69 Boyz and the Quad City DJs, and then myself and Artice became the official original 95 South.”

“Whoot, There It Is” was the lead single for their debut album, “Quad City Knock,” which was released 23 days later. The song itself, and its general provenance, has been a source of some confusion for casual fans from day one (or, rather, day 45 — read on), and that confusion continues, some four decades later, so let’s back it up.

“Whoot, There It Is” was recorded by 95 South and released on March 23, 1993. The song received platinum certification just 127 days later, on July 28. From day one, it’s been widely confused with another similarly catchy, similarly iconic track from that same year, “Whoomp! (There It Is)”, recorded by Tag Team in October 1992 and released on May 7 of that same year, just 45 days after 95 South’s song.

The Atlanta duo is probably better known to national audiences because the video got tons of traction, back when platforms like The Box (formerly Jukebox Network) were still prominent. The phrase was a common club expression in that era, and both crews came up in iconic music scenes that both built upon a base of shared sonic elements, which even the most casual listener can instinctively grasp after playing both songs — like the strong Miami Bass influence, even though neither group was from Miami.

Having heard all this stuff emerge in real time back then, here are my personal impressions: 95 South’s version is more raw, more visceral; I think it stands up better to repeated listening over all these years. But the Tag Team version is more polished, more lyrical, so it crossed over better.

They also worked under the tutelage of Al Bell, an industry legend whose resume includes co-owner of Stax Records and president of Motown — another decisive factor. In addition, Tag Team was representing an Atlanta scene that would become legendary within just a few years, if not months of that point, whereas 95 South was from Jacksonville, so they automatically lost that battle for prominence, even though their song was better.

(Something similar happened to Asamov, about 20 years later; “Supa Dynamite” was a better song than “NY State of Mind”, but Jay-Z and Alicia Keys were legends, so even though Asamov’s use of the core sample was superior, AND they did it first, they got buffaloed, and the album got killed by the Isaac Asimov estate, and that probably cost them millions, through no fault of their own whatsoever.)

While the two songs are certainly very similar, there were a number of distinct differences between them, which were immediately apparent to fans at the time. For example, the BPM (beats per minute): “Whoomp! (There It Is)” has 129 BPM, whereas “Whoot, There It Is” has 134 BPM. That slight increase in tempo made all the difference in danceability within a scene that mostly matriculated on Miami Bass.

It’s not just the beat that gave the song such appeal, but the overall positive vibe. “We like to dance,” said Phillips. “We like to have fun. We like to party — good, wholesome parties. Daddy Black put it perfectly, just the other day. He said, ‘We sold two million records without one curse word.’ That was our whole thing: Let’s just do what we do. We’re not trying to be anybody else. We did want to drop some Miami Bass, like Magic Mike, and have it fast enough to dance, like Uncle Luke and 2 Live Crew. And we wanted it to be from Jacksonville, something that we can hold on to that’s ours. We took Duval to the world.”

The music industry isn’t always glamorous; in fact, it’s usually not. “We kinda learned the business from trial and error,” said Spencer, “making mistakes, sometimes having people around us who took advantage of us. So we didn’t really trust anybody. So, from a business standpoint, we just kept everything kinda in-house, tight-knit, and we basically just stayed in our lane. We didn’t see any limitations.”

“Sometimes I forget about all the places we’ve been until I see it on TV,” Phillips said. “The smallest crowd we ever played for was probably just one or two people, and maybe even less than that. The largest crowd, I guess, would be about 85,000 people.” That would’ve been when they sang the National Anthem before either game three, four or five of the 1993 World Series. Those games were played at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, which was also one of the main cities outside of the South where their sound really clicked. (Their main fanbase, then and now, was concentrated in Atlanta, Philly, Charlotte, and all over Virginia and Maryland.)

Photo provided by the Misses Agency

A huge factor in their global success was a fateful appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” which was basically the centerpiece of Black culture in America during its original run from January 1989 to May 1994. Much like how Johnny Carson was THE kingmaker for standup comedy in America during his peak in the 1970s and ’80s, Hall was, likewise, the vehicle that delivered countless rappers and R&B icons to national mainstream audiences, an effect that proved often decisive for those artists. “If you make it to Arsenio, you’ve made it,” said Spencer.

And so it was for 95 South when they took the stage in Studio City that summer afternoon. It was either June or July — no one remembers — but their song had only been out for three or four months, whereas the Tag Team’s version came out just weeks earlier, so this segment was crucial to helping establish their brand identity at a time of great confusion among fans. It was a stunning bit of synchronicity, as Hall brought both 95 South and Tag Team to perform their hits for his viewers.

“Arsenio had heard of both groups,” said Spencer, “and somebody had pitched him on the idea of having a battle. That year, there was a big flood in the Midwest, and people would call in to vote on which song they liked the best, and the proceeds would go to help those people.” The results, in this case at least, were decisive. “Out of, like, 16,000 calls, we got about 13,000, and that was vindication for us.”

By the time they woke up in California the next day, everyone they knew had seen the show, and the buzz was palpable.

One viewer, in particular, was taken by their uniquely Florida sound: a man named Luther Campbell, aka Uncle Luke, aka Luke Skyywalker, leader of the infamous 2 Live Crew, who put Florida rap on the map, while helping to change the way we consume and market music on the most fundamental levels. By that point, Luke had fought his own creative battles all the way to the Supreme Court, but he’d settled into the elder statesman role that he still thrives in today. (He should really run for mayor of Miami, but that’s another story.) Within days, Luke had reached out and invited 95 South to open for him on tour. Only they will ever know exactly how formative that experience truly was, but one can easily imagine.

The COJ proclamation resulted from a process that began as the vision of one Tianna Holloway. “Tianna is a young lady that we hired to do some publicist work for us,” says Spencer. “She kinda pulled the strings on that to make that happen.” Those strings, specifically, entailed simply reaching out to the city (presumably via Councilman Gaffney) and making the case, which she clearly made very well.” It was perfectly-timed, as the group is currently working on a documentary about their careers that should be ready later this year.

While 95 South and their affiliated artists did essentially peak in the 1990s, the good times never really went away for them. Being a close-knit crew with solid Southern values, they all generally turned out just fine, and the ceremony on March 1 demonstrated that, even now, as the industry itself fixates on drama and beef, hip-hop will not just survive, but thrive, by doing things the right way. Just take a look at them, and there it is. Whoot!

TEDESCHI TRUCKS OF GREATNESS

Words by Teresa Spencer

Known for their unique fusion of Southern rock, blues, soul and jam band styles, the Grammy Award-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band has built a reputation as one of the most electrifying live acts in contemporary music. Hailing from Jacksonville, the powerhouse ensemble led by renowned guitarist Derek Trucks and vocal powerhouse Susan Tedeschi has graced our pages numerous times over the years. Their celebrated discography and unforgettable performances make them a cornerstone of modern roots music.

Derek Trucks’ journey into music began with a serendipitous garage sale find, a $5 guitar that sparked a lifelong passion. From there, his trajectory soared, leading him to play with the legendary Allman Brothers Band at just 19. His musical prowess, combined with Tedeschi’s soul-stirring vocals and guitar skills, laid the foundation for the Tedeschi Trucks Band, which officially formed in 2010 when the couple merged their respective backing bands.

Their debut album, “Revelator,” was an instant classic, earning them a Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2011. With each subsequent release, the band has continued to push the boundaries of their genre, delivering soul-drenched, emotionally charged performances.

Tedeschi Trucks Band is not just a group, it’s a traveling musical family. With a 12-piece lineup featuring an array of talented musicians, the band thrives on deep camaraderie and collaboration. Unlike many major touring acts, they embrace a communal spirit, ensuring that every voice is heard and every member contributes to their evolving sound.

“We talk about what we should work on. There’s a lot of communication. We just love and respect each other. It’s a family vibe on the road, unlike some bands where it’s pure debauchery,” Tedeschi shared. “We have that, too — don’t get us wrong,” she laughed. “But we keep it pretty tight. If somebody’s unhappy, we work on it.”

Their fourth album, “Signs,” released in 2019, reflected a more pensive and political tone. Inspired by a series of personal and musical losses, including the passing of Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Leon Russell and Kofi Burbridge, it carried an emotional weight that resonated deeply with fans. Burbridge, a beloved member of the band, tragically passed away on the album’s release day, leaving behind a lasting imprint on their music.

Despite hardships, the band has continued to evolve, welcoming new members and embracing new influences. Their signature blend of analog recording techniques and improvisational energy ensures that each album and live performance is a raw, heartfelt experience.

Following the pandemic, the band embarked on one of their most ambitious projects yet—the four-part album and film series “I Am the Moon.” Inspired by “The Story of Layla and Majnun,” a 12th-century Persian poem that also influenced Eric Clapton’s “Layla,” the series reinterprets the tale from Layla’s perspective, bringing fresh emotional depth to the narrative.

TRUCKS BAND: ROOTS

GREATNESS

by

“It just became this really interesting puzzle — how to make the music flow and the story arc work,” Trucks explained. “In some ways, it was kind of a happy accident.”

The series captures the emotional turbulence of isolation, personal reflection and creative renewal, making it one of the most immersive projects of their careers. With each installment released alongside a visual counterpart, “I Am the Moon” invites fans on a deeply personal and sonically rich journey.

Whether headlining major festivals, paying tribute to legends like Joe Cocker or leading all-star collaborations, they continue to push musical boundaries while staying true to their roots. From their Grammy-winning debut to their genre-defying concept albums, their commitment to raw, powerful storytelling remains unwavering.

As Jacksonville locals, their homecoming performances are always something special, an opportunity for family, friends and fans — old and new — to witness the magic up close. With an ever-evolving sound and an unbreakable bond, they are not just making music; they’re crafting a legacy that will stand the test of time.

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Nookie and Notoriety

Limp Bizkit put Jacksonville and nu-metal on the map

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

Have you ever had one of those days? Where you don’t want to wake up? Where everything is f*cked and everybody sucks? Before MTV and Hollywood, Fred Durst did.

Born in Jacksonville’s underground music scene and raised on a diet of distortion and defiance, Limp Bizkit clawed their way from Florida underground clubs like Milk Bar to international stages with a sound that was equal parts hip-hop swagger and heavy metal fury. Few bands have embodied chaos, charisma and controversy quite like Limp Bizkit — even their name is defiant in its own way. Durst claimed he wanted to name the band something that would repel most people, and those who stuck around long enough to hear the music were exactly the fans they wanted to reach.

“The name is there to turn people’s heads away. A lot of people pick up the disc and go, ‘Limp Bizkit. Oh, they must suck.’ Those are the people that we don’t even want listening to our music,” Durst said in the biography “Limp Bizkit” by Colin Devenish.

Durst’s rebellious attitude defined a generation, but before we get to that, we need to take it back to day one.

Fred Durst was a well-known tattoo artist in Jacksonville, spending his days blasting hip-hop and dreaming up a new genre that mixed rap with rock. During this time, he jammed with a few local bands — Split 26, Malachi Sage (where he met bassist, Sam Rivers) and 10 Foot Shindig. After leaving 10 Foot Shindig, Durst was ready to bring his ideas to life. He told Rivers to ditch the band and join him in creating something fresh: a mix of “rapping and rocking.” Rivers was on board, and that’s when he suggested John Otto — a student at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts who was studying jazz drumming and playing in local avant-garde bands. The three jammed together and wrote three songs while looking for their fourth member. After a couple of sessions with guitarists Rob Waters and Terry Balsamo, Wes Borland ultimately joined as their permanent guitarist.

The biggest signing since Lynyrd Skynyrd was about to occur.

DJ Lethal joined the band in 1996, adding that essential turntable magic to their sound. Coming from House of Pain, he brought the hip-hop edge that was the perfect complement to Limp Bizkit’s heavy riffs, helping to define their signature raprock approach.

The band quickly jumped into writing and recording songs while still holding down their day jobs. In 1997, when Korn was opening for Sick of It All in Jacksonville, Durst invited them over to his tattoo shop for some beer and quick ink. While they were there, Durst managed to convince Korn’s bassist, Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, to check out their demos—”Pollution,” “Counterfeit” and “Stalemate.” Clearly impressed by the demos, Korn took the unsigned Limp Bizkit on two of their tours introducing them to a whole new audience.

Limp Bizkit, still unsigned, played a party for Korn at the Dragonfly Club in L.A. — a performance that sparked serious attention from major record labels. Indie label Flip Records, based out of L.A., offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse. But before that, they were already in talks with Mojo Records, a Universal-distributed label. According to a 1999 “L.A. Times” article titled “Anything But Stale,” the band told Flip owner Jordan Schur, “The only way we’re not gonna sign with [Mojo] is if our van flips over on the way to L.A.” Somewhere outside El Paso, their van did exactly that — flipping five times. Flip Records then bought out their contract for six figures.

Two years after emerging from Jacksonville and scoring a record deal with Flip Records, Limp Bizkit released their debut album “Three Dollar Bill, Y’all$.” It didn’t explode out the gate, but things shifted in 1998 when Korn invited them to join the Family Values Tour — a high-energy lineup that included German industrial band Rammstein and rap icon Ice Cube. With major support from MTV — and Durst’s now-iconic red Yankees cap, Limp Bizkit quickly crossed over into the mainstream.

By the end of the tour, their debut album had sold 1.5 million copies.

“It’s amazing what some success and TV can do for you,” Durst told the “L.A. Times” in an article titled “Anything But Stale.” “It’s all very overwhelming. Every mall I go to, someone notices me. If I took off my red baseball cap, no one would notice me, though. But I’m addicted to my hat!”

Hell-bent to show both fans and critics that they were more than just a Korn knockoff or a glorified cover band, Limp Bizkit hit the studio hard to craft their sophomore album, “Significant Other.” Released in 1999, the band did just that — surpassing “Three Dollar Bill, Y’all$” by a landslide now that they had acquired a cult-like following worldwide. It seemed like the only way was up for the band, with their third album, “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water,” becoming their best-selling release to date — surpassing 8 million copies sold in 2000 and breaking Pearl Jam’s “Vs” record of the fastest-selling rock album.

As the band was swiftly, and we do mean swifty, climbing the ranks, they were faced with a “Sour” (pun intended) dilemma: Borland decided to step away in 2001 due to creative differences. And before you ask, no, he didn’t “leave with a fat lip” as he did rejoin the band in 2004, only to leave again, still with no fat lip.

Like most legendary bands, there comes a point when the spotlight starts to fade. Fans who once embraced Limp Bizkit’s defiant, anti-establishment attitude began to turn on them for those very same reasons. What was once the defining sound of nu-metal started to feel like a passing fad and expectations shifted with people hoping the band would jump on the next big trend. But Durst and the crew stuck to their guns, staying true to their sound. What was seen as their “downfall” eventually turned into just another chapter in their ongoing success story.

It seemed like dissing Limp Bizkit in the media became a bit of a trend, much like with Nickelback. But as time went on, people started to realize that the music still hits, the messages remain consistent and these bands aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Limp Bizkit has yet again found themselves on a steady rise, selling out arenas across the world, trending online and leaning into the Gen-Z meme culture of it all.

THERE’S A PLACE OFF OCEAN AVENUE

Emergence of with

pop-punk yellowcard

Words by Ambar Ramirez

Before Warped Tour stages, Ryan Key and violins, there was Ben Harper, his guitar and the house on the corner of Cherry Street and Ocean Avenue.

Allegedly, the name Yellowcard was inspired by an inside joke among the band members. In soccer, a yellow card is given as a warning for a foul — and at high school parties, the group would jokingly hand out “yellow cards” to each other whenever someone committed a “party foul.” The phrase stuck. Before long, it wasn’t just a running joke — it became the name of a band that everyone would come to know.

The original Yellowcard lineup featured a group of Douglas Anderson High School graduates: Harper on guitar (of course), Ben Dobson on vocals, Todd Clary on guitar and vocals, Warren Cooke on bass and Longineu Parsons “LP” III on drums.

With the author, musician and university instructor Michael Ray FitzGerald at the helm of Yellowcard’s first LP, along with occasional appearances of modern-day Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key on background vocals and violinist Sean Mackin, the Jacksonville formed band quickly recorded and released “Midget Tossing” in 1997. I found a recording of the album on an unexpected but not completely shocking platform, YouTube, as it seems to be missing from the other streaming services. This could be credited to it being their very first project and not something they want to promote, but the truth is shown in the following events.

After releasing “Midget Tossing,” Yellowcard got to work on their next album. Sometime between recording the second, the band let lead vocalist Dobson go and brought on background vocals Key to the forefront. Here, Yellowcard’s sound would gradually shift from hardcore punk to pop-punk. “Where We Stand,” the band’s second album, was released in 2000 and would be the final album Dobson is featured as lead vocalist.

Then, after recording and releasing their EP “Still Standing,” vocalist and guitarist Clary left the band. Can you guess what happened next? Key filled both Clary and Dobson’s duties of lead vocalist and guitarist.

Despite the changes, the band sent the newly recorded EP to Lobster Records. Quickly, the band would sign its first recording contract and hit the road to Camarillo, California to work on their third full-length album. “One for the Kids” was released in 2001 and was the first album to feature Ryan Key as lead vocalist and guitarist. Then, seemingly on a high, the band followed that full-length album with an EP titled “The Underdog” in 2002. Fans were catching wind of this small-town punk band, but it wasn’t until 2003 and the release of their major-label debut “Ocean Avenue” that the band would have a true taste of fame. The band now consisted of Harper, Parsons, Key and Pete Moosely on bass as Cooke left the band shortly after the EP was released.

Photo by Jacob Moniz

The hit single “Ocean Avenue” is what allowed Yellowcard to break through all the noise. After the song appeared on MTV’s Total Request Live, the band headlined the Warped Tour, landed on the cover of Alternative Press, performed at the MTV VMAs (and won the MTV2 Award), and even popped up in the season two premiere of One Tree Hill. “Ocean Avenue” sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Yellowcard’s lineup history reads a bit like the Jacksonville Jaguars’ coaching roster — lots of changes, not always smooth.

After nearly two years of non-stop touring for Ocean Avenue, the band hit pause. Key and Mosely headed to New York to start writing their third album, while the rest stayed back in L.A. When they eventually regrouped to record and promote the new project, things weren’t exactly harmonious behind the scenes. Just before the album’s release, Yellowcard announced on November 7, 2005, that founding member guitarist Harper was officially out. According to a statement on MTV News’ titled “Yellowcard Confirm What Fans Already Knew: Ben Harper Is Out,” Harper’s growing focus on running his record label had started clashing with band priorities. With Harper gone, drummer Longineu “LP” Parsons III was the last original member still standing.

Not long after they released their fifth studio album “Lights and Sounds” in 2006 and then their sixth album Paper Walls in 2007, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. After years of nonstop touring, the band needed to hit reset. Parsons played in a Jacksonville-based side project called Big If. Mackin got married in 2008 and stepped back to focus on his new family life. Key shared in an interview with Punk News, “We are calling it an ‘indefinite hiatus.’ After this tour, so, I don’t know. It could be a year, 10 years, or 6 months. It’s been an interesting time in this business and our record label. It’s just. We kind of need a break. I think it appears everything is OK on its surface, but we definitely need a little bit of time to figure out our personal lives.” Basically, everyone just needed time to sort through their personal lives and recharge. In the middle of all that, Yellowcard officially parted ways with Capitol Records in May 2008, closing the chapter on their major-label era.

But Yellowcard’s story was far from over. In 2010, they played their first show since 2007 at The Glass House in Pomona, California, where Key announced the name of their seventh album, “When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes.” From there, it was back to business — tours with All Time Low, lineup changes, the release of their eighth studio album “Southern Air” and even an acoustic version of Ocean Avenue.

In 2014, Parsons, the last founding member, left the band. Two years later, Yellowcard released a self-titled album that many believed would be their last. And for a while, it was — until they surprised fans with a reunion at Riot Fest in Chicago in 2022. Since then, they’ve hit the road again, leaning into the legacy of their biggest hit with “Ocean Avenue” anniversary tours.

There may not be any original members left in Yellowcard, but the house on the corner of Cherry Street and Ocean Avenue still stands the test of time.

Experience A Taste Of Mexico

The Rise of

Southern Roots, Jacksonville Soul: The Allman Brothers Band

Words by Teresa Spencer

The infamous Allman Brothers Band formed in Jacksonville in 1969 eventually becoming one of the most influential groups in Southern rock history. Founded by brothers guitarist Duane Allman and vocalist/keyboardist Gregg Allman, the band also included guitarist Dickey Betts, bassist Berry Oakley, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson. Their signature sound blended rock, blues, jazz and country, characterized by dual guitar harmonies, extended jams and masterful improvisation.

Their first hit, “ Whipping Post,” was the song that got them rolling on the charts as most radio stations in the country were spinning this tune as often as possible. By 1971, the band released the album “At Fillmore East,” which is considered one of the greatest live Southern rock albums of all time.

On the front line were Gregg Allman (vocals/keyboards), Berry Oakley (bass), and guitarists Dickey Betts and Duane Allman, collectively crafting a dynamic mix of blues, jazz, and rock that reshaped the international music scene. Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson provided the driving, blues-infused beat that propelled the Band. However, just as they began reaching record heights of commercial success, tragedy struck. Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, both just 24 years old, died in separate motorcycle accidents that occurred just a few blocks from one another. That tragedy nearly derailed the band, yet they persevered. Over the next 40 years, The Allman Brothers Band evolved into a legendary touring act, famous for their extended, jazz-like improvisations.

Even after their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, the band continued touring with renewed intensity. A rotating lineup introduced new generations of musicians, including Butch Trucks’ nephew, Derek Trucks, now of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who brought fresh energy to their sound.

QR code to Gregg Allman’s “My Only True Friend”

More tragedy struck with the losses of Lamar Williams (bassist, 1972–1976), who died on January 21, 1983, at age 34 from cancer; Allen Woody (bassist, 1989–1997), who died in 2000 at age 44 from unknown causes; Butch Trucks (drummer), who passed away in 2017 at age 69; and Gregg Allman, who also died in 2017 at age 69 from complications of liver cancer.

Though many of the band’s key members have passed away, their music continues to shape rock and blues history.

The band’s influence on Southern rock, blues and jam-band culture is immeasurable. Despite breakups and reunions, the band remained a powerhouse until their final show in 2014. Their virtuosic musicianship and timeless songs ensure their music will continue to inspire future generations of musicians and fans alike.

Southern Rock

Flirtin’ with Legends: The Unstoppable Ride of Molly Hatchet

Words by Carmen Macri

In 1971, Jacksonville was the epicenter of Southern rock, with every local band eager to follow in the footsteps of the genre’s godfather, Lynyrd Skynyrd. One band that emerged victorious from this scene was Molly Hatchet.

Dave Hlubek, founding member, recalled that a friend of theirs, Bobby Maddox, who attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, was the band’s fifth lead singer before Danny Joe Brown joined and had a real Mick Jagger vibe. At the time, the band was looking for a name and eager to play, as there were about 12 rock clubs in the Jacksonville area in the ’70s where a band could make a decent living. They would play through the clubs, but by the time they finished, they had to start over, constantly changing the band’s name. No one ever knew who they were because each time they got used to one name, it would change again. They finally got fed up and decided they needed a permanent name.

The six band members, Hlubek (vocals, guitar), Skip Lake (drums), Tim Lindsey (bass), Chris Caruso (keyboards), Maddox and guitarist Steve Holland, put three name suggestions each into a John Deere tractor hat, and whatever name came out last would be the band’s official name. The 18th name left in the hat was Molly Hatchet. They weren’t sure what to make of it at first. It started as “Molly F**king Hatchet,” and people even wondered who the girl in the band was. Locals in Jacksonville began making bumper stickers, and the name stuck. Molly Hatchet actually referred to a notorious figure from 17th century Salem—an axe-wielding woman known as “Hatchet Molly” who killed her lovers in a violent rage.

The band was playing locally for years, gaining a cult-like following with their 1978 self-titled debut album, which was a commercial success, but it was their 1979 follow-up, “Flirtin’ with Disaster,” that became their defining record, earning them major national recognition. The album went double platinum and solidified their place alongside other Southern rock legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. From then, the band turned from Jacksonville’s well-kept secret to a national phenomenon.

Since then, the band has gained members, lost them, gained a few more, and lost even more — pretty much par for the course for a rock band in the early ’80s — all while still keeping true to their sound and releasing albums to keep their fans well fed.

As of 2020, all members of the original line-up have passed away, but they do have two veterans in the mix, both Bobby Ingram (guitarist) and John Galvin (keyboardist) have been with the group since the early ‘80s, and maintain the integrity of the music.

Keeping the Music Alive

Words by Carmen Macri

Since 1987, Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny Van Zant has taken the reins of the band, keeping their sound alive and well. Johnny’s kept the Skynyrd spirit going strong, honoring his brother’s legacy while making sure the band’s influence continues to live on.

In 1987, 10 years after the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of his brother and several original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny stepped up to lead the band as its new frontman and primary songwriter — something he initially did not want to do and was surprised the other members wanted to. But he went on embracing the weight of the Skynyrd legacy. He emphasized that Skynyrd has always been more than just a band — it’s a family. Witnessing the joy and renewed spark among the survivors of the tragic plane crash was a powerful moment that made it impossible for him to walk away. The experience, he shared, also brought him closer to his brother. Johnny helped breathe new life into the group, steering them into a new era while honoring their Southern rock roots. Over the years, he’s been a driving force behind the band’s continued success, contributing to notable albums like “Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991” (1991), “The Last Rebel” (1993) and “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” (2012), all while keeping the Skynyrd spirit alive on stages around the world.

“I’ve been doing it for 37 years. Heck, I think this year is 38 years. Let me even go back to say that I’ve had people go ‘Hey why don’t you wear a hat like Ronnie?’ ‘Why don’t you go barefoot like Ronnie?’” Johnny shared. “I say you know what, I’m not Ronnie and I’ve never started out singing these songs thinking that I was gonna sing better than Ronnie or too much different than Ronnie. I’m gonna be Johnny. And it seems to have worked for me over the years, people keep coming back.”

He shared that they had considered retiring in 2020 due to Gary Rossington’s declining health, but Rossington ultimately had a change of heart, saying, “You know what? I figured it out. I can’t retire—we need to keep this music going.” Because it’s not just about the older fans, Skynyrd has continued to captivate audiences of all generations.

The Van Zants

Carmen: You have carried the Skynyrd legacy for decades. What is one lesson from Ronnie that still shapes the way you approach your music?

Johnny: I think, from him, as far as playing stuff live is always go out and give 110 % even if you don’t feel good, music is a great medicine. You know I’ve had kidney stones on stage. I’ve had my appendix actually bursting, I didn’t know, on stage but performed and you know it’s a pretty amazing thing. Whenever I was a kid that used to do rehearsal Riverside, there was a place called Kona skateboard park and they offered me, I think it was 50 bucks, to come play a little show and I was telling Ronnie about it. He said ‘hey you take that gig because you know that’s where you’re gonna build your chops was doing shows like that’ and I was like ‘what? they’re paying no money.’ He said ‘why are you trying to become a billionaire? You might wanna get out of the music business.’ So yeah, just to go out and give 110 no matter what because people pay their hard earned dollar for two hours to get away from their worries and relax and enjoy music.

Carmen: Southern rock has evolved over the years, how do you balance honoring Skynyrd’s classics while keeping it kind of fresh for the newer generations tuning in?

Johnny: I’ve been doing it for 37 years. Heck, I think this year is 38 years. Let me even go back to say that I’ve had people go ‘Hey why don’t you wear a hat like Ronnie?’ ‘Why don’t you go barefoot like Ronnie?’ I say you know what, I’m not Ronnie and I’ve never started out singing these songs thinking that I was gonna sing better than Ronnie or too much different than Ronnie. I’m gonna be Johnny. And it seems to have worked for me over the years, people keep coming back.

It seems like the music just keeps growing every year. 2020 was gonna be our last year, we were actually we’re gonna retire because Gary’s health was getting bad and Covid came along but Gary said ‘you know what? I figured it out. I can’t retire you know we need to keep this music going.’ I call us the Grateful Dead of the south because people follow us around. You know the Grateful Dead, their audience goes from town to town and that happens with Skynyrd and it’s a whole new generation out there. I mean it’s amazing to me sometimes. I think if they could come back, all the original ones who started this great music years ago, what they would think. They would probably be like ‘I told you so.’

Carmen: Ha ha ha. No, they definitely would

Johnny: Yeah, so you know again the generational thing is just amazing cause I’m in the middle of the stage and I’m a people watcher. You know, watch what people do in the audience and how they’re reacting and we still get criticism for carrying it on from somebody older fans, but the newer ones are out there by the thousands. Whenever I was asked 30 something years ago to be a part of it, I was like no way. I can’t you know we can’t carry this on and keep this going. What made me a true believer was playing Charlie Daniels volunteer jam in 87 and looking at the audience and looking at the people who had survived that awful plane crash and looking at all these people we’re making happy with this great music.

Carmen: It really is something. You took over this band and you’re continuing this incredible legacy and there’s still fans, like you said, coming in the thousands. I mean I’m 25 and I know all of my friends still listen to Skynyrd. I have an older dad so this is the kind of music that I grew up on, so it’s really cool.

Johnny: Yeah, and he taught you well, young lady.

Carmen: You know what, I am currently wearing his Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt. Figured now would be the best time.

Johnny: Oh my God that’s great. That’s awesome. I always say right now, there’s some kid skipping school learning the beginning of Sweet Home Alabama on the guitar somewhere in this world.

Carmen: Oh, there’s tons of em’. You’ve seen the music industry change dramatically, what is one thing you miss about the old days and what is one modern change you think has made music better?

Johnny: Well, me and my brother just did a gospel album. It’s called Van Zant Always Look Up and when we were shopping for that album, we were like well we’re old school, we wanna make records and CDs you know, and a lot of the companies these days: ‘no we’re just gonna put it out digital.’ So we went with a company called Frontier Records out of Italy. Because they make CDs and that’s the one thing that I miss about here in America. But you know what, records are coming back. There was something as a kid that was very magical about putting the record on the turntable and hearing that needle. You wouldn’t care if you scratched it and it would skip. But as far as these days, I think you have a lot more outlets to get your music out you know with the Internet. We brought out the gospel album and really, to be honest, the first record that I put out probably in, God I don’t know maybe 8, 9, 10 years and to see how far the digital stuff has come kind of blows me away. You can have it out on the Internet on YouTube and all the streaming things and you really get to the masses. In the old days, how did you get to the masses? You tried to get on radio and go out and play as much as you can.

Keeping the Music Alive

Artimus, the last living member of the original (not founding) Lynyrd Skynyrd — a legacy that weighs on him daily — continues to honor the band’s memory. Whether through tribute songs performed with his band Artimus Pyle Band (APB) or with PyleTribe, or through the lingering sense of lost companionship, that history remains ever-present.

“My drums have seen some amazing things, and they do talk. They talk to me every day. They’re going to talk to me tomorrow night when I play these songs, especially the Skynyrd stuff,” Artimus shared. “And I got to tell you, sometimes when I’m playing songs like ‘Simple Man’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ I get very emotional. Sometimes it brings me to tears. But I realize that I’m sitting behind the drums. I’m playing. I’m in the middle of a show, in the middle of a song, and I can’t break down. And I just get through it because I’m thinking about all of my friends that are up in rock and roll heaven. I never know when it will hit me. I’ll be playing and then a certain word or a certain passage of a song will kick in my emotions. I’m not a founding member, but I’m the last living member. And it makes me sad sometimes, but the music lives on.”

But the music doesn’t only live on through Artimus, it lives on through all his children. One in particular is Chris Pyle, founder of PyleTribe, a Southern-fried tribal boogie band.

“It’s been a wild ride as you can imagine. I mean, I was like four and five years old, and he [Artimus] would take me on the road with him, you know, and so I have a lot of crazy memories of the original band [Lynyrd Skynyrd],” Chris recalled. “I can go back and see pictures of me as a baby inside his kick drum. I just always, always loved it. I kind of breathe it.”

While APB will cover Lynyrd Skynyrd classics, PyleTribe pays tribute to the late band in other ways. Through original music inspired by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Chris’s experience growing up while his dad was touring with the legendary band.

“I think I was a little rebellious against it for a while cause I got really into rural music. But then you know, getting older, I [realize] it’s my roots. I love it,” Chris shared. “And then for me, I wasn’t a songwriter. I was really just a drummer most of my life and then kinda later in my 40s, I was like, ‘I’m gonna try to start writing some songs,’ and I kind of had this whole other epiphany of just how incredible Ronnie Van Zant was as a songwriter.”

Artemis recalled the very moment when Charlie Daniels reached out to him about a little band in need of a new drummer.

“Charlie Daniels and the Marshall Tucker Band were giving me a high rating. Charlie wanted me to try out for his band at first when his drummer quit but ultimately decided not to. And Charlie said, ‘I’m right in the middle of a tour, but I do know of a band that needs a drummer,” Artimus explained. “I said, ‘What’s their name?’ He said, ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’. I said, ‘Do they work hard?’ And Charlie said, ‘I think so.’ I found out that Lynyrd Skynyrd was the hardest-working band in the business. And that was Ronnie Van Zant, he was a taskmaster, and he would have us go over “Sweet Home Alabama” 50 times in a row so that when we got on a stage in front of 100,000 people, we didn’t have to think what was coming next, just how hard we needed to hit it.”

Artimus joined the band nearly a decade into its journey, but he still felt a deep connection to Jacksonville—whether it was the people, the music, or the undeniable Southern spirit that shaped his sound.

“I love Jacksonville, I love Saint Augustine and that whole area, you know all the little places that it keeps to keep the music alive,” Artimus said.

ICONS OF

Words by Kaili Cochran

In the world of music, there are songs that immediately play in your head when you hear an artist’s name. But, there are also other artists behind the scenes whose contributions helped shape the hit music we all know and love today. And some with Jacksonville ties.

When you think of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, Lauper is undeniably the face of the song but Rick Derringer’s contributions helped build its success and launch her career. Similarly, with “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang, it’s Eumir Deodato’s arrangement and orchestration that gave the song its catchy rhythm.

Derringer began his career in 1990 and has performed all around the world. Throughout his career, he has worked with an array of artists including “Weird Al” Yankovic, Pat Benatar, Steely Dan and, of course, Lauper. Derringer is known for contributing to and producing hundreds of hit albums across multiple genres.

Deodato has worked with a variety of artists including Roberta Flack, Frank Sinatra, Earth Wind & Fire and many more, like Kool & the Gang. Deodato is responsible for composing, producing, arranging and conducting more than 500 albums and scoring 60 feature films including “The Onion Field,” “Being There” and “Bossa Nova.” Deodato has been a major influence of hit music during the last 60 years, having won multiple Grammys and multi-million selling awards from ASCAP & BMI. More than one thousand rap and singing top selling artists such as Biggie Smalls, Will Smith and Madonna have sampled Deodato’s original music creating even more hit songs from his work.

Kenn Moutenot has been Deodato’s manager for 25 years and Derringer for 15. Moutenot is also the producer and band leader for Deodato and performs as drummer with Derringer. Moutenot started working his way into the industry since he developed his love for drumming and music early on as a teenager. He has made a name for himself since 1982 when he started by performing extensively in bands at nightclubs, resorts and casinos throughout the U.S. and internationally.

During Moutenot’s time in the industry, he worked alongside (and became close friends with) Buddy Miles and Charles Torres. Moutenot, Miles, Torres and Derringer toured the globe for seven years together up until 2000. All four of them had been on stage together thousands of times over the span of 30-plus years. Sadly, Miles passed in 2008. But, Moutenot, Torres and Derringer continue to perform together as part of the Rick Derringer Band and hold onto the memory of Buddy Miles.

Moutenot and Deodato both reside locally in Jacksonville, at least for the time being. They came here after celebrating Deodato and Kool & The Gang being inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio at the end of 2024. Although not a formal member of the band, Deodato’s niche for orchestration is what helped build one of Kool & The Gang’s hit songs, “Celebration.” In fact, Deodato was credited at the Hall of Fame for his contributions and was mentioned on stage. One member of Kool & The Gang said it “couldn’t have been done without [him].”

OF ROCK

After the Hall of Fame induction, Deodato decided to move to Orange Park. As Moutenot put it, he essentially threw a dart at a dart board and said he’s moving to Florida!

Deodato invited Moutenot to come down to Orange Park and work together. After all, they’re both familiar with Northeast Florida having performed at the Florida Theatre and Thrasher-Horne Center multiple times.

After his change of residence, Moutenot established Ladies Night at the Muse Bourbon Bar, where he blends classic and modern-day music creating a different type of experience. Instead of the usual pre-recorded music heard at most clubs around town, Moutenot had the idea to add live drums to the song. (You can check him out every Wednesday from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.)

“It’s a very unique thing, what I’m doing. I feel like I’m doing something that people aren’t doing,” Moutenot said. “Everything’s coming out of

the speakers like my drums and my vocals, along with the pre-recorded music, all coming out of two speakers. So I just jump back and forth and I have real cymbals and stuff.”

Moutenot’s biggest challenge is making sure Deodato and Derringer leave a preserved legacy, and Moutenot himself is working on three films to do so. The first one — 15 years in the making — will be released in 2026 titled “Rockumentary” and will be about Rick Derringer featuring a dozen Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees including Alice Cooper, Joe Walsh and Gene Simmons. The second documentary is being produced about Deodato, including his early days in Brazil during the 1960s through his more recent work in New York and New Jersey producing at CTI Records. The third film is a biopic about Moutenot’s own life adventures during his career thus far performing before millions on and features collecting footage onstage and backstage, catering to the fans with behind-the-scenes stories direct from the mouths of the artists themselves.

“For me to work with these guys and Deodato and, and Rick Derringer can be like in the Guinness Book of World Records for like we did the most, like if there was like a contest, those two guys are close and Deodato did more but Rick Derringer also was one of these people that have done so much and have so many credits and so many albums,” Moutenot said. “It is a time where I believe that these artists are going to be revered like Michelangelo as time goes on.”

Honorable Mentions

Words by Teresa Spencer

Sam “ALL THAT JAZZ” Jones

Sam Jones was a highly influential jazz bassist and cellist, best known for his work with Cannonball Adderley and Oscar Peterson. Born in Jacksonville in 1924, he grew up in a musical family and moved to New York City in 1955 to pursue his own career in music. He quickly became a sought-after sideman, performing with jazz greats such as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans and Freddie Hubbard. His deep, rhythmic playing style and solid timekeeping made him a key figure in numerous ensembles. He was a longtime member of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, contributing to its success from 1955 to 1956 and then from 1959 to 1964, and later played with Oscar Peterson from 1966 to 1970.

Beyond his role as a sideman, Jones was also a skilled composer and bandleader. He wrote several jazz standards, including “Del Sasser” and “Unit 7,” both of which became widely performed pieces. In the 1970s, he recorded multiple albums as a leader for labels like Xanadu and SteepleChase, showcasing his compositional talents and refined technique. His other notable compositions include “Blue Funk,” “O.P.,” “Bittersweet” and “Seven Minds.” Jones continued performing and recording until his death from lung cancer in 1981 at the age of 57. His style and recordings have influenced many performers in the jazz arena since his passing.

Evergreen Terrace

Evergreen Terrace is an American metalcore band from Jacksonville that formed in 1999 and is named after the street in “The Simpsons.” Initially formed by Josh James, Andrew Carey, Josh “Woody” Willis, Josh Smith and Christopher Brown, the band underwent early lineup changes before releasing their debut album, “Losing All Hope Is Freedom” (2001). Subsequent releases included “Burned Alive by Time” (2002), a cover album “Writer’s Block” (2004) and “Sincerity Is an Easy Disguise in This Business” (2005), followed by extensive touring.

In 2007, they signed with High Impact Recordings and released “Wolfbiker,” touring alongside As I Lay Dying and August Burns Red. “Almost Home” (2009) followed, leading to global tours. In 2012, they signed with Rise Records, releasing “Dead Horses” in 2013.

The band saw member departures and returns with Andrew Carey leaving in 2015 and rejoining in 2016. A new album was announced in 2018. In 2022, they toured Europe with lineup changes, including ex-Yellowcard drummer Longineu Parsons III replacing Brad Moxey. In 2024, the band withdrew from Shell Shock II due to Kyle Rittenhouse’s participation, pledging support for veterans’ causes. We are not sure what the plan is from here, but they definitely have made an impact on the metal core scene.

Widespread Panic

Did you know that Widespread Panic recorded their “Jacksonville 1999” album live at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts Moran Theatre on April 27, 1999? Despite the incredible performance, the album wasn’t released until nearly two decades later in March 2017.

For devoted “Spreadheads,” this release was a long-awaited treasure. The band’s 1999 shows are widely regarded as some of their most electric and dynamic, making this multi-track recording an instant classic. According to the band’s website, this particular year was one of the most requested for live releases — and for good reason.

From the energy of the crowd to the band’s tight improvisations, Jacksonville 1999 captures Widespread Panic at their peak. If you haven’t given it a listen yet, it’s well worth your time. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the band, this album is a perfect showcase of their signature live magic.

So, turn up the volume and experience a piece of Jacksonville’s music history!

38 Special

Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes formed 38 Special in 1974 right here in Jacksonville. Initially rooted in Southern rock, their music evolved into a more arena-rock sound, achieving mainstream success in the 1980s with hits like “Hold On Loosely,” “Caught Up in You,” “Rockin’ into the Night,” and “If I’d Been the One.”

The band’s early years saw them working closely with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s management and gaining exposure by opening for major acts. Their breakthrough came with the 1981 album “Wild-Eyed Southern Boys,” followed by a string of successful releases. They collaborated with Survivor’s Jim Peterik, shaping their signature melodic rock style.

After Don Barnes’ departure in 1987, the band experimented with a more pop-oriented sound, scoring a No. 1 adult contemporary hit with “Second Chance” in 1989. Barnes returned in 1992, and since then, the band has focused on touring. Founding members like Jeff Carlisi and Larry Junstrom eventually departed, with Junstrom passing away in 2019.

After more than five decades together, 38 Special continue to bring their signature blast of Southern Rock to over 100 cities a year. Today, Don Barnes remains the only original member, leading the band alongside Bobby Capps, Gary Moffatt, Barry Dunaway, and Jerry Riggs.

Research tells us that these great musicians and bands all have connections to Jacksonville as well — in some form or fashion— so we had to at least give them honorable mentions. Yes, we know… we probably missed some. Let us know if we did by emailing team@folioweeky.com.

Rossington Collins Band, Greg Eklund, Black Kids, Classics IV, Brad Mehldau, Whole Wheat Bread, Blind Blake, Blackfoot, Ryan Key, Gary Rossington, Electric President, Cold, Fusebox Funk, Inspection 12, Allen Collins Band, Fit for Rivals, J. Dash, The Summer Obsession, Greyfield, The 31st of February, Pat Boone, Pettidee, Asia Cruise, Hoyt Axton, Mase, Emperor X, Clint Crisher, Melinda Caroll, The Killer and the Star, Sean Mackin, Johnny Tillotson, Razed in Black, LPT, Sensi, Kairos Creature Club, The Danny Joe Brown, Casey James, The Summer Obsession, Cowboy, Big Orange Chorus, Austin & Lindsey Adamec, Brett Meyers, Zak Gilbert, Chad Jasmine

Rememebering Jordan Davis

Words by Ambar Ramirez and Carmen Macri

This month’s Crime Time takes a more serious turn. Instead of highlighting offbeat or unusual news from Jacksonville, we are focusing on the tragic 2013 case of Jordan Davis — a high school student who was fatally shot by Michael Dunn at a Gate gas station for playing his music too loudly.

Davis, along with close friends Tevin Thompson, Leland Brunson and Tommie Stornes, had just hit the Town Center on the first evening after Thanksgiving. As you can imagine, the outdoor mall was teeming with holiday shoppers, and the boys did their best to blend in, talking to some sales workers here and window shopping there. After browsing the stores for overpriced sneakers they already owned, they made their way back to Stornes’ red Durango, but not before running into Davis’ on-and-off again girlfriend, Aliyah, who was finishing up her shift at Urban Outfitters. The three boys would heckle Davis about Aliyah the whole ride back and probably would have continued those snide, innocent remarks while they played the Xbox on Davis’ father’s big screen TV if it weren’t for these next tragic events.

The four boys stopped at the Gate gas station on Southside Boulevard so Stornes could grab a pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, the others stayed in the car with the windows down, listening to Chief Keef and teasing Davis about his on-again, off-again girlfriend. That’s when Dunn’s black Jetta rolled in, leaving little to no space between the two cars. Dunn had just returned from his son’s wedding and swung by the gas station so he and his girlfriend, Rondah Rouer, could pick up a bottle of wine and a bag of chips. Unbeknownst to the three boys left in the car, their night was about to take a tragic turn. Dunn wasted no time from throwing his car in park to hollering outside the window at the boys to turn their music down because he “hates that thug music.” Thompson, in the front passenger seat, quickly dialed the music down, not wanting to cause any problems. Davis wasn’t having it. He refused to let Dunn ruin their fun, so he unbuckled himself and reached across the center console to turn the music back up. Quickly after that, a verbal sparring match ensued between Dunn and Davis with f-bombs thrown left and right. Dunn retorted by yelling, “You’re not going to talk to me like that!” while reaching across to the glove compartment. At this point, Stornes has returned to the car and was in the process of strapping himself back in when he saw Dunn reach his hand out of the car with a Taurus PT 9mm pistol locked and loaded.

Thinking fast, Stornes yelled at his friends to duck while grabbing the shifter, trying to get him and his friends to safety. Nine shots were fired; four shots were fired as the Durango drove away, one pierced the liftgate, another clipped the visor, barely missing Stornes’s skull by an inch, and the first three shots had gone through Davis’s side of the car. Two of them lodged in his chest and groin.

Stornes pulled the Durango into a neighboring plaza to make sure everyone was OK. Miraculously, Thomson and Brunson were unscathed, though Brunson was covered in blood.

That’s when Stornes noticed Davis slumped over on Brunson’s lap.

“Jordan was making that rattle people make when they’re dying,” Thompson said in a “Rolling Stone” interview. “That’s when Leland started to cry. I hugged him and tried to tell him it would be OK.”

Unfortunately, those three gunshot wounds would prove to be fatal.

Using the “Stand Your Ground” statute of self-defense, Dunn, a 6’4 tall, 280-pound white man stated that he felt threatened by loud music and a group of teenagers. Of course, that’s not what he would say in court. Instead, Dunn would spin the story, turning the terrified teenage boys into fully grown gang members thwhoat were calling up their gang buddies while piling out of the Durango. And, for good measure, Dunn told his hastily hired lawyer that he was sure he saw a shotgun aimed at him through the rear window of the car.

You see, Dunn was trying to spin the story to make it a case of self defense. Under the Florida “Stand Your Ground” law, lobbied by ex-NRA president Marion Hammer, individuals can use deadly force if they believe it’s necessary to prevent death or serious harm to themselves or others. The key part is that they don’t have to try to run away or avoid the situation first — in other words, they can “stand their ground” and defend themselves, even in public places, if they believe they’re facing an immediate threat. Since the passing of this law, “self-defense” killings have tripled, and violent crime has not reduced as the bill promised.

Dunn wasn’t facing an immediate threat, but he and his lawyers knew the law was a surefire way to get away with murder. What they did not account for were the dozens of witnesses who saw the four boys as just that — boys, not thugs — with no shotgun in sight. Dunn conveniently failed to mention the shotgun to his then-girlfriend during the altercation, only introducing the claim after consulting with his lawyer.

Despite having no solid defense, Dunn appealed for bond and was granted a hearing at the Duval County Courthouse, arriving in a mismatched suit and wearing a smirk. Unsurprisingly, his self-defense claim fell flat, and he was denied bail a week later.

Ultimately, in 2014, Dunn was convicted of attempted second-degree murder for firing at the other teens in the vehicle but the jury initially deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge. A retrial later that year resulted in Dunn being convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The girlies talk jazz in Jax

Carmen: When you think of jazz hubs in the South, New Orleans is probably the first place that comes to mind, right? But believe it or not, Jacksonville was actually one of the first major jazz hubs in the region.

Ambar: It all began after the Civil War when Jacksonville became a hub for African-American cultural exchange with New Orleans. Icons like James Weldon Johnson (famously known for his park), Zora Neale Hurston, Ma Rainey and Jelly Roll Morton helped shape a vibrant scene of Black entertainment and expression. LaVilla saw the first published account of blues sung on its stage.

Carmen : LaVilla was also coined “Harlem of the South.” By the early 20th century, LaVilla was thriving as a cultural and business hub for Black communities. Ashley Street was lined with theaters, clubs and hotels that welcomed prominent African-American performers and offered lodging during the segregation era. Venues like the Strand, Frolic, Globe and Roosevelt theaters, along with the Wynn later known as Egmont Hotel, were at the heart of the scene.

Ambar: The 1990s River City Renaissance plan destroyed many of the historical buildings that were significant to LaVilla’s influence on jazz and blues.

Carmen: Hmm. Old habits die hard, I guess?

Ambar: They sure do! Have you seen what the Wynn/Egmont Hotel looks like today? There’s not much left of the spot where few found solace during segregation, including the legendary jazz artist Louis Armstrong who famously loved staying and performing at the now nearly deteriorated hotel.

Carmen: Oh, have I. I used to drive by that monstrosity every day.

Ambar : While LaVilla deteriorated, the jazz scene never left the Bold City.

Carmen: Cue the 1980 All That Jazz Festival in Mayport. In an effort to put the Bold New City of the South back on the map and breathe new life into the struggling fishing community of Mayport, Mayor Jake Godbold launched the Mayport and All That Jazz Festival. Festival producers were stunned when their expected crowd of a few hundred ballooned to nearly 25,000 spectators, all there to catch Dizzy Gillespie headline the event.

Ambar: While the Jazz Festival faced a few bumps along the road and a couple of hiatuses, it recently celebrated its 40th year in 2021. But enough about the Jazz Festival, let’s talk about the infamous musicians that came out of Jacksonville

Carmen: For starters, Ray Charles?! While originally born in Albany, Georgia, Charles grew up in Florida and attended the St. Augustine School of the Deaf and Blind. Arguably the most famous musician to come out of Jacksonville (technically), he was a legendary singer, songwriter and

pianist who played a huge role in shaping jazz, blues and soul music. He’s often credited with creating the genre of soul music itself.

Ambar: James Weldon Johnson (park) & John Rosamond Johnson (no park) were born and raised in Jacksonville. While James (park) was known for his writing and civil rights work with his brother (no park John) they were a musical duo to be reckoned with. Their song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” became the Black National Anthem.

Carmen: I’m sorry. I physically cannot focus after reading “no park John.” What am I even supposed to say after that? Why didn’t John get his own park? Where is his looming statue? Justice for John (no park).

Ambar: We dedicate this column to you, “no park John.” Anyway, it wasn’t just musicians that set this city apart from other jazz hubs; Historical venues (not talking about the park) were also born from this movement.

Carmen: I wasn’t done talking about the parks, but OK. Anyway (can you tell we wrote this at midnight?), the Ritz Theatre opened in 1929 and quickly became the epicenter for LaVilla’s entertainment scene. After a period of decline, the Ritz was reopened in 1999 and now stands, still as a theater, but also as a museum dedicated to keeping the rich history alive and well.

Ambar: Jacksonville’s jazz scene may have faded from its heyday, but the echoes are still there — in street names, in murals and in the stories passed down.

Carmen: Damn, that was beautiful.

Ambar: Thanks, came up with it all on my own.

Carmen : You deserve a park.

this puzzle like a regular sudoku, but instead of using numbers, use the letters

(for the band that originated in Fernandina Beach) to fill each row, column and box.