6 minute read
Music in the Capital
The Avett Brothers performing at the Cascades Amphitheater, where concerts and productions happen almost every weekend in the summer.
PHOTO BY DAVE BARFIELD/VISIT TALLAHASSEE
Light streams from Doak S. Campbell stadium, and thousands of voices erupt in the night, not in football cheers and chants, but in song. In a converted feed store, honky-tonk tunes reverberate off exposed-brick walls, and boots stomp hardwood floors. Under a starlit sky in Cascades Park, couples sit close on blankets as they listen to the smooth rock of Train. Beer glasses clink in a bar on Gaines Street as college students sing along to Top 40 covers and Eagles tunes played by an acoustic duo. The next morning, mimosas and eggs Benedict are enjoyed in the presence of a folk-music trio.
“Tallahassee’s music scene has exploded in the past few years,” said Kim Morton, representing the concert venue/sports arena at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. “Tallahassee, itself, has grown immensely over the past five years, which has brought a new generation to this city. We’re in a location that is a desirable stop for touring artists.”
Notes are bumping from all quadrants of Tallahassee.
CASCADING SCALES At Cascades Park, the crown jewel of the city’s urban parks, college students throw Frisbees on the green space, families picnic by the lake, joggers run by with their dogs and, on sunny days, children frolic on the splash pad. At the heart of the downtown park is the Capital City Amphitheater, a beautiful stage framed in a half dome of white.
The amphitheater draws people together for free concerts, ticketed concerts and theatrical performances. Musical acts have included Train, Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, Wilco, Jason Isbell, The Beach Boys, Tank, Dawes, Lisa Loeb, Joan Osborne, Boz Scaggs and Peter Frampton. Cascades Park hosts premier events such as the Word of South Festival of Literature & Music and the Southern Shakespeare Festival, which employs a live orchestra. The amphitheater, with 3,500 fixed seats, and the surrounding, blanket-friendly hillside, fills frequently with fans of music, literature and theater. The air is fresh, the crowd is friendly and there is plenty at hand to eat and drink. Learn more at CapitalCityAmphitheater.com.
DOAK AFTER DARK Doak S. Campbell Stadium, home stadium of the FSU Seminoles, went without a concert for over 30 years. Now, with the addition of one of the best jumbotrons in the country, it has become a concert destination.
Recent years have welcomed in SaltN-Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Rob Base and Cole Swindell. Previous names on stage at Doak include Old Dominion, Tyler Farr, Blake Shelton, Jake Owen and Big & Rich. Stay tuned for future concert announcements.
UP THE ROAD Between the stadium and downtown is the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, hosting FSU men’s and women’s basketball and stellar concert performances. The Civic Center has welcomed the likes of Elton John, Drake, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Jimmy Buffett, Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Usher, George Straight, Corey Smith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Alabama, Bon Jovi, Keith Urban and Def Leppard. TuckerCivicCenter.com
Another concert icon is The Moon, Tallahassee’s dance central, which has featured headliners such as Bassnectar, George Clinton, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Hall & Oates, The Tempations, Bonnie Raitt, George Strait, Willie Nelson, The Judds, B.B. King, Kenny Chesney, Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar, Billy Preston, Chris Tucker and many more. MoonEvents.com
National celebrities and stars of the music realm will always attract a crowd and create revenue, but those idols started somewhere — in hometown bars, at county fairs, in writers’ rounds or opening for touring acts. Likewise, Tallahassee nurtures its own fellowship of soon-to-be-famous local musicians. Read on to learn where to hear them now.
IN EVERY DISTRICT On the Southside, it’s easy to mistake House of Music Tallahassee for a feed store, because that’s exactly what it is — or what it was.
Pangratz explained he has always “had a heart for musicians.” He began the Tallahassee Area Musicians Guild with fellow board members Barrence Dupree, Russ Hamby and Margie Bertram. The Guild works as a hub for resources and music advocacy, providing a community for local professionals and aspiring amateurs to encourage, teach, learn and share with one another.
Mainstage bands come from Atlanta, Nashville, New York City … and House of Music boasts itself as a karaoke bar. Pangratz kept the building as original as possible, with exposed brick and concrete floors softened
with worn Oriental rugs. Once offering simplicity with fridges full of sodas, craft beer and wine, House of Music now offers a full-service bar and restaurant. Stickers from bands have become ingrained in the bar, and an impressive collection of CDs and hot sauces are for sale in the lobby. It’s a full experience. HouseOfMusicTally.com
One of the best hidden party spots in Leon County, the Fish Camp at Lake Iamonia brings together a relaxing lakeside vibe, food trucks, live music and good seafood and burgers. Located north of Bradfordville, the Fish Camp has been around since 1951 and has been painstakingly improved to keep its original look and feel. The camp is a great place to catch a sunset and is biker friendly, family friendly and pet friendly. So come early and stay late at one of the area’s hidden hangout spots. FishCampRestaurant.com
North of the city is its oldest music venue, the Bradfordville Blues Club. The BBC has been Florida’s home to authentic blues acts since the segregated years of the Chitlin’ Circuit, a string of venues across the Southeast where Black musicians and mixed-race audiences who weren’t welcome in white venues could make music and dance together all night long.
Appearances at the rustic, cinderblock juke joint have included such kings and queens of the blues as Bobby Blue Bland, Bobby Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Duke Robillard, Kenny Neal and Big Daddy Kinsey and the Kinsey Report, Johnnie Marshall and a host of others. BradfordvilleBlues.com
Within walking distance of Lafayette and Levy parks near Midtown sits the Blue Tavern. Opened in 2016, this hidden gem plays several different notes as coffee house, pub and music venue — including a modest menu with New Orleans-style fare and sandwiches.
This laid-back locale also plays host to a bevy of local musicians and performers, ranging from jazz and blues to comedy and film screenings. BlueTavernTallahassee.com
MUSIC MAKES THE WORLD AND TALLAHASSEE GO ’ROUND Bill Wharton, affectionately titled The Sauce Boss, has played the BBC and nearly every club in the Southeast since the late ’60s. His rowdy blues shows and on-stage gumbo-making are his trademarks
With other accomplished locals, such as Pierce Pettis, Del Suggs, and Eric Durrance, The Sauce Boss has seen Tallahassee change and evolve. Like the others, he always returns.
“Tallahassee has always been a retreat for me,” said Wharton. “The kind of place where you can write and explore a creative performance. A great town for an artist. I’ve seen a lot of creative spirit here. It feels good jamming with the young’uns as well as old friends, and welcoming new faces and new venues. It makes for a hoppin’ scene. We keep growing and creating.”
Music grows within us, and because it does, it creates emotions. It transports us to a time with someone we love, a loss or even just a fall day when the sun shone a little brighter than usual. Music enhances our intelligence, as seen in the test scores and creative abilities of those who study it. It soothes those in need of a smile, and it heals. Take, for instance, stroke victims whose voices have been taken, but who suddenly and unexplainably find their words, thanks to music.
Music is meant to be heard, yes, but also to be felt. When the stage lights have dimmed, the equipment has been cleared and the musicians are on their way home or heading to the next show, they hope they’ve struck a chord that will resonate long after the last note is played.
Bill Wharton
