Macon Music Today

Chuck Leavell
Moving to Macon in 1970, Chuck Leavell quickly fell into the music scene, touring with Dr. John, Kitty Wells, and The Marshall Tucker Band. In 1972, Leavell was asked to join The Allman Brothers Band (ABB) and recorded on the hit album, Brothers and Sisters. He recorded several albums with ABB until 1976. In 1982, Leavell was asked to take on the role of keyboardist/vocalist/musical director for The Rolling Stones, who he still tours with today.

Mike Mills
Mike Mills, who moved to Macon, Georgia when he was 10 years old, is one of the founding members of R.E.M. Playing the bass guitar, Mills remained with the band until they broke up in 2011. During their 30 year career, R.E.M. released hits like Losing My Religion, Everybody Hurts, and It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). They won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for Losing My Religion in 1992.

Robert McDuffie
Born in Macon, Georgia, Grammy-nominated violinist, Robert McDuffie has appeared as a soloist with most of the world's major orchestras. In 2004, Mercer University opened the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, a distinguished institute that offers a conservatory experience in a university setting. Most recently in 2016, he released and toured the album Concerto for Violin, Rock Band with his childhood friend Mike Mills of R.E.M. And in 2022 the duo teamed up with Chuck Leavell for "A Night of Georgia Music", dynamically showcasing some of the Peach State’s most iconic songs, by some of its most iconic artists. The program broadcast across the country on PBS, and was awarded a Southeast Regional Emmy Award.

Jason Aldean
Another artist born in Macon, Jason Aldean, has been taking the country music world by storm since his first Billboard country Top 10 hit, Hicktown, in 2005. Since then, he’s released several other hits like Why, She’s Country, Dirt Road Anthem, and Tonight Looks Good on You. In 2015, Aldean filmed his music video for Gonna Know We Were Here in Downtown Macon.

Macon now has a 10,000-seat amphitheater located on Eisenhower Parkway at the "old Macon Mall", which has now also partially been transformed into the world's largest pickleball facility! The sound is state-of-the-art with national touring acts of all genres already lined up for the 2024 season like Riley Green, Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Aldean, MoneyBagg Yo, Bel Biv Devoe, MegaDeath and Lauren Daigle!

What does this bring to Macon?
Not only is it putting Macon on the map as a hit location that performers can get excited about but the economic growth for our local economy will be significant. It also will support the nearby neighborhoods and bring more businesses to the West Macon area. Mayor Lester Miller stated in one article, “I just met with the new owner of the Presidential Parkway, and he’s getting some very positive interest on people that want to come back to the area. We talked to a couple of hotels who want to locate here on site, many retail want to come back here to our hub.”

Visit Macon President Gary Wheat elaborates more on what this means to the tourism industry saying, “It adds a new attraction for us. It not only serves our community and the neighboring counties, but it will attract people from all over the region and even nationally in some cases.” With Macon's rich music history and growing music scene, this amphitheater will only further showcase our city's soulful heritage. Visit Macon anticipates this amphitheater will bring $2 to $4 million to our local economy.