“For me this is kind of what I grew up around,” says Roman Gaddis fiddling in front of sell-out crowds at The Crimson Moon or leading the sing-a-longs
at the Bear on the Square festival. “We built a good fan-base here and it just sort of grew,” said Gaddis. Last year they also released an album, Live at the Melting Point, which captures the rambunctious vibe and freewheeling sound of their popular live shows. It’s the kind of sound that’s added to the musical
MAKING MUSIC: Top: Hometown band BlueBilly Grit has built a following by sharing their down-home blend of bluegrass and new-grass (Photo/Matt Aiken). Above: Jason Kenney said moving to Dahlonega at age 5 fostered his love for music and has led to his Appalachian-tinged musical style.
tapestry of a community that can’t seem to get enough bluegrass. In fact, it was in this environment that multiGRAMMY winner Zac Brown fine-tuned his musical style while playing alongside fellow recording artist Shawn Mullins and entertaining at local venues. “I think Georgia has its own sound and that’s what I’ve been hearing my whole life,” Brown said in a previous interview with The Nugget. Local music-man Jason
Kenney knows that sound well. And he credits his early childhood relocation to Dahlonega as the move that eventually jump-started his music career. “The best thing my mom ever did for me was get me to Dahlonega when I was 5,” he said with a laugh. “I probably wouldn’t have been a musician if she hadn’t, because I wouldn’t have been around the bluegrass scene.” It was that scene that eventually fostered Kenney’s signature Appalachiantinged sound that recently culminated in his new album Turn this Sorrow into Joy. The album was funded by the community and a Kickstarter campaign that allowed Kenney to take his time in the studio while singing alongside such guest stars as Jonathan Byrd and fellow Dahlonega-resident Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. “All of my songs were created in Dahlonega,” he said, “sitting outside and singing them over and over.” And of course, many of those songs will eventually wind up in the jam circle. So if you see one, feel free to grab your favorite string instrument and join in. There’s always room for one more melody in Dahlonega. D 2014 | DAHLONEGA Nuggets 19