MACON, Ga. — Chuck Leavell took 13WMAZ on a tour of the soon-to-be reopened Mercer Music at Capricorn. He spoke of the rich history of the studio, and how he believes there’s much more music to be made.
Now, we’re introducing you to a band that could be writing the next chapter in Macon’s music history – Magnolia Moon.
They’re just one of many musical groups performing at the reopening celebration.
Two sets of brothers make up the rock-n-roll band – Zack and Jesse Horton, and Jonathan and Christopher Crowell.
“A lot of that chemistry between musicians… it's usually what makes up a good performance or a good band, I think, and it's just really easy to play music with people you love and people you love being in company with,” said Zack Horton.
Magnolia Moon is just 2 years old, but the band draws its sound from Southern Rock roots dating back decades.
“Blues and southern gospel music, which is something we grew up around, but didn't find a deep appreciation for until living here,” said Zack.
It’s a sound that Alan Walden knows all too well from his time starting Capricorn Records with his brother Phil in the last 1960s.
“I truly have to give the credit to my brother for the success of Capricorn. He's the one who made it happen,” said Alan Walden.
He’s thrilled the historic hit-making studio is coming back to life.
“It's a big honor to our family, that they've done that. Nothing would thrill me greater than for them to come in and get a hit out of there,” said Walden.
But he knows that hits don’t happen overnight.
“The Allman Brothers, Wet Willie. When the Marshall Tucker band came in, it was the second biggest band,” Walden recalled.
And so do the members of Magnolia Moon.
“We'll put in the hard work, maybe one day it'll get a little easier, until then any chance we get to play, we love to,” said Zack.
It’s a labor of love. The band writes and plays all its own music. Weekends are spent on the road playing in different cities around the South.
“We've played shows in front of a couple of hundred people. We've played shows in front of five and it always feels the same. For us, we still feel that joy; that fulfillment of playing music for people,” said Jesse Horton.
But nothing is more satisfying than making music in Macon.
“Macon, there's something special about it. You don't necessarily need to be born here, but being here and writing music here, I just think there's something special here,” said Jesse.
Magnolia Moon just finished recording its second album, which is still untitled, but the band expects it to be released before next summer.
Jesse Horton, whom you met in this story, is also a marketing producer here at WMAZ. Alan Walden is working on a book and it's expected to be completed in 2020.
MORE CAPRICORN COVERAGE
STAY ALERT | Download our FREE app now to receive breaking news and weather alerts. You can find the app on the Apple Store and Google Play.
STAY UPDATED | Click here to subscribe to our Midday Minute newsletter and receive the latest headlines and information in your inbox every day.
Have a news tip? Email news@13wmaz.com, or visit our Facebook page.