GPB Music Presents

Singer-songwriter Anthony Aparo is no stranger to the Atlanta music scene. He has been on the circuit as front man of Atlanta’s retro-electronic band Culture Culture since 2013. He's a regular musician on the bill for ATL Collective, a semi-monthly collaboration of local artists in Atlanta. He was also a member of the Athens folk-pop band Mr. Mustache.

Aaron Lee Tasjan is a songwriter.

That's worth saying because once upon a time he probably would have answered to guitar player. He is that, to be sure, but on his second album "Silver Tears," Tasjan gives the listener a collection of funny, sweet, well crafted and just a little melancholy songs. They are exercises in self examination and self reproachment delivered with a trickster's grin.

Cindy Wilson co-founded The B-52s in Athens, Georgia in 1976. Now she’s back on tour, premiering material from her forthcoming, full-length solo album, “Change.” She drops by the studio to chat about her life and music. You can hear music from the new album recorded live in the GPB Performance Studio in the video below. 

When Jake Fussell was growing up in Columbus, Georgia, he spent a lot of time on the road with his dad, Fred Fussell. Fred is a documentarian and museum coordinator who would travel around Georgia and the South examining how people lived, the things they made and the music they played. What stuck with Jake was the music. Eventually he picked up the guitar and took as his mentor the legendary Georgia fingerstyle guitar player Precious Bryant.

Susto is a disease of the soul that has its origin in Mexico. Think of it as a kind of soul death. Sufferers are said to be walking shells of their former selves. But the good news is it can be cured.

Southern music is hot right now. From Americana to hip hop, there are plenty of artists seeking to hang their sound on the hook of some piece of the Southern musical tradition. Meanwhile, there are other artists who have unmistakably carved out a piece of Southern sonic soil for themselves, even if unintentionally. Athens band New Madrid could fall into this second category.