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“When I’m on stage, I’m trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Justlike church does. People don’t go to church to find trouble, they gothere to lose it.” — James “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” Brown

No matter if music is a hobby or livelihood, for an artist, it is a passion. Stardom isoften secondary when it comes down to the opportunity to get lost in the music beingmade. There are the elite few who make livings as performers. There are the many whowork odd jobs to play at every opportunity. And then there are the lucky ones who makethe best of both worlds— not only have they excelled in their “day jobs” careers, butthey also perform well enough to play to an eager audience.

Jim McLendon – General Manager, Cox Media

Coming to You

They are 20 years in the making and still one of the hottest

tickets in town. Yet, the guys from the Grapevine still seem to have as

much fun on stage today as they did when they were just getting the

party started. Manager, co-founder and drummer Jim McLendon has

played in bands since age 14, but once he became a newlywed, he

decided to hang up his drumsticks to focus on his family.

It was on their 20th wedding anniversary that wife Jean

surprised him with a brand new set of drums. “Read into that

whatever you want,” he jokes. He began inviting friends over for jam

sessions and before long, they had a gig. “We sort of put a group

together and opened for the Jesters at the Macon City Auditorium in

front of nearly a thousand people,” he recalls. “We played all five

songs we knew, no one laughed or booed, so we added to our

repertoire, and the rest is history.”

The Grapevine hasn’t stopped since. Whether it is weddings,

corporate events or local and regional fairs and festivals, the 10-piece

cover band has not played less than 40 shows in a year since 1990

(New Year’s Eve was their 52nd show this year). “We have been

fortunate to be probably one of the busiest, if not the busiest bands

around — exclusive of the bands that do this as a full-time job,”

McLendon admits.

Even while working the circuit as “Georgia’s Premier Party

Band,” each member retains what McLendon refers to as “real jobs”

—business owners, the Georgia Army National Guard, law

enforcement, pharmaceutical sales, information technology are just a

sample of professions found among them.

McLendon’s career has primarily revolved around media sales.

He was VP and general manager of WMAC AM 940 and 99 WAYS

before ultimately buying and selling both radio stations. For the past

10 years he has served as general manager of Cox Media, the

advertising division of Cox Communications.

He admits that although he has dreamed of a career as a full-time

musician, he has never been tempted to pursue it. “There are literally

thousands of excellent musicians on the streets looking for work in

that industry,” he says. “It is a tough and competitive industry. I am

very happy having The Grapevine be part of my life as a hobby.”

Although their in-demand schedule can make their careers

and performance schedules a balancing act, McLendon wouldn’t

have it any other way. “I’m grateful to be around two great groups

of people — to work and play with — at Cox Media and the

Grapevine,” he says.

For him and the rest of the band, it’s not just about providing a

good time, but having one along the way. “None of us are great

musicians,” he adds. “There are a lot of bands that are much better

than we are from a music standpoint. But none of them have as much

fun as we do, and that is contagious with the audience.”

Drummer, The Grapevine (Dwayne Boswell, keyboard, guitar, vocals;

Donnie Brooks, lead vocals, bass; Derek Darity, lead guitar, vocals;

Robin Hughes, percussion; Miller Kent, percussion; Larry Lee, bass,

vocals; Jim Larimer, saxophone, flute; John Laughter, alto, tenor and

baritone saxophone; Larry McLendon, trumpet, vocals; Greg Mullis,

trombone, vocals and keyboard; Robby Oplt, equipment manager)

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Although he is easily recognized with his trademark black-

rimmed glasses and sharply-dressed attire, when Mark Brooker takes

the stage his style is not as easily defined. He can do Al Green. He can

do Miles Davis. He can also do David Bowie, Simple Minds and Peter

Gabriel if you give him room to groove.

Brooker’s passion began at eight-years-old when his mother gave

him a drum set. With an eight-track stereo cranking out the Ohio

Players and Commodores behind him, he spent his afternoons in

rural South Carolina learning to play along. “I was surrounded by

music,” he says. “It wasn’t unusual for me to wake up in the morning

with the smell of bacon and eggs cooking and mom singing Mahalia

Jackson. I got my voice from her — she is a true vocal talent.” He

entered junior high as a percussionist and later played clarinet in the

high school marching band. Eventually picking up the tenor sax,

Brooker reflects, “I guess you can call me a ‘reed man,’ but singing is

my passion.”

It was that crooning passion that landed him the role of lead

vocalist in a variety band while in college. The Kicks! traveled up and

down the eastern seaboard playing proms, weddings, conventions

and special events — including Macon’s own Cherry Blossom Festival

in the late ‘80s. “That was my first musical experience in Macon,” he

recalls. “I never thought I would actually be living here 20 years later.”

While playing with the Kicks! Brooker majored in biology. But life

on the road can complicate college, so after four years without a

degree, Brooker joined the Army. During his eight-year enlistment, he

finished his undergraduate in liberal arts, earned his master’s in

human resource management and received a certification in

Cytotechnology, the study of human cells.

Today, Brooker can be found performing most every weekend,

often taking the stage at the Tic Toc Room, Hummingbird, Jazzplex

and other Macon nightlife hotspots. While many associate him with

his R&B band the Soul Proprietors, Brooker recently debuted his rock

ensemble the Neokats covering ‘80s and ‘90s rock.

A 2006 graduate of Leadership Macon, Brooker doesn’t rule out

becoming a full-time musician. “I think about it sometimes,” he

admits. “But timing is everything. Like all career moves, you must

have a game plan. I guess I’m in the planning stages for the moment

when opportunity knocks… Some artists work for years as

moonlighting musicians waiting for that big break. Sometimes it

comes, and sometimes it doesn’t. But if it does, I want to be ready.”

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Mark Brooker – Cytotechnologist

Rock n’ Soul

Lead Vocals, Mark Brooker & the Soul Proprietors (Walter Gastin, guitar; Emel Fraley, drums; Jerry Habersham, bass)

Frontman, the Neokats (Doug Nurnberger, drums; Kenny Cheek, bass; Jason Chapman, guitar)

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To say he is a man of many hats isn’t entirely true. There is

the cowboy hat . . . and then there is the robe and the kilt. Each

of which has its rightful place in the personal and professional

life of Judge Claude Hicks.

A Mercer Law School graduate, Hicks practiced law in Macon

for 16 years before being appointed the United States Magistrate

Judge for the Middle District of Georgia in 1986. The Middle

District covers 70 of the 159 Georgia counties.

When two men illegally plucked the tail feathers from golden

eagles in a wildlife center in Athens, Hicks made international

headlines by sentencing the men to work in a chicken processing

plant. “You’ll have your fill of feathers,” the judge was quoted as

saying. “You’ll never, never want to be around another feather in

your life.”

When court is not in session, Hicks’ roots with roots-style

music go back to his high school days in Macon where he began

singing folk songs and playing guitar. A late-80s interest in

bluegrass led Hicks and a few Macon friends to form The

Ocmulgee Bluegrass Band. The group performed at picnics,

barbeques, churches, Central Georgia festivals and venues like

the Powersville and Hollonville Opry Houses.

The Claude Hicks Vocal Band emerged on the scene in 1997.

Even with two of its members, Everett Clackler and John

Williamson, inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of

Fame, the group rehearses most Monday nights and performs at

various venues in and around Central Georgia. After 10 years

playing together, it’s not like they need the practice; they just

enjoy it.

“As a musician, I hope I have improved over the years in both

my singing and playing guitar. That’s true for all of us in the

band,” he says. “We certainly have been playing together long

enough to pretty well know what to do in presenting our music

and what each of us can and will do.”

Hicks also dons a kilt and performs Celtic music. Armed with

both a six-string and a 12-string guitar, he has entertained at

Scottish games, Burns Night dinners and other Scottish events

throughout the Southeast.

As for any thoughts of going pro, Hicks laughs them off. “I

think all of us like eating enough to forego considering being

very undernourished musicians.”

The musically-inclined magistrate judge admits that being an

artist relieves the pressure of his day job. “I don’t know how it

makes the stress of nine to five easier, but it does. Although we

spend a lot of time rehearsing and planning how to present our

music, once we start playing, the stress seems to disappear.”

The Honorable Claude Hicks – United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Georgia

O’ Verdict, Where Art Thou?

Lead Vocals and Guitar, the Claude Hicks Vocal Band (Lyn Hicks, vocals, mandolin and fiddle; Alisa Rehberg, vocals and dobro; Bobby Rhodes, vocals

and banjo; Everett Clackler, fiddle; John Williamson, bass)

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For Edward Clark, using the best of his left and right brain has

served him well. With musicians on both sides of his family, Clark

began with elementary school choir, later adding piano and

saxophone to his lesson plans. As the Central High School Marching

Band’s first chair saxophonist and player in the jazz ensemble, the

sax stuck.

Although he took jazz and concert band courses during his

undergraduate, it wasn’t until his fourth year of medical school that

jazz became an instrumental part of his life. A regular in the

Charleston, South Carolina jazz club scene, Clark made his stage

debut the night of his graduation. “The faithful crowd all went to

Henry’s, and I performed for probably the first time as far as singing

and scat singing goes . . . brought the house down with Joe Williams’

version of ‘Well, All Right, Okay, You Win,’” he fondly recalls.

Clark continued playing in small combos during his pediatric

residency. He returned to Macon in 1995, joining the teaching staff at

the Medical Center of Central Georgia, as well as the Middle Georgia

Concert Band.

In 1998, Dr. Louis Goolsby, the senior vice president of Medical

Affairs, put together a group of medical staff to perform at the

hospital’s Christmas party. The group became Alternative Medicine,

an ensemble of 14 physicians, plus nurses, medical personnel,

students and residents.

“Many of our [Alternative Medicine] gigs wanted dinner music

played, and that is when the EKC Quartet was formed,” says Clark.

“We had four of us in the group that liked jazz.”

For the last seven years, Clark has served as president of the Jazz

Association of Macon. As part of their educational outreach, the group

formed the JAM Ensemble, which performs at local schools. “We

basically want children to know that music is fun, and if they are

interested they need to speak up, sing in their chorus at school or

church and if there is a band program, get involved,” says Clark. “If we

get them hooked on jazz, we consider that a bonus.”

Looking at Clark, it’s hard to tell where the white coat ends and

the sax begins. “I’ll get kids in the office who ask me, ‘Didn’t you

come to my school and play?’ I’ll be in the hospital, and the guys in

Alternative Medicine will talk about when we’re going to get the

group back together . . . I ask all of the medical students their name,

rank, serial number and instruments they play . . . The residents are

used to me getting calls about gig questions . . . The ladies in the

office will ask, ‘Do I need to pull up a chart?’ and I will tell them, ‘No,

this is official band business.’”

Edward K. Clark, MD – Medical Director, Children’s Health Center • Assoc. Professor of Pediatrics, Mercer University School of Medicine

Cat on Call

Lead Vocals and Saxophone, EKC Quartet (Neil Rigole,

piano; KMO, bass; Ken Harper, MD, drums)

Lead Vocals and Alto Sax, JAM Ensemble (Steve Chanin,

drums; Neil Rigole, keyboards; Oscar Jackson, tenor

and soprano sax; Jerry Mullins, trumpet and flugle horn;

Bob Barnette, bass and tuba; KMO, guitar or bass)

Saxophone, Jettison Blue (Al Magallano, bass; Kurt

Woods, drums; Shey Smith, guitar; Bill O’Neil, vocals)

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If you want to stop Brad Powell in his tracks, just call him Chas

Cash. That was his stage name he played under during his college days

in Athens while pursuing a political science degree. He and friend Scott

Park also found ways to perform in various garage bands, taking in the

opportunities to rock and roll before graduation and “real jobs.”

That “real job” has been a career in insurance, where he has owned

an Alfa Insurance agency for the last 12 years. It was after launching

careers and having kids that Powell and Park decided to re-unite in 2003

to make music again, this time outside the bar scene. “I think the general

consensus from our wives was we really couldn’t play bars . . . So Scott

and I decided to pursue making a private party band,” he says.

After some serious rehearsal time, the newly-formed Town Squares

hit the wedding and special event circuit with a repertoire of cover songs

and Powell at the mic. “I was kind of forced into it,” he says with a smile.

“I became the frontman by default.”

The good times haven’t stopped coming since. “When you are a

wedding band, you lose some of your music credibility, but for me, it’s

been an opportunity to play live music,” Powell says. “Whether the

audience is screaming for you or they are screaming because of the

wedding punch, people having a good time and liking what you do is a

pretty amazing feeling.

“I’ve never looked at music as anything other than a hobby because

there are so many more people who are more talented at it than I am,”

he continues. “But I think being a business owner, I am good enough at

marketing. I know how to package this up and surround myself with

people who are really, really good, so I can actually go out and make

enough to support my hobby.”

For Powell, it’s not about the money. He just wants to play, and he

is content to balance his career alongside it. “I really love what I do as an

insurance agent. It’s an opportunity to help someone when their house

burns down or when their spouse passes away, and I’m able to fulfill a

promise,” he says. “But playing in a wedding band is all about me. It’s a

stress reliever. Some people play golf — I just happen to play in a band.”

Jessica Walden

Photography by Ken Krakow

Brad Powell – Agent, Alfa Insurance

Hip to be Square

Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar, The Town Squares (Scott Park, bass; Mark Trawick, drums; David

Cole, lead guitar; Karen Barlow, keyboards)

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