GABBAfest '03 Band Info

The Bands of GABBAfest '03

Lee Roy Parnell is among the elite few who can be identified as a triple threat: an ace guitarist as well as a distinctive singer and hit songwriter. Parnell has garnered the respect of fans and industry veterans alike with his soulful vocals and award-winning slide guitar playing. His music runs the gamut of diversity: blue-eyed soul, Delta blues, road house rock, Southern boogie, Texas swing, and gospel defying conventional classification. He draws from a broad range of music sources and combines them with seamless dexterity. GABBA welcomes Lee Roy Parnell as our headlining artist for GABBAfest '03 on Friday night, October 10.

Grinderswitch
GABBAfest welcomes one of the original Georgia bands from the heyday of the Southern rock era. Thirty years ago four young musicians formed a band out of Warner Robins, Georgia that would become one of Capricorn’s shining stars of that era. Immortalized in the Charlie Daniel’s anthem to Southern Rock, “The South’s Gonna do it Again”, “the train to Grinderswitch is running right on time”. Dru Lombar will be right on time at GABBAfest with his new reformed Grinderswitch band playing many of their great songs from the 70’s as well as some exciting new songs that you will see on future releases. Joe Dan Petty was an original member of Grinderswitch and Dru and the band did not want to miss being a part of our dedication to Joe Dan and his family. Grinderswitch will be performing on the Douglass stage as the opening act Friday October 10.

Tim Brooks and Breau Jam

Tim Brooks is a local Macon guitar legend and has achieved a mass following of awestruck fans throughout the United States and after a sold out tour of Europe last year, the world. Tim was awarded the Grand Prize winner in Guitar Player Magazine’s 25^th anniversary Ultimate Guitar Competition. He not only won the slide guitar category but his entry so impressed the judges that he also won the Grand Prize out of thousands of worldwide entrants. He was flown out to San Fran to participate in the Ultimate Guitar Concert sharing the bill with Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Steve Morse, John Lee Hooker, Ry Cooder, Adrian Belew, Harvey Mandel and Gregg Allman, with whom Tim joined in a rousing rendition of “One Way Out”. Tim has paid his dues for over thirty years now, playing with various members of the Allman Brothers Band and other Capricorn Studio recording stars. He has opened shows for Muddy Waters, Steve Morse, Roy Rogers and Tinsley Ellis. Tim’s appreciation for Allman Brothers music has never waned and he can play their music like no one else. Tim has performed and attended many past GABBAfests and we are proud and extremely pleased to welcome him and the band Breau Jam back for GABBAfest '03.

Mark May
Mark May has been playing guitar and writing songs since he was 5 years old. Since then, this child virtuoso has become one of the most versatile talents working today. His master of the guitar will leave you awed and amazed. Based out of Houston Texas since the mid-eighties, Mark has played with many luminaries of the Blues and Rock stage such as BB King, Travis Tritt, The Black Crowes, John Mayall, The Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, the Allman Brothers and the Dickey Betts Band. Dickey’s CD Let’s Get Together spotlights Mark performing two original songs. Mark May and the agitators released two critically acclaimed CD’s, Call on the Blues and Telephone Road Houston, TX. Mark has recently released his follow-up CD, Doll Maker, featuring nine original works. Mark May will be taking the stage at the Douglass Theatre as a featured act on Saturday October 11.

Big Willy and the Wingtips
is a steamin’ hot bowl of Blues Stew with just a dash of the Delta, a few chunks of hot Texas Swing, and a bit of R&B to spice it all up for consumption to fit most anyone’s Blues appetite. The band has been around for six years in various forms. It is now comprised of (from left to right) Robin Mauldin, James Brown, Jody Petty and Stan Smith. All of them dedicated to bring a bit of flair to the Blues table. Big Willy and the Wingtips will get things cooking on the Douglass Stage as the opening act Saturday night October 11.

To see these great acts get your GABBAfest weekend Laminate at the Registration Table located in the lobby of the Douglass Theatre. The Douglass Theatre is located at 355 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd down the street from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Based on availability, same night Tickets will be sold at the Douglass.