Travel to Listen: Why This Southern City Is America's Most Underrated Music Town

About this episode

Tim Chester explores the musical legacy of Macon, Georgia, highlighting its underrated status as a music town.

Welcome to Travel to Listen, a new Unpacked series hosted by veteran music journalist Tim Chester. Over four episodes rolling out every other week, Tim takes us into the cities where music is more than entertainment—it’s the shortcut to a place’s soul. This week, he goes to the source in Macon: meet the people keeping the city’s legendary songbook alive, and find out why a trip here might be the most soulful detour you’ve never considered. In this episode How the Macon Music Revue transforms songs by Little Richard, the Allman Brothers, and R.E.M. into something new—without losing what made them legendary Why Charles Davis believes there’s “something in the water” in Macon—and how the city’s Indigenous roots may be part of its musical soul The story behind the new Otis Redding Center for the Arts: from a 1965 music camp at Otis’s ranch to a full museum and education hub that opened in March 2025 What visitors to Macon often don’t know about Otis Redding—the savvy businessman, devoted family man, and farmer who owned cows, chickens, and horses Where to eat, drink, and hear live music in Macon: from Capricorn Sound Studios to H&H Soul Food, where the Allman Brothers ate when…

People in this episode

Host: Tim Chester

Guest: Charles Davis

Topics covered

• music
• Macon
• cultural heritage
• southern cities
• live music
• Otis Redding

Keywords

• Macon
• music
• Otis Redding
• Charles Davis
• southern music
• live music venues
• music history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Macon Music Revue, Otis Redding Center for the Arts, Capricorn Sound Studios, H&H Soul Food

Places: Macon

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