Tombstone Generator
I have been playing around the Athens area for about five years now, and play guitar and harmonica for Caroline Monroe. I released my first CD "The Gypsy" Last year and have had success with it. The single "Bulldawg Drinkin song has gotten local airplay, and word is spreading. I am currently writing and producing an album entitled "Ghost Town" for the beautiful Caroline Monroe. It should be out in July. I have opened for such acts as Phil Vassor, Kevn Kenny, The Star Room Trio, The Laney Strickland Band, and THE ROLLING STONES (tribute band). Buy my CD at Athensmusic.net, Come see a live show, Support local Music.
Songwriter Fester Hagood grew up in Watkinsville, and he can't get away from his Southern roots; you soon find out, however, that the songs he writes draw from life experiences on a global scale. He pursued his higher education at a small school in Tifton, GA - the quintessential one stop light town. Earning his degree in forestry and another in wildlife technology, Hagood says, "A couple of two-year degrees equals a four in my opinion." As for good times in a small town, Hagood fondly recalls, "It's probably the only school that sponsors a mud bog and a tractor pull."
After college, he decided to see America with a buddy, but when he showed up in Atlanta for departure, said buddy had his girlfriend in tow and Hagood quickly became the third wheel on the carefully planned road trip. Plans changed when he decided to stay in Jackson Hole, WY, while the couple pressed on. With 30 bucks and a sleeping bag to his name, he rented a 4-by-12 storage unit, paid a few bucks to shower at a local hotel once in a while, and got offered a job as a bouncer at The Rancher, a laid-back watering hole.
His travels helped put the Athens scene in perspective. "You kinda think that every place is like Athens, and you'll be in Atlanta at a decent club, paying a hefty cover and think, Man, I can hear better shit at DT's and only run a $10 tab.'" Hagood, who also fronts country act Ray Ray and the Hog Mountain Boys, has just released Gypsy, his first solo effort, featuring guest appearances from several local notables: William Tonks, Rick Fowler and Susan Staley, among others. While Gypsy may not be a profound artistic statement, the Buffett-meets-outlaw country sound is perfect for raising a glass (or two).
David Eduardo, Athensmusic.com
ABC Pick
Fester Hagood & Caroline Monroe
Friday, June 16, Eastwood Pub
Fester Hagood & Caroline Monroe
The last time Flagpole caught up with Fester Hagood, he had just released his debut solo effort Gypsy and was knocking around town in the feel-good bar band Ray-Ray and The Hog Mountain Boys. On the surface, things were looking copacetic. Truth is, my band was kinda breaking up at the time - but thats about the time I met Caroline [Monroe]. I went from writing a ton of rock songs back to my country roots. Caroline plays country suited for the radio, so its helped me become more versatile.
The duo is hard at work applying the finishing touches to Monroes forthcoming debut Ghost Town and can be tracked down at Eastwood Pub this Friday evening with special guest Ty Manning of the Bearfoot Hookers. In addition to collaborating with Hagood, Monroe performs songs written by her father, aspiring novelist and former Creative Loafing senior editor Doug Monroe. He tells me its the most fun hes ever had writing, says Caroline. Sometimes they strike gold, and other times they fall a little short. He had an idea that I thought was way too cheesy, but I think Nashville will love it," she laughs. "Without revealing too much, its called 'www.Don'tYouKnowILoveYou.com,' and my dad loves it. I think hell end up recording it himself.
Speaking of Nashville, Hagood has just returned after pitching some tunes. Its the second time Ive been up there," he says. "I went about five years ago and its what Ive expected. A lot of promise, everyone says they like it and I never heard anything. But, Ive met a lot of people and got my music out there and thats whats important - but Im not gonna dance until I see something in writing.
David Eduardo
Fabric of Kings
By David Eduardo | Correspondent | Story updated at 11:19 PM on Thursday, April 12, 2007
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 041207
Fester Hagood is right at home here. One might say the song-chasing Southern troubadour has harvested a potential cash crop, or, at the very least is finding comfort sitting in high cotton co-fronting the rural rock quartet King Cotton with guitarist-vocalist "Big" Don Spurlin.
The songwriting duo is well matched and seemingly born to deliver workingman's blues, from a countrified perspective.
On a farm in Oglethorpe County, a recent Saturday afternoon is spent in the wood-paneled space off the kitchen, in a home most of a century old and currently occupied by the band's drummer Scott Tracy (the four-piece is rounded out by bassist Jared Forrester), and there isn't a better place to enjoy the feel of Cotton.
The band's aim certainly is less poppy and feel-good than Hagood's recent efforts, namely collaborations with country crooner Caroline Monroe and as the driving force behind the fun-loving Ray-Ray and The Hog Mountain Boys.
"I was trying for the Nashville rap - this is more me," says Hagood when comparing King Cotton to other projects, though he admits with a grin, "Every third song I write is slow 'cause I'm still trying to write for those a--holes in Nashville."
Truth is, there's a social awareness and deep rural connection in these songs. Request "Carpetbaggers" at Friday's show to hear it for yourself.
On a recent afternoon, Bearfoot Hooker and man about town Ty Manning is sitting in on guitar exchanging filthy licks with Spurlin, whose songwriting skills and guitar prowess are equally pleasant surprises that give Cotton a deep and undeniably genuine Southern edge.
The monolithic axeman has nimble fingers around his Fender, and he knows his way around a rock song. For evidence test drive "Mr. Hyde," a tune Spurlin describes as, "kind of a quit-drinking song," which honors (and immortalizes) his friend and fellow musician Jerry Eubanks' run-in with an eighteen-wheeler.
So, at what point did "Big" Don know he was destined to rock?
"Four," he says flatly, and when asked to explain the answer further, one realizes why he might have hoped for the initial, short response to suffice. "My mother and grandmother got me on the table and we lip-synced to 'Elvira,' " says the bespectacled bluesman with a smile.
At the farmhouse curious canines peek in from the screened-in porch to observe the debauchery. The nearest cows start moseying to a more distant pasture and there's an empty feeder in the field worth nothing more than two tons of rust. There is risk in smoking cigarettes too close to the propane tank and there are chicken houses in the distance, thankfully seen and not smelled. There is a cold can of beer in the fridge and a foosball table in the kitchen, and you get the feeling this is all getting boiled down and distilled and dyed into King Cotton.
In 2006 Fester Hagood got tired of playing “Brown Eyed Girl”. After playing in numerous cover bands over the years, enough was enough. He rounded up old band mates and formed the band King Cotton. He called fellow songwriter and guitar virtuoso “Big” Don Spurlin, along with bassist William Jarred Forrester and drum machine Scott Tracy. Like its namesake, the band focused on a moment in time that had been long forgotten, a time when Southern music reigned supreme. With roots firmly planted in Country, Blues, and Southern Rock, King Cotton began growing a faithful following throughout North Georgia. Fester Hagood’s lyrics go from dark to humorous and everywhere in between, sung with a raspy Southern drawl. Big Don belts out his songs with the same intensity that he puts into his unique playing style. Occasionally, a Waylon Jennings or Hendrix cover may slip in to the mix and played strictly out of respect. For the most part, however, King Cotton has plenty to say on their own.
If you wanna hear songs you’ve heard a million times, turn on your radio or check out the tribute band up the street. If you are looking for a chance to see music created before your eyes from the heart and soul of a true Southern band that still plays for the love of the show and a bar tab, King Cotton is your band.
