JAX MUSIC IS...
​JOYOUS, FAITHFUL, STRIVING, TIMELESS, AND UNIQUE.
Keith "Jughead" Johnson on what makes Jacksonville's music scene so special.
JOY OF MUSIC
"First of all, I miss the music industry, every single day of my life. The ability to bring joy to somebody, the ability to play a new tune to somebody that they've never heard of, that just lights them up, and they just -- it makes them happy. It's a real business. But it's one that just brings joy...I think it's all about bringing joy to people. Music ties us all together."
Jeff Cohen
Former CEO of Dolphin Music, Cal's Music, and Attitude Records; Platinum and Gold Record-winning record producer; Owner of Jeff Cohen Music Publishing.
FAITH
"I guess you could say I tell people all the time, if you have to tell a person: 'Are you saved? Are you are a Christian?' I see you, so I try to live that type of life that people know just who I am and what I represent. So I guess more than that, I just love God, and I've just tried to support Christ. I mean, I won’t represent Christ. I'm saying it like that." (when asked about Gospel music's importance)
Jerry "DJ" West
Platinum and Gold Record Winning DJ with WOBS; Promoter of Jax gospel music groups; Owner of DJ's Records.
"'Huh? What's this?' A Christian rock band of sorts. 'Playing in a church, huh? That's cool.' And then [Mike Missouri] asked me to help with their sound, which was part of my day job. And at Music City, all of us sold guitars and amps and bases. But we had a drum department, a keyboard department -- yeah, I was in the sound department. So boom, that plugs me into that at the perfect time in my life. So as I'm facing out as rock and roll, I'm engaged to get married and phasing into Christian music."
"'Huh? What's this?' A Christian rock band of sorts. 'Playing in a church, huh? That's cool.' And then [Mike Missouri] asked me to help with their sound, which was part of my day job. And at Music City, all of us sold guitars and amps and bases. But we had a drum department, a keyboard department -- yeah, I was in the sound department. So boom, that plugs me into that at the perfect time in my life. So as I'm facing out as rock and roll, I'm engaged to get married and phasing into Christian music."
Chip Jaynes
Owner of Chip's Music; Former figure in Christian rock; Guitarist for The Toys.
PERSONAL STRIFE
"Well, I have to quote Abbey Lincoln. She said the truth is like a balloon, which you’re trying to hold under water. You can't do it, you know -- it will always rise. And, the truth is the truth, and it will always rise. You can try to hold it down, but it won't work." (answering the question of why music by Black artists seems to flourish in times of suffering)
John Betsch
Formerly Paris-based jazz drummer from Jacksonville; Family founded the American Beach resort, depicted in the John Sayles film "Sunshine State."
"I seen we only had a couple of seconds before we hit the ground. I grabbed Ronnie [Van Zant] up off the floor, shoved him between Allan and Gary, and he was fighting with me. I strapped him in and he was saying, 'what're you doing man, I need to get some sleep.' He's fighting with me... fighting with the seatbelt. I slapped him, and I said, 'Man, the plane is crashing. I'm not messing with you!' Then somebody said 'Trees!' and we hit the trees. I tried to turn to run back to my seat, but I didn't realize I was running uphill at a 52 degree angle."
"I seen we only had a couple of seconds before we hit the ground. I grabbed Ronnie [Van Zant] up off the floor, shoved him between Allan and Gary, and he was fighting with me. I strapped him in and he was saying, 'what're you doing man, I need to get some sleep.' He's fighting with me... fighting with the seatbelt. I slapped him, and I said, 'Man, the plane is crashing. I'm not messing with you!' Then somebody said 'Trees!' and we hit the trees. I tried to turn to run back to my seat, but I didn't realize I was running uphill at a 52 degree angle."
Gene Odom
Bodyguard for Lynyrd Skynyrd; Lifelong friend of Ronnie Van Zant; Survivor of the '77 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash.
BACKSTAGE STORIES
"I could not believe that I was in his [Gary Rossington's] presence. Okay, I mean, I just couldn't believe it. And like Heartbreak Hotel. He had to work on that one because it didn't come naturally to him. And so you'd walk around the house and picking Heartbreak Hotel. And so, a friend of mine was who was there was helping them scout locations for the album's cover shoot. He wanted to do it here in St Augustine, and did that."
Vanessa "Van" Baker
Member of Solano family, the oldest recorded European family in North America; Lent a horse to Lynyrd Synyrd for The Last Rebel album cover.
"I know Frank Sinatra heard that song, 'Strangers in the Night'. It was on something else... it was part of something else, 'the Words' or something. And then he decided, 'I want to use that song.'"
(Recalling Charles Singleton's "Strangers in the Night")
Pam Singleton
Vice President of Durkeeville Historical Society; Granddaughter of Charles "Hoss" Singleton.
A UNIQUE MUSICAL BREW
"Jacksonville has this really great mixture of great gospel music, great rock music -- great all around music. Now, you got a lot of rappers and hip hop culture, you know, it's just a great melting pot of a lot of good music. So I think if people are going to study me, they need to then study the sound of Jacksonville."
Jacksonville-based jazz drummer; Graduate of the Douglas Anderson School for the Arts; Founder of Don't Skip a Beat, a nonprofit music academy and community center.
"I would say there was something in the old heritage of Jacksonville. It was definitely... unique would be too strong a word, but let's say... unusual. It was a certain center, it was one of the centers for blues and what became gospel. So is this because of that soulful thing, that swamp thing, that Florida sound? And do you know that there was a time when Jacksonville was known as the Harlem of the South?"
Professor of Music at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FA&M); Prominent jazz and blues trumpeter.
