Capitol Theatre brings national, local acts to Macon for Ultimate Music Wave Festival

The Capitol Theatre welcomes “The Ultimate Music Wave Festival” on Saturday at 6 p.m. featuring Rehab, a group originating out of Middle Georgia and featuring longtime, genre-bending musical artist Danny “Boone” Alexander, plus three other national acts.

But opening the show is a local band called Ashes, one of Macon’s newer groups.

The Macon appearance is part of Rehab’s tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their most well-known song, “Sittin’ at a Bar.” At least that was its original name; a later release was called “Bartender Song (Sittin’ at a Bar).”

“Yeah, it definitely had a big impact on us and is our biggest hit,” Alexander told me in a phone conversation from his home in Warner Robins. “We originally released it on our ‘Southern Discomfort’ album in 2000 on Epic Records as ‘Sittin at a Bar.’ It got pretty popular, then later got really popular.”

The first release of “Sittin’ at a Bar” didn’t do a whole lot chart-wise, but it did start gaining momentum as an underground, viral hit. Its popularity caught the attention of record executives and the song got a redo in 2008 with country music legend Hank Williams Jr. joining in to sing along on bits. It didn’t get in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart but did hit near its midsection at 64 and at 60 on Billboard’s Country Songs chart.

It made it all the way to 11 on the Alternative Airplay list.

Two videos were made for the song: an early version without Williams and a later one with him. Most interestingly, though, is that one featured the rough, bad-guy-looking actor Danny Trejo as a bartender.

Some of Rehab/Alexander’s other popular songs include “Last Tattoo,” “King of Tweakers,” “Welcome Home” and “It Don’t Matter.” Their 2008 CD, “Graffiti the World,” is probably their most popular album. All in all, Alexander has recorded nine studio albums.

But what kind of music does Alexander make?

That’s a tough question to answer, all the tougher when you listen to a good sampling of his music through the years. With all the talk of bars and bartenders and Hank Williams Jr. and growing up in Georgia, it would be easy to assume his biggest influence and output would be country.

But it ain’t so.

It’s a rollicking blend of hip-hop and rap plus good ole’ country boy tunes, rock, pop, punk and even humor reminiscent of the stylings of a Ray Stevens or Weird Al Yankovic.

 “We always had music playing in the house when I was growing up in Warner Robins,” Alexander said. “Johnny Paycheck was the first album I ever got but I listened to all kinds of music. All kinds.”

Alexander said he listened to a lot of rock and Southern rock but even enjoyed hearing the very middle-of-the-road but sexually suggestive 1970s hit, “Afternoon Delight,” with its line, “Skyrockets in flight…,” while at the Crazy 8 Race Track on Dunbar Road during a U.S. Bicentennial celebration.

But then came the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and NWA which birthed and cemented his love for hip-hop.

“It was hip-hop that really got its hooks in me,” he said. “I guess my first rap performance was in the gym at a pep rally at Northside High School, but I was always doing stuff like that up and down the halls before that.”

Since then, he and local friend-musicians and musicians he’s met while steadily touring nationwide, have been making music, frequently writing songs that scrape the underside of life but often with an element of redemption in them.

And very often, done in a quirky, humorous way.

“Sittin’ in a Bar,” written by Alexander and Mike Hartnett, is about a guy in a bar waiting for the cops to come after a series of “incidents.” “Last Tattoo,” listed as written by Alexander alone, is about the markings of love eternal gone wrong.

“You don’t want to be all doom and gloom,” Alexander said. “You need an escape hatch somewhere. And you don’t want to make it too autobiographical either, but more universal about what we all know and feel. And you don’t want to name too many names. Some things sound funny to me, I guess, and words come out that are kind of profound or ironic at times. Making them funny keeps things interesting.”

Alexander said he played sports at Northside High School but never as a standout. He said he wasn’t a good student and one teacher remembered him as the kid who came in and just lay his head on his desk.

Even so, his songs show him to be a clever wordsmith and storyteller.

I asked if it came from listening to hip-hop artists and was surprised at his answer.

“I had some good English teachers at Northside,” he said. “One was Mrs. (Lynn) Campbell and another was Brenda Littlefield. I put her name in a song. I remember Mrs. Littlefield reading things like Beowulf and I was impressed by the
story and the words and the language. I liked that she knew all the different ways people understood it. And I guess another thing is I just listen to people and their accents and get a lot from that.”

Alexander said what Rehab makes from its merchandise sales on Saturday will be donated to the Macon Rescue Mission. This will be Rehab’s only Macon appearance as it tours this year.

Also performing Saturday are Mickey Avalon, former Saving Abel frontman Scotty Austin and Defiant. The evening will be hosted by actor-singer Peter Dante, who appeared in several Adam Sandler films.

And then there’s Ashes, comprised of Lewis Ashe, lead vocals and guitar, Chris Hankey, guitar, Erik Wolstenholme, bass, Mason Wiley, vocals and drums, and Andrew Adams sitting in on harmonica.

Ashes’ members hail from across Georgia but met while attending school in Macon and Milledgeville and formed the band just under a year ago.

“I guess it started with an acoustic trio I was with called Lewis and the Locals,” Ashe said. “I was in Macon at Mercer University where I got degrees in business and took a few music and classical guitar classes. They were a huge help. I needed to put a regular band together for a gig and knew these guys who were in a band in Milledgeville. We got together for the job, things gelled, and we ended up together. Now, we’re a rock and roll band writing our own songs, doing some covers and getting out there playing as much as we can.”

Ashes has played a variety of clubs, school functions and other gigs, but Ashe said Saturday will be their first show at the Capitol Theatre or any concert-style venue.

He said appearing came about in a hometown kind of way, with the mother of a bandmate having gone to high school with Alexander — that sort of thing.

“I think Rehab’s tour manager fits into it somehow too, with them knowing each other and knowing we had the band,” he said. “They invited us to play and, of course, we’re happy for the opportunity. We hope to have some of our own music recorded and out soon.”

Visit rehabtheband.com for more information about Rehab, Alexander, the Rehab Presents: WRBN Podcast and tickets for Saturday. Ashes can be found at asheentertainment.com. The Capitol Theatre is at capitoltheatremacon.com.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at @michael_w_pannell.