Ripple Makers

In This Episode

In this episode, we explore the vibrant arts scene in Macon, focusing on the iconic Bragg Jam Music Festival and the Macon Film Festival. Guests Olivia Walter and Jim Crisp share the history, community impact, and future vision of these cultural events, highlighting how they foster local talent and bring people together through music and film.

Featured Guest: Olivia Walter
President, Bragg Jam Board of Directors

Topics include:
  • History and origin of Bragg Jam
  • Community impact of music festivals
  • Supporting local artists and musicians
  • Unique experiences at Bragg Jam
Featured Guest: Jim Crisp
Co-Founder, Macon Film Festival

Topics include:
  • The role of the Macon Film Festival in local arts
  • Future visions for Macon's arts scene
  • The significance of film in Macon’s culture
  • Notable guests and their stories
  • How festivals foster community and economic growth
Sound Bites
"Bragg Jam unites the community through music, beyond genres."
"The full dome experience is like no other in Macon."
"Burt Reynolds came to Macon for a special film print."

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the episode and guests
00:47 History and origin of Bragg Jam
03:56 Olivia Walters shares her involvement with Bragg Jam
05:52 The evolution and community impact of Bragg Jam
06:17 What to expect at a Bragg Jam concert crawl
09:08 Future goals for Bragg Jam and Macon’s music scene
10:18 Introduction to the Macon Film Festival
12:11 The origins and significance of the film festival
13:37 Unique film experiences and community engagement
15:56 What happens during the film festival
16:42 Filmmakers' reactions to Macon
18:00 How to get involved with the film festival
21:15 Jim Crisp shares stories about Macon’s film history
22:45 Closing remarks and appreciation for Macon’s arts community

Featured Music
  • The Buckley's
  • "Moon River" — Johnny Mercer
Connect
Bragg Jam Official Website - https://www.bragjam.org
Macon Film Festival Official Website - https://maconfilmfestival.com
StreamTheCreek - https://streamthecreek.com

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Creators and Guests

Host
Charles Davis

What is Ripple Makers?

This series shares the stories of Macon/Central Georgia nonprofits, giving them a platform to raise awareness of their causes and highlighting their role in the Macon community.

Charles:

Hello there, and welcome to another episode of Ripple Makers Charles Davis over here. Susie Cowan over there. Hello, Susie. Hello. How are you?

Susie:

You know, living the dream.

Charles:

I hear you on that. So in our continuation of teaching you about all the nonprofits, organizations in this town, we're gonna dub this episode summer festivals.

Susie:

Love it.

Charles:

Because we love a good summer fun. And

Susie:

I know we do.

Charles:

In this town, music and film are two of our biggest assets when it comes to that. So on this show, it will be no different. We will have the current president of Bragg M on with this, miss Olivia Walters of Bragg M, to talk about that event and what they do all year long.

Susie:

Such a great event.

Charles:

And then one of my favorite people in the world, the man who I can almost say made me close to who I am today, Jim Crisp with the Macon Festival will be here to talk about all of that. And he has a deep history because he's been here a while through all of that. So today's episode is gonna be phenomenal, and you're gonna learn so much.

Susie:

I'm so excited to learn all the things.

Charles:

It's gonna be great.

Mark:

I might be biased, but I truly believe growing up in the South is a genuinely unique experience. I'm Mark Ballard, and I'm hosting the Creek Media's new podcast, Genuinely Southern, where I'll be exploring all things Southern. From interviews with some of my good friends, talking truly Southern traditions, and sharing stories about growing up in Georgia, there is surely to be no stone unturned. I hope you'll join me for Genuinely Southern brought to you by Carlisle Place at Home, only on Stream The Creek Dot Com. See y'all soon.

Charles:

Anthony, we've done a lot of living here on the creek over the past ten years.

Anthony:

That's one of the reasons it felt right to launch our new podcast, No Dams, in celebration of the creek's tenth anniversary, A behind the scenes look at our journey here at the Creek. The good, the bad, the stuff we probably shouldn't be sharing.

Charles:

No Dams is a no holds barred look at our past and present. Completely uncensored, probably for adult ears only. Available only via subscription. You'll find no dams on streamthecreek.com. That's no dams, no dams given.

Anthony:

No dams at all. Streaming July 8.

Susie:

Welcome back to the show now, Susie.

Charles:

Out of all the stuff that we have talked about trying to get educated on all the things that make this great city what it is, I think we have run upon one of my favorites and one that you definitely have to know about and that is Bragg Jam. And since you come from a city that does a lot of music festivals, I think you have to know about this one.

Susie:

I'm very excited to learn more for sure.

Charles:

So we are greatly and and happy to have in the building El Presidente herself, Olivia Walters, president of Bragg Jam in the building. How are you today?

Susie:

I'm doing fantastic. I'm so glad to be here. Every time I get to spend some time here in the creek and with you, Charles, it's just a pleasure.

Charles:

We gotta make sure that Susie knows all the great things about all the people. So, Susie, jump this thing off.

Susie:

Yeah. Let's learn a little bit more about how Bragg Jam got started. I'm so excited you're gonna experience your first Bragg Jam. Yeah. It got started actually from tragedy, which is not something we always love to talk about, but it's important to know our history.

Susie:

Bragg's Bragg had a band going. They just recorded an album. They were gonna go on a tour. Big musicians in Macon. Everyone loved them.

Susie:

He decided before he was gonna go on this road trip, he was gonna take his younger brother, Tate, for a road trip before the tour. In Texas, they got into a car accident and sadly passed away. Macon got together in the best way they know how to, and they went to the Rookery and had a jam session, and that was the first Bragg Jam. That's why we have Bragg Jam every single year on the hottest time of the year last week in July because that was when the first one happened in 1999 at the Rookery. And from there, it became an annual thing.

Susie:

And then by 2003, they made it a whole concert crawl, and it just exploded from there.

Susie:

It's very special the way the community came together

Charles:

Yeah.

Susie:

Rallied around the music, but in honor of the Bragg Brothers. Brothers.

Susie:

Mhmm. How did you get involved with Bragg Jam? I moved to Macon in 2012, and I came from Nashville. And I remember when I moved here, I was scared. Like, how do you make new friends?

Susie:

My first week of living here happened to be Bragg Jam week. And, you know, Alex Morrison, John Roberts, they were like, you should go to Bragg Jam. It's gonna be a ton of fun. And I went and immediately felt like, oh, this is home. I met so many amazing people that night.

Susie:

I let the music sort of just take over, and it united me with the rest of this community in ways I would have never imagined. And I think that's what Bragg Macon does. It's more than just music. It's more than just one time night at a concert crawl. It's creating this community that sort of speaks through music.

Susie:

It's not just one genre. It's not just, you know, one type of person. It's a whole melting pot of the night, and I love it. I actually got involved with Bragg Jam in 2017, and it had become something that fed the ecosystem of making music. And, you know, we have a rich music history, and Bragg Jam's a part of that music history, and we have to represent it in that way.

Susie:

We've created more events to represent more than that. Yeah. We'll get into second Sundays that happen. Every second Sunday on Coleman Hill, we do soul spots for First Fridays where we hire local musicians to busk on the streets. We've created different competitions.

Susie:

We have Bragg January that happens. It's a battle of the bands, and the winner of that battle of the bands gets to open up the night on Capitol Stage. So they get to say, I got to open up before these national headliners. And so it's a really special moment. And that's That was such a great addition to the lineup.

Susie:

So much fun. And it's just a bunch of young musicians. They're gonna be our next generation of musicians here in Macon. You know, we hear about our history, but we need to create what's gonna be that next historical moment.

Charles:

I'm ringing the bell. Yeah. That that makes so much sense.

Susie:

We continue to find new and unique ways to sort of create this environment and Macon to become that music city that other people are gonna hear about.

Charles:

Yeah. Yeah. That makes That's fantastic. That makes sense. Alright.

Charles:

Now, Susan, here here comes the big part of this interview because these are things hope you have a pen and a piece of paper because I need you to write some of these things down. Alright. So for those who have never been to a Bragg Jam concert crawl before, what is what you would dub the Bragg Jam experience?

Susie:

You know, it's gonna be several venues. But at each venue that day, you're gonna see three to four different acts perform. So in one day, you get to see 40 different acts

Charles:

Yeah.

Susie:

All for the price of one ticket. Yeah. You need to do your research a little bit before you go into the concert crawl because you can't see all 40 in one night.

Charles:

It's I'm telling you my shoes. It's impossible. Oh, tried one year. Mhmm. No.

Charles:

It's not gonna happen. Make a place to where an unexpected change can happen.

Jim:

Yes.

Charles:

Make have have your schedule. Definitely that because you're gonna wanna do that. But don't be afraid of the unexpected, oh, all of my friends are going to see this band right now. I'm gonna stick to my schedule and no, I'm not altering it.

Susie:

I'm a planner, man. And I always think that, like, I'm gonna stick to my schedule. I'm very type a, but then, like, I will say all my best friends are all b personnel. Like, they wanna they wanna just

Charles:

Go with the vibe.

Susie:

They wanna go with the vibe. Yeah. And so I've had to teach myself, like, sometimes going with the vibe is a way better idea on Bragg M Night.

Charles:

It is. Yeah.

Susie:

Yeah. You know, that's how you discover your next big artist because you might have not ever thought of going to see you know, in the past, we've had, like To me, it was Rainbow Surprise. Jesus. Yes.

Charles:

Same brand.

Susie:

Yeah. That was at the Library Ballroom. Uh-huh. No one would have thought, like, oh, we should go see this band called Rainbow Kitten Surprise at the Library Ballroom, and that show was insane. It was before anyone had heard of them.

Susie:

Yeah. And now they're doing, like, major arenas. And that's crazy to think that, like, this small band that's coming in that you hadn't heard of, I'm gonna go follow the vibe because I don't want my fan friends to abandon me because I just wanna go see this person that I already

Charles:

knew. Exactly.

Susie:

And then you could say, I saw Rainbow Kitten Surprise in the Library Ballroom or Zach Brown Band. I don't remember where they played, but that was before chicken fried.

Charles:

Yeah. It was. It was it was early in their career. Like I said, Bragg Macon's had a very good record of of bands like that and throughout the history of it. So that's that's the reason why this festival is so diverse and is is is always on the edge of, okay, who is this?

Charles:

They should get some shine. Mhmm. And and then, like I said, next thing you know, they're touring all over the world.

Susie:

Listen to the Spotify playlist we have. Dress comfortably.

Charles:

That was that was the you're you're following right down the line of what I know, what what you need to it's

Susie:

it's the last weekend of July. It's hot. We live in Georgia. It's gonna be very miserable outside, but luckily, our venues are all inside, so you'll get that air conditioned break. Go stop and grab a slice of pizza or some wings at Piedmont.

Susie:

Make sure you grab a glass of water to know it's a pacer system. It's a long night.

Charles:

Yeah. Is. As El Presidente of of Bragg Macon, what are your hopes for what five years down the line of what Bragg Macon looks like? What what what is what are those dreams look like?

Susie:

I hope that Bragg Macon becomes the thing that feeds this next generation of music in Macon. And I want us to become known as a music city because we are a music city. Again, it's supporting our local musicians, but it's finding more than just live shows. It's finding ways to support our local musicians through helping them record new music, helping them get certain training that they might need to make that next step for them. Like, how do they find their agents that would get them on a tour?

Susie:

Yes. We want to help create something that really makes Macon sustainable in the music ecosystem and make us something that is well known as a place people wanna stop to see all of our great rich music history and our great rich music futures.

Charles:

Yeah.

Susie:

So what kind of music can can we expect to hear? Bragg Macon represents Macon. So we try to make sure we represent a little bit of everything. So we're gonna hear things from, like, Americana, but you're gonna also hear some hip hop, some punk. Bragg Macon's all about discovering something that you might not have ever thought that you would have discovered.

Susie:

I just can't wait. I'm ready for Bragg Jam now.

Charles:

Wear comfortable shoes. For anybody that needs any more information about the organization how can they get that?

Susie:

You can get all your information at www.braggjam.org. You can also follow us on Facebook. You can follow us on Instagram. Check us out. We're always available to hear from our fans.

Charles:

As always, we like all the organizations to bring in a song. So, Olivia, president of Bragg Jam, what song did you bring in today?

Susie:

Well, I decided, you know, it makes sense to start where we all began. And what began it all was the Buckleys. And as mentioned, they get to open up the concert crawl every single year, so we're gonna listen to the Buckleys.

Charles:

Welcome back to Ripple Makers, Charles Davis. Susie Cowan here with you. And Susie, we've had a lot of guests here to teach you all the things about Macon, and I'm so glad that this is your first time that you're meeting the gentleman sitting to your right. Because, and as I said previous to this, I probably would not be sitting in front of you right now in these studios if it were not for him. The man sitting next to you changed the trajectory Wow.

Charles:

Of my life. The founding artistic director of Theatre Macon. But here today talking about the Macon Festival, the one and only mister Jim Crisp. Jim, how are you?

Jim:

I am absolutely great, Charles.

Charles:

We're here to talk about the Macon Festival and to inform Susie about all the things that she needs to know. So Susie, once again, the floor is yours.

Susie:

Yeah. I'm so excited to learn more about the film festival. Thank you so much for being here.

Jim:

Oh, absolutely, Susie. I'm glad to be here with you.

Susie:

Yeah.

Susie:

Tell me a little bit about how the festival got started.

Jim:

Well I think this is a really important story and a lot of people don't know this story because we're in our twenty first year.

Susie:

Wow.

Jim:

Great. The festival is now old enough to drink.

Susie:

It's gonna be

Susie:

a whole

Susie:

lot more

Jim:

fun. What's really important about that story is that twenty one years ago our beautiful Capitol Theater on 2nd Street got beautifully renovated. Tony Long was the driving force behind getting that building renovated and saving it and then he came up with the idea of we've got to do something in that building. That's smart. So he came up with the idea of the film festival.

Jim:

So that's how the film festival started and and the festival is still anchored in our urban center which I think is important and it's a great thing.

Susie:

So how did you get involved with it?

Jim:

I'm not a snob about movies. I love movies. I grew up on movies. I grew up in the back seat or the back end of my parents' station wagon that And I would arrive I of course was drawn to it because of the people I've known in the business. So I just gravitated to it.

Jim:

There was a vibe about it that was very exciting and it felt like something really important is happening here in Macon and it was. And I've been a screener in the documentary category which I love. And that's another point that I would make is that the film festival does a fantastic job of having a broad variety of films and film types. We cover music, we cover documentary, feature films, LGBTQ films. We screen about a 100 films and these are films that audiences would normally never get to see any place else.

Charles:

Yeah.

Jim:

And they also get to interact with the filmmakers and that direct interaction with the filmmakers is exciting. They get the backstories, they get the insights from the filmmakers themselves. Now also, the other thing that I wanna mention that I think is important that I discovered that I had did not know about until the film festival did it is that out at the Museum of Arts and Sciences Yeah. We do something called the Full Dome. Now, in the planetarium, we screen films on the dome.

Jim:

Yeah. Now, these films are are specifically made

Charles:

For that.

Jim:

For that venue for screening on a planetarium dome. If you haven't experienced that,

Charles:

it is pretty It's whole another experience, yeah.

Jim:

Is. And you know what it reminded me of? It kind of reminded me, in a way, of when I was a kid in the late fifties and Cinerama came out.

Susie:

Mhmm.

Jim:

It kind of reminded me of Cinerama in its uniqueness.

Charles:

Yeah.

Jim:

And the way visually you you had a a a very different experience in watching a film that you didn't have anywhere else. So that's very exciting.

Charles:

Yeah. When it's

Jim:

built up. That's happening out at the Museum of Arts and Sciences. Okay. Mission of the film festival is to bring film, highlight the the art form of film. And then I think also it provides a sense of camaraderie and community Yes.

Jim:

Among film enthusiasts and people who are passionate about film.

Charles:

Yeah.

Susie:

That's

Jim:

right. And not just big Marvel comic book films.

Charles:

Yeah. No. Yeah. But film. That's the important thing.

Charles:

I think that's the thing too. Yeah. Even those actors and directors had to start somewhere. And That's this is where a lot of them do that. That's So on that same note, Jim, for somebody who has not been to the festival, kind of give them a bit of a view of what happens during the festival.

Jim:

So someone can buy a pass to the festival and see everything. Yeah. The filmmakers come to the festival. We get to hear from them. We get q and a, question and answer panels

Susie:

That's fun.

Jim:

With the audiences and those are wonderful. And in some years, we have had very big name celebrity guests Yeah. Like Burt Reynolds, Karen Black, Jack McBrayer, and of course our own, our very own Carrie Preston

Charles:

Yeah.

Jim:

Wow. Who grew up here in Macon.

Charles:

I kinda wanna jump since you talked about the filmmakers being in town. Like, what have you seen their reactions be to coming to Macon and and and they and how they feel the experience has been for them in the time that you've been with the organization?

Jim:

I will tell you my my experience in talking to the filmmakers about Macon. They come here and they are astounded. They also are captivated by our town, our streets, our buildings, our architecture, our vibe, our restaurants, our music clubs. Many of them have said things like, oh my gosh, if I'd known this was here, I would have filmed my entire film here.

Charles:

Yeah.

Jim:

Now it's important for people in Macon to realize that Macon has become a major center for filmmaking.

Susie:

Yes.

Jim:

In case anybody didn't know or they missed it, Superman was here filming just a week ago down at the terminal. That's very important because it's an economic driver. It pumps all kinds of money into our community. And not just into Macon, but it's a regional ripple effect. But I but I also think we have a very southern flavor.

Jim:

We're I I think we're driven by our hospitality.

Susie:

Mhmm.

Jim:

And we have a very strong and active board. Our volunteer base is very strong. If this festival went away I think it would be enormously missed.

Charles:

No it would. Yeah. No I can I can I can co I can co sign that most definitely? Yeah. Definitely.

Susie:

So if there is potential sponsors out there or just regular people that want to get involved with the film festival how do they do that?

Jim:

Go online. Go to our website, makinfilmfestival.com.

Charles:

We ask everybody, is there a a fun fact that you can regale the people with about the Macon Festival?

Jim:

My story mainly is our connection to our hometown girl Yeah. To Carrie Preston. Folks wanna see Carrie Preston do some wonderful work. She is currently running in her hit TV show Elsbeth. Yeah.

Jim:

And it's also streaming. I highly recommend it.

Susie:

It's a good

Jim:

Loved dearly. I met her when she was 13 when I was at Macon's Little Theatre and I

Charles:

She got married on Theatre Macon's Stage.

Jim:

And she got married on Theatre Macon's Stage and I officiated. Yeah. Oh, there's a fun fact.

Charles:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, no. It's Oh,

Jim:

I forgot about that one.

Charles:

A lot of that. No. It's a lot of that. And I think it's Yeah. These things like Yeah.

Charles:

The Macon Film Festival that I I try to tell people, it reminds at least me and everybody else around here is that, yes, we have this deep music history in this town. Yeah. But if you really look at it, our TV film and theater and acting history

Jim:

Yeah.

Charles:

Is pretty good too when you look at the number of actors and actresses that have come out of this town. So it is an event and and a festival like the Macon Festival Festival that highlights what is being done and then as you said before, gives light to the future and let them know that this can be done.

Jim:

Let's not forget that Macon is also home to some other people and has connections to other important people. Gray Henson

Charles:

Yeah.

Jim:

Who's been on Broadway many times.

Charles:

Tony nominated.

Jim:

Grew up here at Macon. Grew up at on our stage. And Jack McBrayer Yep. Is from Macon. Yep.

Jim:

And Jack McBrayer, of course, I mentioned was attended the festival one year. Matthew Modine, we have a connection to him. He's a first cousin to somebody who So lives Matthew Modine came here. He's one of my favorite actors by the way. He's superb.

Jim:

Great actor. And also, a great story about Burt Reynolds. The way we got him, the way we got Burt Reynolds here was because the brother-in-law of a local Macon guy lawyer works for Warner Brothers. He made the arrangements for us to get the number two print for deliverance. Now that's a big deal.

Jim:

Yeah. Is. It's like it's like in the in the art world, signed numbered prints, the lower the number, the higher the value. Yeah.

Susie:

Right. The

Jim:

same thing in the in the film

Charles:

world. So

Jim:

so he arranged for us, this brother-in-law of a friend of ours in Macon, arranged for us to get the number two print of Deliverance. And that's how we got Burt Reynolds here. He was thrilled about that. And Tabitha tells me that he stepped out of the car when he got here and he said, how in the hell did you get that number two print? But it was why he came to Macon to see that print.

Jim:

And he asked Tabitha, how is it? And she said it was beautiful.

Charles:

Wow. As it should be.

Jim:

As it should be. Yeah.

Susie:

So That's fantastic.

Jim:

That's a neat story because I think people don't think about that. No. So I think that's a great story. It is a great It is awesome.

Susie:

And only could come from Macon.

Charles:

Yeah. Very true.

Jim:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Charles:

With every organization that comes in, we always like them to bring in the song that kinda signifies kinda the feel and the vibe of what the organization. So what song did you bring in to kinda show the vibe of Macon Film Festival?

Jim:

Okay. I I have an answer and and I'm a little embarrassed to share it.

Charles:

Never.

Jim:

But it is a film song. Okay. And it is my own personal all time favorite song. Okay. And it is one of my favorite films based on a great book and the the song is Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Jim:

The film soundtracks become the soundtracks to our lives. Mhmm. Because we all love films And and that that is in definitely in the soundtrack of my life.

Charles:

You should never be ashamed for liking Moon River. That is a phenomenal song. Like, I I don't I don't care who does that song. Anytime I hear Moon Francois does a great

Jim:

written by a Georgian.

Charles:

And we love that too. Once again, Jen, as I've always said, thank you so much for being here and thank you for everything that you do. Alright, Susie. So that's that. Bragg Jam and Macon Festival all in one episode.

Charles:

To have both of them is absolutely great because what Bragg Jam is doing to cultivate live music in this town and to keep that energy all year long, not just for the concert crawl

Susie:

Right.

Charles:

Is an amazing thing. And

Susie:

Really just shows the heart of the community.

Charles:

Yeah. Yeah. It really does. And isn't Jim Crisp just the most amazing person in the world?

Susie:

Absolutely. He is.

Charles:

I mean, he's just he's got so many stories. The stuff that he told today, he's got so many more stories than that. And so I just love having him on, and it just goes to show what this town is capable of doing of highlighting local artists. And no matter what arts genre that you're in, Macon has a great job of doing that. So thank you to Bragg Macon.

Charles:

Thank you to Macon Festival. Thank you to Susie Cowan, and thank you all for listening to Ripple Makers. We will see you all next time.

Susie:

Ripple Makers is a podcast by Creek Media hosted by Charles Davis and Susie Cowan. This show is produced and edited by Big Hair Productions. Follow us on social media at stream the creek. Engage with us, like, subscribe, share with a friend. Be sure to stream this and more podcasts you may love at streamthecreek.com.