Criminal Records' Georgia Musicians Artwork

I recently got to visit the best record store I've found around Atlanta, Criminal Records. The store is located in the Little Five Points neighborhood of east Atlanta and it's a nice mix of new and used vinyl, comics, toys, and just about everything...except trading cards.

It was pretty hard not to notice that they had changed out the signs in front of the store and had added a great map of Georgia that roughly shows where some of the famous musicians from the state are from. Musical greatness might be Georgia's greatest claim to fame and just taking a look at some of these names you may understand why.

Here's a breakdown of some of the most famous Georgian musicians. Many were born here and some made their names here. James Brown was born in South Carolina but got his start in Georgia. The battle for most important musical Georgia town is between Athens and Macon. Macon has the one two punch of Little Richard and Otis Redding while Athens has an amazing quantity of stars from R.E.M. to The B-52's to The Drive-By Truckers to Neutral Milk Hotel.

Here is a more comprehensive list of the bigger stars.

Allman Brothers Band - Macon
Black Crowes - Marietta
Drive-By Truckers - Athens
B-52's - Athens
Gladys Knight - Atlanta
Gram Parsons - Alanta
James Brown - Toccoa
Little Richard - Macon
Indigo Girls - Atlanta
Otis Redding - Dawson/Macon
Outkast - Atlanta
Ray Charles - Albany
R.E.M. - Athens
Widespread Panic - Athens

Trading Cards From The Ocmulgee National Monument

Just outside Macon, GA you can find an interesting artifact of Native American culture called the Ocmulgee National Monument. Be sure to bring your NPS Passport!

The monument is not a single structure but a collection of mounds built by the South mound built by the South Appalachian Mississippian people about 1,000 years ago. 

This particular mound is the Great Temple Mound and you are able to climb to the top. 

It is a sacred site and there are a lot of things you can't do on the grounds including flying kites. 

The view from the top show the floodplains of the Ocmulgee River and on the opposite side you get a great view of the Macon skyline. 

 

I'm always a sucker for a gift shop and National Parks have some of the best gift shops anywhere. Ocmulgee's gift shop didn't disappoint as they had complimentary packs of of trading cards featuring historical figures and events related to the park. Here are some scans of the front and back of each card in the set with my favorite being of General Sherman.