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Backstage - Macon, Georgia

Guitarist Peter Stroud, right, waits backstage as fans crowd around outside The Crazy Bull music venue in Macon, Ga.  Stroud is Sheryl Crow's guitarist and has played for artist such as Don Henley, Sarah McLachlan, The Dixie Chicks and Shawn Mullins).

There are few times in life where you get to hang out with people who have made an imprint in music history.  My dad and I are filming a documentary on Studio One, a recording studio that once stood in Doraville, Georgia, where numerous legendary hits were recorded and engineered by unsung hero Rodney Mills (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey, .38 Special, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Doobie Brothers, Gregg Allman and more).  For part of the documentary, we made a stop in Macon, Ga., home of Capricorn Records (Marshall Tucker Band, The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, and more).  After filming a few interviews with PR man Mark Pucci, and Bobby Golden, guitarist for Stillwater, we pushed our way through over a thousand fans cramed into The Crazy Bull music venue.  While we were there, my dad leaned over and said, "That's Jimmy Hall from Wet Willie."  He began to sing they lyrics to "Keep on Smilin," which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Charts in 1974.  When Hall took the stage with Stillwater, you knew why he was a rock star. 

Members of the band Stillwater perform during their annual reunion show in Macon, Ga.

You may remember the movie "Almost Famous" where a young aspiring journalist followed a band called "Stillwater" who were touring and trying to become famous.  Though the movie had no direct relation to the real Stillwater, they really did become almost famous.  They had a song called "Mind bender" that charted in the Billboard Top 100 when they were signed to the famed Capricorn Records.  During the show Jimmy Hall and guitarist Peter Stroud, guitarist for Sheryl Crow, took the stage and performed with Stillwater.

Guitarist Peter Stroud walks backstage at The Crazy Bull music venue in Macon, Ga.  Stroud is Sheryl Crow's guitarist and has played for artist such as Don Henley, Sarah McLachlan, The Dixie Chicks and Shawn Mullins).

Jimmy Hall, of Wet Willie, sits in the green room at The Crazy Bull music venue in Macon, Ga. Wet Willie had a song called "Keep on Smilin," which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Charts in 1974.  They had numerous other hits that reached the top 100 on music charts.

(L-R) Guitarist Peter Stroud, Jimmy Hall, of Wet Wille, Charles Camp, documentary producer, and Stillwater keyboardist Eddie Long wait backstage during a Stillwater reunion show in Macon, Ga.

Winter Weather Georgia - On Assigment for The Associated Press

One of my assignments this week was to find photos that show how cold the weather was.   My comfort zone is to head to downtown Atlanta and take photos of people dressed in warm clothing.  Instead, I drove around looking for interesting subjects and something slightly out of the box.  I love farms, which I'm sure you'll notice when skim through past blog post.  I saw a sign for horse stables and couldn't resist.  Niki McDonnell, the head instructor at The Stables at Towne Lake, and worker Rebecca Thompson allowed me to hang around as they worked in their horse stables.  After spending a few hours at the stabel, I headed to Kennesaw State University to document people walking around campus in the freezing weather.

Rebecca Thompson works inside a horse stable on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

Rebecca Thompson works inside a horse stable on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

  Niki McDonnell prepares a horse for riding lessons inside a horse stable on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

Rebecca Thompson yawns while she works inside a horse stable on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

Belinda Maurer cleans a horses hooves inside a stable on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

A Kennesaw State University student walks on campus on a cold day, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Kennesaw, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

Snowy Day in Georgia

I remember it was January 2005 and I was sitting in an office building in New Brunswick, NJ.  The local news said it was going to snow as much as two feet.  Being a Georgia boy my whole life, I thought for sure that it wouldn't really snow that much, that it couldn't snow that much.  After all the most snow accumulations I saw growing up were inches.  Where I grew up, just the idea of snow got you out of school.  Sure enough, it snowed around 22 inches on that Saturday.

Only being in the "Garden State" a few months, I was getting my taste of what I thought would be home for the rest of my life.  I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited to see that much snow.  It marked a new beginning for me.  Fast forward 12 years and I can't be more happy to only see an inch of snow on some parts of the ground here in Georgia.  It may not be Central Park covered in 24 inches of snow, but it's still beautiful.

 

Sunlight shines on a house during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Sunlight shines on a house during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

A cyclist rides on an ice covered street during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

A cyclist rides on an ice covered street during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow flakes fall on a horse during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow flakes fall on a horse during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow flakes fall on horses during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow flakes fall on horses during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow falls on a shed during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.

Snow falls on a shed during a light snow fall, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Woodstock, Ga.