Named for the route that once brought many into Athens, HWY 29: An Athens Music Documentary features heavily curated footage from interviews, live shows and private performances of local musicians spanning relevance from the ‘90s heyday to now.
In 2023 Jim Benson, a UGA graduate student in the early ‘90s now living in Massachusetts, was determined to put a new camera to use making a documentary about a topic already in his wheelhouse: Athens’ music from that storied time period. To get the film started and hold himself accountable to see it through, he texted Athens musician William Tonks the same day the idea came to him.
“[He] was the first musician that I met in Athens when I was in grad school,” says Benson. “He said something like, ‘Cool, I’m in. Let me know how I can help.’ From there it was just a question of getting in touch with as many musicians sort of from back in that day as possible, because that’s what I knew. The movie I thought I would make was going to be a documentary about Athens music in the ‘90s, and it wound up being something different than that. It really developed because that was the story that got uncovered in the filming.”
After assembling a crew and blocking out a month in Athens to film, Benson unraveled a story far bigger than the time they had to capture it. Planned interviews led to a slew of recommendations, and going to shows to film legacy bands led to capturing more recent acts. Benson says that roots-rock band The Dashboard Saviors started out as the heart and soul of the film.
“From that center, we realized that what we actually had captured is the present time, which is that Athens still has multiple shows every night, and you still can walk up and down the street or across the street and see more than one show in a night. And that was my recollection when I lived in Athens; the greatest thing about it was that there were too many shows to choose from. In interviewing some of the younger people, they repeated that same thing,” says Benson.
The premise to prove there’s something special about the Athens music scene by way of how great the bands were from the ‘90s turned into, there’s something special about the Athens music community, period. The Athens, GA: Inside/Out documentary was an inspiration for this project, and Benson says that its messy and endearing way of capturing the Athens music scene’s pure state was the formula he wanted to follow.
“I feel very proud to add something into that legacy, but I know at the same time all I could show was what I could show. There’s so much more that isn’t in there. So I think that one of the things that I hope is endearing about the movie is that we were able to capture a lot of things that otherwise sort of would never be seen on film,” says Benson.
The crew set up intimate private performances just for the purpose of this documentary. The Possibilities, a popular alt-country band that didn’t last beyond its decade, was resurrected for a carport performance by Kevin Lane, Matt Lane and Jay Gonzalez. Although the group is beyond getting back together, what’s captured in the documentary is a modern nod to the influence of its past. Benson says another highlight of the film is an acoustic “songwriters in the round” style performance with William Tonks, Michael Gibson of The Dashboard Saviors, Eric Carter of Bloodkin and John Neff.
Tracking the influence of Athens bands outside of their home city, the crew was able to follow Mercyland to Atlanta’s Summer Shade Festival to film its performance there. Then they also tagged along on a four-day mini ride-along with The Drive-By Truckers, recording shows at their stops in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Atlanta.
“We asked everybody we interviewed, ‘Why did you come to Athens?’ If I had to sort of sum it up, it basically was they had an idea. I want to be a musician, or me and my friend formed a band, and we want to go to Athens,” says Benson. “With the younger people, it’s the same thing. You know, they came to Athens to be a student, and they didn’t leave because they became part of the music scene. And it’s a viable thing for a young person to do.”
The full-length documentary will have a two-day demo premiere in Athens, which means it’s not in its final, polished form but is essentially complete. Screenings will take place Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Ciné and Wednesday, Feb. 12 at The Globe with doors at 5 p.m. and the showing starting at 5:30 p.m.
WHO: HWY 29: An Athens Music Documentary
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 5 p.m. (doors)
WHERE: The Globe
HOW MUCH: FREE!
Below is a collection of stills from the documentary:
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