A Southern Rock Explosion Athens’ Southern Bitch at Canyons Friday; Boone Streetfest Saturday By Jeff Eason Athens rockers Southern Bitch will return to the High Country for two shows this weekend. On Friday the band will perform at Canyons in Blowing Rock and on Saturday they will be part of the outdoor entertainment at the 13th Annual Boone Streetfest celebration. The sprawling college town of Athens, Georgia has traditionally produced a “thinking man’s” brand of southern rock. While keeping the drawling lyrics and twangy guitars intact, the bands of Athens routinely enter territories where philosophy and concept is as important as gritty southern passion. It is, after all, the town that has been the breeding ground for such acts as REM, the B-52s, Widespread Panic and Vic Chesnutt. One of the hotter new acts to come out of Athens is a young band called Southern Bitch. The band will perform two free shows in the High Country this weekend. On Friday, September 24 the band will appear at Canyons of the Blue Ridge starting at 10 p.m. On Saturday, September 25 Southern Bitch will perform an outdoor show on the deck of Coffey’s Restaurant and Bar as part of the Olde Boone Streetfest celebration. The outdoor show is scheduled for around 1 p.m. Southern Bitch features singing guitarists Wendy and Adam Musick, bassist Chuck Bradburn and drummer Chris Ellenburg. The band has released a full-length self-produced album Snake in the Grass and has a deal to record its first major label release for Captiva Records of Austin, Texas in the near future. In the past two years, Southern Bitch has opened for Counting Crows, Hank Williams III and many other national acts. Along with other new southern rock bands such as The Drive By Truckers and the Bottle Rockets, Southern Bitch is developing a devoted following of music lovers who have craved their own bands playing in a classic rock style. Adam Musick has one of the most distinctive writing and singing styles in recent rock memory and as a frontman he has the personality and drive to set this band apart from many of its contemporaries. Snake in the Grass opens with a “suite” of three tunes—“True Born Leader,” “Don’t You Think It’s Time” and “Tell Me” that set the stage for the album’s smoldering guitar riffs and poignant lyrics dealing with both the personal and the political. Every song is presented in a thunderous sonic blast of urgency and yet you can understand every word of the song—something rare in rock these days. For more information on Southern Bitch’s performance on Friday night, call Canyons of the Blue Ridge in Blowing Rock at (828) 295-7661. For more information on the band’s afternoon show at the Olde Boone Streetfest, call Coffey’s at (828) 264-3663.