“The Georgia name came about 3 years ago. We had another name for the group and had actually played a couple shows but the name was a little strange and we were starting to implement all the harmonies and the sound was taking an old school, southern turn. I'm not sure who mentioned Georgia, but we all liked it. It's simple, catchy, easy to remember, sounds big, fits the sound perfectly, so we went with it,” says Swifty, the Southern Wesleyan University alumni and former landscaper from South Carolina.
The Mitchell brothers, who originally hail from the small town of Chiefland on the outskirts of Gainesville, Florida, moved to Atlanta to live their dream of making music; but they found out that the reality of the music biz is nothing like what you would think.
“People have this perception of what the music industry is like,” says Jon.
“It ain’t ‘Cribs’,” pipes in long haired Swifty.
“You get to where you really like McDonald’s,” says Jordan.
“We’re probably gonna change our name to The Dollar Menu here in just a sec,” Swifty quips.
Influenced by artists such as ‘The Band’ and Tom Petty, the quartet comes together with easy four-part harmony, memorable melodies and creative lyrics. In March of this year they headed up to a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains where according to Jordan they “sat up there for two days recorded all the songs and grilled out every night for dinner.”
In August of 2007 the band traveled to Los Angeles to record the new album. They found things a bit less serene than the calming experience of the mountain cabin. John explained, “I went late at night to move a trailer that was parked at our apartment complex. We were moving from one studio to the next and pulled up in a real shady area and I saw these guys walk by. I looked over and one of them had a gun. I couldn’t tell what kind of gun it was, it probably was a BB gun, looking back. I tried to leave slowly so they didn't think I actually saw them. Once I got out of the parking lot, I called our producer to tell him the story and he told me to call 911. I did that and few minutes later, there's a helicopter hovering over the apartment complex with the spot light. 15 minutes later, the LA SWAT Team arrives. I'm talking about 30 cops surrounding the parking lot. They had their machine guns out and all. I wish I had my video camera on me. That would have been a good YouTube video.”
Co-founder and oldest brother Jeremy graduated from Baylor University, with a degree in business and went on to work for Sherwin Williams until music became a fulltime gig. Middle brother Jon graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida in December 2004.
“We’re all about the Southern foods, sweet tea and barbeque joints,” says the 26 year old with warm enthusiasm. A lover of anything athletic, Jon admits to having golf clubs, tennis rackets, a fishing pole, bowling shoes, kicking shoes and six footballs in his trunk at any given time. Jordan, the 23-year-old lead man, often flashes an infectious smile. His mop of straight dark hair is in complete contrast to his brother’s curly locks. “We want to be the number one band in golf,” he says, jokingly.
Jordan had a full golf scholarship when he dropped out of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia to join the band.
Jeremy, Jon and Jordan aren’t the only ones in their family with hopes of a prosperous music career. The brothers’ sister is a singer/songwriter named Aslyn, who released her album ‘Lemon Love’ with Capitol records in 2005, which produced a Top 40 single. As for now, Georgia is focused on doing a number of acoustic shows across the country opening for acts like Collective Soul and Angie Aparo. The Atlantic Records recording artists say what they love most about being musicians is the emotion they bring out in people through their music.
Expect the release of their forthcoming album sometime this year.
| written by Krystina Rene' Miller
