Athens serves as a starting point for many local bands breaking into the music scene. From indie rock to folk to rap, many artists get their start here and the crowds welcome everyone with open arms.
Local festivals have also featured smaller artists, both locally and from all over the country.
Many factors contribute to Athens being a musically inclined town, and many of the local groups begin with students getting together and forming a band. A common venue where many musicians play, especially students, is The Union, located at 18 W Union St.
A new and upcoming band is ‘Rug.’ Specializing in indie rock, this band consists of past and present college students.
There are four members of Rug, including Alice Wagoner, from Dayton; Jenna King, from Kent, Ohio; Cora Fitch, from Athens and Elliott Hogue, from Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Wagoner and King are on vocals and guitar, Fitch is on bass and Hogue is on drums.
Wagoner and King are currently Ohio University students, Fitch graduated from OU last year and Hogue from Hocking College. Wagoner is studying studio art, while King is studying psychology.
"I definitely think we could call ourselves an indie rock band, but we have a lot of shoegaze and country influence,” said Wagoner. “Of course, we love playing in Athens, but our shows out of town have been a lot of fun, and I think we're looking to play more shows around the state, possibly in the spring. We got our start at The Union, like most Athens bands.”
Although they mostly play at The Union, they hope to play at different venues in the coming months. King would agree The Union is a great venue for stepping into the music scene.
"Athens is a great place for newer bands, it's super easy to get a show at The Union which is a pretty big venue for a small town,” said King. “This makes it easy to get some exposure and start to play at other venues around town.”
Along with The Union, there have been a multitude of other opportunities for bands like Rug to gain experience performing.
“Coming to Athens, I never thought I would end up starting a band,” said Wagoner. “Going to The Union my freshman year really opened my eyes to what I could do with music. Athens is a great place to be creative, and the people are really supportive.”
Joey Garascia, a senior studying business, has been a part of music groups as well, and is grateful for the music community within the area.
“Athens is a good platform for upcoming bands because it is so small,” said Garascia. “Compared to other marquee cities, it is easy for information and news about bands to travel naturally to create intimate environments at shows.”
Not only do band members themselves appreciate local artists, but so do students.
Brody Butler, a sophomore studying music production, agrees Athens encourages different types of music.
“One of the main reasons local music is important is because we can all be different in our own ways music-wise, but the community is what brings us together,” said Butler. “Going out on a random night to a bar or restaurant you can see musicians showing their talent and it's always an inspiration to see someone doing something that they love.”
Whether it’s rock, rap or any genre, Athens welcomes diversity, including within music.
“We have a show booked for Thursday, October 10th at The Union,” said Wagoner. “The show is with one of our favorite bands, Abel, from Columbus. Isaac from Abel actually recorded and mixed our two released songs for us, "2%" and "Look," which you can stream anywhere. We put "Look" out on Aug. 12.”
Rug has been practicing day in and day out, preparing to rock the stage at The Union in the coming weeks.
“We are definitely looking to play a few more shows in the coming months. We have a ton of new music and have almost completely rewritten our set. We still have a couple of the old Rug classics, but over half of our set now is completely new. We're super excited to let everyone hear it all.”
