Top Dogs
Four Athens locals who bring as much as they give

Jared Bailey
A Band's Best Friend
Simply put, the Athens music scene would not be what it is today without Jared Bailey. Like many longtime residents, Bailey came to Athens for college and never left. After graduating in 1983, he worked at various clubs, even eventually becoming a part owner of the 40 Watt Club. In 1987, he launched Flagpole, the Athens alt-weekly. For Bailey it was a vehicle for promoting local bands. In 1997 he launched AthFest, a downtown music and arts festival that drew a modest crowd of 1,000 its first year. This year’s extravaganza—to be held June 23–27—is expected to draw more than 60,000. And while Bailey has firmly left his mark on Athens, he’s still driven to do more. He’s running for a spot on the county commission, with one of his objectives being to create a government agency to advocate on behalf of the music and arts communities. “All of these great artistic cities like Austin and Seattle have these in place,” he says. “Why shouldn’t we? We’re smaller but just as mighty.”

Bertis Downs
The Man Behind R.E.M.
After thirty years together, R.E.M. is synonymous with Athens. And since their inception in 1980, their career has been guided by Downs, the band’s lawyer and manager. And unlike most bands that become superstars, R.E.M. has stayed true to their roots. Most of the band members as well as Downs make Athens their permanent residence. The band’s headquarters is still on College Avenue in a nondescript building that holds countless photos, platinum albums, and other memorabilia. Downs is actually a rabid Georgia Tech fan, growing up in Atlanta, but attending law school at UGA. People put up with his allegiances because the band and Downs remain active in local social, political, and education causes as well as investing in the city (Downs is part owner of the National restaurant). “This is our center of gravity,” says Downs, the fastest-talking man in the South. “I can’t imagine leaving, even when the band decides it’s done.”

Hugh Acheson
The Chef on a Mission
With his much-lauded Five & Ten restaurant, Acheson single-handedly put Athens on the foodie map. But that was never the goal. “I just wanted a community restaurant that serves as a teacher,” he says. “It teaches the customer about new foods, and it teaches us about the never-ending story that is good food.” So far, Acheson has earned straight As. Born in Canada, he bounced around the country cooking in various restaurants—including a stint with Gary Danko in San Francisco—before settling in Athens, where his wife is originally from. He’s since formed a mini-empire with the Five & Ten, the National, a wine store, a cookbook deal (coming in 2011), and his first foray into Atlanta, Empire State South, a meat-and-three set to open in August in Midtown. But don’t expect Acheson to leave Athens for big-city lights. “Athens is a true Southern town,” he says. “And the history of food is here in the South. They serve the pretty stuff elsewhere.”

Rebecca Wood
The Celebrated Potter
Though she works in Athens, Wood spends most of her time in the country, wandering around her thirteen-acre spread south of town and driving back roads in search of inspiration. In the course of her thirty-five years in Athens—she came to UGA’s art school to paint—she’s become one of the most respected ceramic makers in the world, firing up dinnerware, bowls, and serving platters, each painted in her trademark vibrant colors and designs. She employs eight people in her studio east of downtown, sometimes filling more than a hundred orders per week. And though she gets her clay from a supplier in Asheville (“All of the Georgia clay was used up by the folk potters,” she says), she’ll never leave Athens. “I thought about New York, but the rustic South is what gets me going,” she says. “I just like to sit on my front porch, watch the sun go down, and listen to the birds and crickets.”