Welcome back to AthCastMusic. My name is Marlene Sokol Stewart, and this is my Podcast.

Today’s Episode is about one of those stories that feels like the ghost of Athens past. The people. The places, the timing, and the music that couldn’t have happened anywhere else.

Our guest Bob Hay grew up right in the middle of the musical explosion of the ‘60’s, learning guitar after the Beatles changed everything. Like so many of that generations, it started with Bob listening to bands and musicians like the Animals, Simon and Garfunkel, Donovan, Don McLean, Rick Derringer and then slowly realizing that writing your own songs was actually easier than trying to perfectly play someone else’s.

High school bands, college years, teaching for a bit, working whatever jobs paid the bills, even time spent at a lobster restaurant in Maine, started Bob down the long and winding road. By the late ‘70’s, Athens was funky, cheap and wide open. Empty buildings, a brand new mall pulling business away from downtown, and just enough creative chaos for something special to grow.

A conversation with Ken Starratt in the fall of ’77, and one January in Athens was all it took to know this was home. Bob worked at the Eldorado vegetarian restaurant among other odd jobs. Listening to bands on Athens WEOG, and concerts at the 40 Watt, created a perfect storm for Bon and what was rambling in his mind.

After hitchhiking across the country, stopping at the Grateful Dead’s 15thAnniversary, and coming back to Athens, the songs poured out; dozens of them written not just for one person, but for a band that didn’t exist yet.

After talking with his friend Ken Starratt and a few other musicians, The Squalls became the band those songs were waiting for. Over 60 shows at the 40 Watt, a music scene taking shape, Jim Hawkins (yes, the same Jim Hawkins who played with the Embers and backed Otis Redding) producing the first record cemented Bob Hay and the Squalls as a vital part of Athens’ music explosion in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Not to mention their songs being featured in the infamous film “Inside/Out which was a pretty big deal, too. .

This episode, like all of the other AthCastMusic’s 50 episodes isn’t just about one band or one songwriter. It’s about the people who were there before Athens was famous for being Athens and the ones who helped build the foundation that everything else stands on.

So, settle in! This is going to be a good one!

Here is my conversation with Bob Hay.