A month after opening for the Indigo Girls, Jontavious Willis returns to Macon

Jontavious Willis won over the Indigo Girls’ sold-out concert crowd when he opened for them here in September.

Masterful solo guitar work and expressively sung blues tunes — both traditional classics and ones he’s written — led the way but dashes of music history and a whole lot of humor contributed.

Then there was the raucous audience participation he encouraged.

Today — Friday, Oct. 27 — Willis performs his own Macon show at 7:30 p.m. at Capricorn Sound Studios, 540 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. A ticketing link is at facebook.com/capricornmacon and Willis’ site is jontaviouswillis.com.

Tickets are $25 plus a small service fee.

Willis’ Capricorn concert comes after a week-long artist-in-residence stint at Mercer University’s King Center for Southern Studies where he participated in panels on blues music in today’s world and its influence in the South. He also presented a masterclass touching on songwriting and learning from the music of days gone by.

“I grew up in Greenville, Georgia, grew up in the country singing gospel music,” he said. “Then I listened to all this really heavy, old blues stuff. The first thing I ever played on guitar was blues and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Willis was 14 when he first heard a song by Muddy Waters. Now 28, he said he’s still as enthusiastic as ever about the blues music he hears and plays.

Not satisfied with being a great performer, Willis is a collector of facts about blues music, musicians and recordings and can rattle them off at a rapid-fire pace, including related dates, places and stories.

“I’m excited talking about blues music and Georgia’s history of it,” he said. “It’s such a part of Black culture and American culture and too much of it goes unnoticed. I want to be a player but I want to get the history out there and help keep it alive, too. I guess one reason the enthusiasm hasn’t stopped is I’ve been able to teach people what I know and have people who cite me as influencing them to play and learn more about blues. I love that. I love I can be a positive influence for this music that was born over a hundred years ago and is uniquely American.”

Willis’ indisputable talent and knowledge made him particularly suited for the week at Mercer.

And while in Macon, just before he and I talked, he visited Fresh Produce Records on Cherry Street to browse their old vinyl records.

“I picked up 13,” he said. “All good stuff,”

He’s adding them to his collection of more than 250 old 78 blues records. He plans to get to Habersham Records and search through its vinyl before the concert.

Career-wise, the young Georgian is impressing a lot of impressive people. Already doing well, he got a boost in 2015 when the legendary Taj Mahal invited him on stage to play a few songs on the Piedmont Park stage in Atlanta.

Then Mahal got him to be opening act for a tour he did with Keb’ Mo’.

Willis has done two albums, “Blue Metamorphosis” and “Spectacular Class,” and is set to record another before the end of the year. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2020, won the 2018 International Blues Challenge Award for Best Self-Produced CD and gets rave reviews from all over.

He brings his country blues and fingerstyle playing to solo shows and festivals across the globe and has played Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café, City Winery and even the Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry.

He said he’s just as excited about a couple of blues festivals he started in Georgia and the special blues dance event at LaGrange’s Pure Life House of Music coming up Dec. 2 that will include a blues dance workshop.

His family, who live nearby, will cater it.

And yes, blues dancing is a thing according to Willis. It’s just one of the things he knows about that informs his music and shows.

“People don’t really know about it now,” he said. “But back in the day, there were thousands of popular blues dances that went with the music. I want to see that come back as well.”

There’s more music this weekend with Macon Pops’ “A Night At the Awards” today - Friday, Oct. 27 - at 7:30 at the Grand Opera House.

The evening features tunes everyone loves from the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys. Plus, always out to make the most of any concert, the Pops will have a red carpet and, while casual is often the norm and still accepted, they’re encouraging folks to dress up and be “red carpet ready.” There’ll be other awards night trappings throughout the night.

“This theme covers so much great music,” said Steve Moretti, president and CEO of the Pops as well as its founder and percussionist. “There are so many unique tunes to showcase plus it lets us put the spotlight on our fantastic musicians. We get to flex our musical muscles with the wide variety of these songs and there’s something for everybody who attends. We’re taking this to the ‘nth degree.”

Keep an eye out for Moretti’s performance during a clip from the film “Jersey Boys” during the song “Who Loves You.”

Find information and ticketing at maconpops.com.

• Also Friday, Hughes Taylor is at Historic Grant’s Lounge at 9 (facebook.com/thehughestaylor).

• On Monday there are two free options for great music at Mercer. The Mercer University Wind Ensemble presents an evening of chamber wind music featuring solo and choral voices with Sheila Dunn, Richard Kosowski and Tim McReynolds as guest soloists at 7:30 p.m. in the McCorkle Music Building’s Fickling Hall. The Choral Society of Middle Georgia will also be featured.

• A McDuffie Center Young Artists Concert is at 7 p.m. at the historic Bell House, 315 College St. Concerts feature the Center’s emerging artists in short programs that are good introductions to classical music. Seating is first come, first served with doors open 30 minutes beforehand.

• And of course, the folks at the Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry St., won’t let you down this Halloween: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is Saturday at 9 p.m. Management invites guests to “costume your hearts out” and buy Grand prop bags when tickets are bought. But to preserve the historic theatre, outside props are not allowed. The program is for mature audiences. Tickets are at www.thegrandmacon.com.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.