Pick the best musical act from Jacksonville: Vote now in our March Madness tournament
Vote now in the second round of our March Madness-style bracket.
When debating great musical acts that come from Jacksonville, there’s no problem coming up with great musical acts. It’s that “from Jacksonville” part that gets tricky.
What does it really mean for an act to be “from” Jacksonville? An act like Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was formed in the city by people from the city, pretty clearly qualifies. But what about Tim McGraw, whose mother is from Jacksonville and who moved to the city as a young man to attend FSCJ? Or Pat Boone, who was born in Jacksonville but left when he was three years old? Ray Charles spent several formative years in Jacksonville; does that qualify him?
We decided to be pretty loose with the rules when putting together our field of 16 musical acts. They might not be “from” Jacksonville, strictly speaking, but they certainly have roots in the city, and that’s close enough for us.
The biggest problem we encountered when putting together the field was limiting it to just 16 entries – the field could easily have been 32 or even 64. Tune in next week to see why acts such as Blackfoot, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, Black Kids, Slim Whitman, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, David Hasselhoff and Cold didn’t make the cut.
Now it’s up to you to determine which act is Jacksonville’s favorite. Voting opens on Monday at jacksonville.com and continues through Thursday afternoon. Winners will advance to the next round and we'll do it all again with a Round of 8 on March 13, a Round of 4 on March 20 and the Finals on March 27.
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Celebrating Jacksonville's weird, wonderful and obscure. There are plenty.
Here's your field:
1: Ray Charles
Jacksonville connection: Charles moved to Jacksonville as a teen after spending time at Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, living on Church Street where the LaVilla School of the Arts now stands. He sat in with bands at Jacksonville’s Genovar Hall and Two Spot club and was a regular at St. Pius Catholic Church. But he evidently didn’t love Jacksonville; a 1998 biography describes an incident where Charles reportedly asked a friend to find him the farthest place in the U.S. from Florida and subsequently moved to Seattle.
Accolades: 5 gold albums, 3 platinum albums, 37 Grammy nominations (17 wins), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center Honors, Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, pictured on 2013 U.S. Postal Service stamp.
Songs you know: “Hit the Road Jack,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “What’d I Say”
16: Pat Boone
Jacksonville connection: Born in Jacksonville, where he lived until age 3. He frequently returned to visit his grandparents on Irvington Avenue and was awarded a key to the city by Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler.
Accolades: 1 gold album, 6 Grammy nominations, 38 Top 40 singles, 6 No. 1 hits, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Gospel Music Hall of Fame, once spent 220 consecutive weeks with at least one song on Billboard singles chart
Songs you know: “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “Moody River”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
8: Molly Hatchet
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville in mid-1970s and became one of the leaders of the Southern rock scene.
Accolades: 1 gold album, 4 platinum albums
Songs you know: “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” “Gator Country,” “Dreams I’ll Never See,” “Satisfied Man”
9: Yellowcard
Jacksonville connection: Formed in late ‘90s at Jacksonville’s Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. The band has played at just about every venue in town over the years – Maverick's, UNF Arena, Plush, Metropolitan Park, DV8, Freebird Live, Jacksonville Fairgrounds – and has two shows booked for July at Daily’s Place.
Accolades: 1 gold album, 1 platinum album, 1 MTV Video Music Award
Songs you know: “Way Away,” “Ocean Avenue,” “Light Up the Sky,” “Lights and Sounds”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
4: Tedeschi Trucks Band
Jacksonville connection: Guitarist Derek Trucks is a Jacksonville native and played with his uncle, Butch Trucks, in the Allman Brothers Band from 1999-2014. Trucks and his wife, singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, live in Jacksonville and were chosen by the Jaguars to play the National Anthem before the 2023 NFL playoff game against the Chargers. Their 12-piece band was the headliner when Daily’s Place opened in 2017 and has opened its summer tour there every non-pandemic year since (including a June 22 show this year).
Accolades: 2 Grammy nominations (1 win), 4-time Blues Music Awards Band of the Year
Songs you know: “Midnight in Harlem,” “I Am the Moon,” “Made Up Mind,” “Bound for Glory”
13: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Middleburg in early ‘00s to become a hot band in the MySpace era.
Accolades: 1 platinum album
Songs you know: “Face Down,” “Am I the Enemy,” “Wide is the Gate,” “It Was You”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
5: Shinedown
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville in 2001 around singer Brent Smith. The band has a headlining show scheduled at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in April.
Accolades: 3 gold albums, 3 platinum albums, 7 iHeart Music nominations, 29 Top 5 songs on U.S. Mainstream Rock charts.
Songs you know: “Second Chance,” “45” “Bully,” “Monsters”
12: Mase
Jacksonville connection: Mason Durell Betha was born in Jacksonville and returned as a teen.
Accolades: 2 gold albums, 1 platinum album, 3 Grammy nominations, appears on 7 Top 20 singles, often as a featured artist
Songs you know: “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” “Feel So Good,” “Welcome Back,” “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
2: The Allman Brothers Band
Jacksonville connection: The band formed in a Riverside house -- where you can still stop by and read the historical marker – and included drummer Butch Trucks, who was born and raised in Jacksonville. The band’s first shows were in Willowbranch Park and at the Jacksonville Armory.
Accolades: 2 gold albums, 1 platinum album, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 8 Grammy nominations (1 win), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award,
Songs you know: “Jessica,” “Midnight Rider,” “Whipping Post,” “Ramblin’ Man”
15: Classics IV
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville as the Classics. The band has a show scheduled for June 1 at the Florida Theatre as part of the Happy Together Tour.
Accolades: Georgia Music Hall of Fame, four Top 20 singles
Songs you know: “Spooky,” “Stormy,” “Traces,” “Every Day With You Girl”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
7: Limp Bizkit
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville in mid-’90s, came up through city’s music scene.
Accolades: 1 gold album, 4 platinum albums, 3 Grammy nominations, 3 MTV Europe Video Awards, 2000 Top Modern Rock Artist from Billboard Music Awards
Songs you know: “Nookie,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Break Stuff,” “Take a Look Around”
10: JJ Grey & Mofro
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville and still made up of mostly Jacksonville musicians. The band is scheduled to headline two nights of the Blackwater Sol Revue festival at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in April.
Accolades: Hard-touring band has played stages from St. Augustine to Japan.
Songs you know: “Lochloosa,” “This River,” “99 Shades of Crazy,” “Brighter Days”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
3: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville, came up playing clubs and dances in ‘60s and early ‘70s. Named for Leonard Skinner, former Lee High teacher who bothered band members about their haircuts. Two DVD packages, “Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd & Second Helping Live” and “Last of the Street Survivors Tour Lyve,” were recorded in Jacksonville.
Accolades: 7 gold albums, 13 platinum albums, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Songs you know: “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “That Smell”
14: Rita Coolidge
Jacksonville connection: Graduated from Andrew Jackson High School and was a regular on a TV variety show in Jacksonville in the 1960s.
Accolades: 2 gold albums, 1 platinum album, 3 Grammy nominations (2 wins)
Songs you know: “We’re All Alone,” “All Time High,” “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher,” “Lover Please”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
6: .38 Special
Jacksonville connection: Formed in Jacksonville in early ‘70s from ashes of Sweet Rooster, named for an incident where a police officer threatened to shoot the lock off their rehearsal space with his .38 Special revolver.
Accolades: 1 gold album, 4 platinum albums, 13 Top 10 U.S. Mainstream Rock singles
Songs you know: “Wild Eyed Southern Boys,” “Hold on Loosely,” “Caught Up in You,” “Second Chance”
11: Blind Blake
Jacksonville connection: Blues guitar pioneer was born in Jacksonville in 1896 (although some reports say he was born in Virginia). He later lived in Northeast Florida and played regular shows in the city in the ‘30s.
Accolades: Popular figure in the “race music” scene, recording nearly 80 songs for Paramount Records in the 1920s and early ‘30s.
Songs you know: “Police Dog Blues,” “Skeedle Loo Doo Blues,” “Southern Rag,” “Diddie Wah Diddie”
Using the app? Click here to cast your vote.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bracket challenge: What is the best musical act from Jacksonville?
