How Jacksonville Florida Became the Mecca for Southern Rock

Southern rock is the perfect fusion of folk, country, blues, and good old rock ‘n’ roll. Despite the fact that all of these genres heavily populate the music capital, Nashville, Southern rock’s inception did not transpire in music city. Rather, its founding transpired 600 miles South of Nashville on the beaches of Jacksonville, Florida.

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In its formative years, Southern rock was merely considered as a sub-genre of country and rock ‘n’ roll. However, as it’s continued to infuse itself into mainstream pop culture it has demanded that it be respected as its own thing. Although, that would not be the case if it wasn’t for Jacksonville, The Allman Brothers Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Southern Rock’s Southern Origins

In 1964, Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Larry Junstrom, and Bob Burns formed Lynyrd Skynyrd. As most people know, the band’s name inspiration derived from their Jacksonville High School gym teacher, Leonard Skinner. In addition to Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers were also born and raised in Jacksonville. The inception of their band came as a result of the frequent jam sessions they would have in the house that resided in Jackonsville’s Riverside neighborhood.

Now even though being from Jacksonville is enough to make it the birthplace of Southern rock, these bands did far more to solidify this title. In addition to their origins, both Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers consistently paid homage to their city and helped build the city’s music scene.

Thanks to their efforts, numerous Southern rock bands followed in the greats’ footsteps and made a name for themselves in Jacksonville, Florida. Some of those bands included .38 Special, Molly Hatchet, JJ Grey & Mofro, Blackfoot, and Derek Trucks. Matter of fact, the late great founder of Molly Hatchet, Dave Hlubek, attested to Jacksonville’s Southern Rock foundation in an interview with The Florida Times-Union.

He stated, “The talent pool in Jacksonville alone was just amazing. I’m proud to be from Jacksonville. I know all the bands that came out of there at that time.” “We were all intertwined. It was an amazing, amazing time. There’s like a dozen major bands that came out of Duval County,” Hlubek concluded.

If it wasn’t for Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, Jacksonville would simply be a town with great nightlife and coastal beaches. However, that is of course not the case, as the two groups turned it into the mecca of Southern rock.

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