Greeted by candlelight, host Kyle Lamont tours Happy Top in Athens, Georgia - a unique B&B that doubles as an analog recording studio and performance space.
Push play for a tour of Happy Top, a one-of-a-kind B&B in Athens, Georgia that's also an analog performance space and recording studio. You'll hear the origin story, the approach to the vintage decoration and design (there's a piano in every room. Literally.), and how owner T.S. Woodward created a signal flow speaker system, giving each room a different audio flavor. Plus, an authentic perspective on why Athens has such a special music scene.
I'm Kyle Lamont, founder and host of Concert Cast, a rockumentary podcast network. Our series "In the Pocket" explores independently owned venues where music and community come together in surprising places. We showcase these unique spots, often at risk due to gentrification, by telling their stories and showing how they shape concert culture.
T.S Woodward wishes to say a very special thank you to Michael Smith-Lanzar (his next door neighbor from 2019-2022 [but resident there since 2014]) who was the first person he met on Bryan St, told him all about the history of Happy Top, helped to negotiate with the city the sewer/water infrastructure & who is an indefatigable activist for human rights.
Book yourself a stay at Happy Top:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/34414912?source_impression_id=p3_1721428035_P3x6xgljy6A-N1Q7
For more rockumentary podcasts exploring concert culture visit https://concertcast.live/index.html
Keep up with Kyle Lamont on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/kyle_lamont/
Follow Cookie Tongue Band
https://www.instagram.com/cookietonguemusic/
Copyright by Kyle Lamont of Good To Go Studios LLC 2024, USA
Hey, I'm Kyle Lamont and I created Concert Cast, a rockumentary podcast network exploring concert culture to connect deeper with live music and the industry itself by interviewing performers, venue owners, the people backstage who make live music magic happen. Fans. Anyone who will talk to me, share with me their stories because I love to document stories and perspectives that contribute to each music scene within our concert communities. And inevitably, while traveling and talking with people, I hear about smaller venues, subterranean spots where the real artsy, experimental shit's going down. So welcome to In the Pocket, a new podcast series on concert cast Live about these underground music spaces, about independent venues that march to the beat of their own drum. These are the places that encourage artists and music lovers to lean into that cool, experimental, artsy shit. In the pocket is a podcast about hidden gems, music, playgrounds and spaces where community is more important than money. And if these places sound kind of too good to be true, it's because they kind of are. They're often at risk of disappearing with gentrification threatening their very existence. That's why we made this show, because sharing their stories here is so important. In this episode, we're taking you to Athens, Georgia. But before we begin, I want to start with a poem.
This house is older than most people on the planet. The stuff inside it is pretty old too. It has wrinkles and scars and tattoos and the stories of a hundred souls etched into its walls. This isn't a run of the mill made for TV home makeover. This is a pimp my ride scrapyard style, fully functional artwork whose flux and lean are essential components of its being, like the mythic figure of struggles, Sisyphus. It pushes itself up against a mountain of time, breaking down and rebuilding over and again. It is savoring every toil for the sweet moments of repose that lie in the in-between. This is where you find the muse and the fool and the sage. This is where you will find happy top. So I lied. That wasn't a poem. It's actually a description on Airbnb for a place called Happy Top, which is an artists retreat meets recording space, meets venue meets house. And the thing about Happy Top is that apart from its wonderfully wild listing on Airbnb and Peerspace, it doesn't really have an online presence. There's no website, no email, no active social media, but there is an old fashioned phone you can call.
Happy Top Lodge and rest. Hey there. You want to run that date by me one more time? For sure. I can definitely get that fire going for y'all. And I would be more than happy to play Happy birthday on the piano for you. For you. For your birthday party. All right. Thanks so much. Bye bye. If I am here or one of my partners, we will answer the phone. Uh, and we won't know who it is because there's no caller ID, but But you'll get a human, and we can. We can talk and work something out.
And meet T. S, the owner of Happy Top, which he opened in 2019. And since then, he hasn't stopped building out the space, organizing shows and collaborating with local artists. And even though he's a busy guy, he seems to do it with just so much care without an online presence. Happy top is good at flying under the mainstream radar, and I know this from first hand experience because the first time I visited Athens, it was during omnikron in 2021 and all the major venues that I wanted to check out were closed. I was bummed af out okay, but there was a flicker of concert culture. Hope at Flicker Theater in downtown Athens. There I got to see safely a band called Cookie Tongue perform, and they are this avant garde experimental art band that mixes music with puppeteering.
I planted a dream.
Seed T in your side.
You drew.
The air, found feathers and met me at the.
Center of the.
Sky. And it was just such a 180 when I saw that show at that venue, especially, and afterwards, I was so inspired by them and I just had to chat with them some more to learn more about their band. They agreed to talk with me over the phone while driving to their next gig in New Orleans, and when I asked them about Athens, they had nothing but love, especially for Flicker Theatre and also a place called Happy Top.
Happy top is a wonderfully whimsical, warm, just really magical space. There's yeah, there's a whole bus that was transformed into sleeping quarters and a camper and swing, and it's just really magical. Yeah.
And when we played the show there half a year ago, actually in July, we played in one room, but the sound was, how do you say it? The sound was channeled into different speakers in each of the other rooms, into vintage speakers, through different vintage amps. And so each room had its own kind of flavor of the sound of the show that was happening live.
I invite you all to listen to bonus episode number three of Concert Cast for more about my experience in Athens, Georgia. It was a revelation actually being in that town while it was closed down and the entire road trip in itself. Getting there was a an epiphany about music and exploring new bands. So seeing Cookie Tongue and talking with them was just icing on the cake. For this road trip experience I had there. Please listen to the bonus episode number three of Concert Cast. Okay, so when I said goodbye to Cookie Tongue and hung up, I knew exactly where I was headed to next. All right, I am turning left onto Bryant Street, about to meet with BTS. He said he's going to meet me at the head of the driveway and his blue truck. I'm looking for one for three here. Here it is. I think I'll just wait right.
Here.
See what's going on. Happy top is in the shadow of a rusty water tower, across from some railroad tracks and surrounded by lush greenery. I get out of my car to meet BTS. Good morning. How are you doing? I'm awesome. I'm rolling now, if that's okay. He's wearing a buttery brown leather jacket, and his shoulder length brown hair, like, blends right in to the leather jacket because his hair matches perfectly. He has a handlebar mustache, which is a thing of beauty. And he's holding what appears to be a candelabra. I'm not making this up. Are we being guided by candlelight? Yes.
Though it's in the middle of the day.
I like it. The candle is hard to see against the bright sun, but it's definitely a flame. It's a weird touch, but it's. It's working for me because it matches the old timey vibe of the house.
This is a 100 year old house. This year will be its 100th birthday. There's a large cotton mill down the street that, uh, employed a lot of people in, in Athens for many years. And so the people who worked there would take the train, get off roundabouts here, and, uh, multiple families would be staying in the houses and, uh, living and working. It is all original 100 year old heart of pine or cedar, depending on who you ask. It's got a kind of a cottage look to it from the years of soot and, uh, weather.
Happy top is still a rest house for travelers, though, thanks to BTS background in performing and music. It's grown to be a lot more than that.
So instead of a stage, it's a house.
He plays the guitar and the drums, but his biggest love is the piano.
I found the piano when I was around 20. It was a gift. And since then I've acquired four of them. And this house has four rooms, and so it felt natural to put one in each room.
As BTS, who is the very definition of welcoming, starts to give me a tour, I realize he's not kidding about the pianos. Oh, look at this adorable little piano. You just, you know, you're right. Every room has a piano. Even if it's child size.
Mhm.
That's. I almost forgot about that guy looking around.
Happy top. It's pretty clear how much of a collector BTS is. Pianos in every room. Typewriter. Amazing collection of books. Wood stove. It's just overwhelmingly cool. The childlike wonder is alive and well at Happy Top. Did you always sort of have this style bug?
Absolutely. I'm an Earth sign, very brown, grounded colors, and a lot of times they can be found at a thrift store or a restore or a flea market. Um, you know, used things that have had their own life and stories and are being given away or sold for, for very little. And it helps the people who have them, and it helps the items to move around the world and have their own experiences. And so I do. And again, all all of that I do, uh, little by little, um, and I certainly practice restraint, uh, as much as I can.
I've got a wood stove. Oh, my goodness, you got a beautiful fridge. Wow, this room is fabulous. Ah, I could live here. Like, this is where I want to live. I mean, it's immaculate. It's super clean. Oh, wow, what a cool guestbook.
Oh, yeah. This volume two. We filled up all in one, uh, recently.
This is nice paper.
And we have some some reading materials as well. Uh, for the, uh, Esoterically inclined, uh, can learn about your, uh, your birthday or, uh, grammar.
I love how you really put yourself in the, uh, visitor's shoes, you know, because it is it's that wonder, that childlike feeling of like, oh, I want to know about my birthday. And just the fact that you were able to give someone that feeling is what I love about like, places like this, you know? So I really appreciate it.
Everyone I think, should have a place where they can go that is free of just the normal parts of of life. That's why people travel and artists travel to give people experiences to entertain. And because they love it, I love it.
The place is like a vintage Narnia. It's a wonderful blend of antique and modern furnishings. The aesthetics of Happy Top will jump out at you, but T.S. tells me it's not his focus because his goal is to create a feeling of home for travelers and touring musicians.
And the need for a safe space and and, uh, something that's intentional and, uh, modest and down to earth, grounding stable. You know, when you're on the road, uh, performing as an artist, it can be so draining going from one place to another. Or if you're staying in the tour bus, you know it's life on the road can be hard.
Speaking of buses, BTS and I have arrived at the magical bus in the backyard that Cookie Tung told me about. This is absolutely nuts that you have a school bus back here. It's painted green.
Yeah, it ran its way here. Or, you know, on its wheels. Uh, about two years ago, from our friend over at Rabbit Hole Studios in town. Wonderful collective on the east side.
I mean, just by being here, I've heard of so many cool little organizations surrounded by the love of music.
A lot of the art and culture of Athens is a natural organic bloom of a beautiful mix of humanity here in the South. I've been in the South so much. I've been around other places too. But Athens truly is special, not just to me, but to seemingly everyone I encounter or have known. You know, people go abroad, come back here. Uh, ultimately, Ultimately, uh, travelers I talked to. There is a sense of wonder here that I don't really have words for.
Then, after this beautiful soundbite. Pts points to some sewer cleanouts in the yard.
The city put in infrastructure to sort of promote the culture here of living and working. And, uh, so we have these, uh, sewer cleanouts as part of the redevelopment of this area that can be used for food trucks or, um, basic infrastructure that you need to, uh, definitely to operate a venue or a business. And so we're, we're zoned to be able to do that, uh, as well as is live here. It's really quite unique.
Most venues like Happy Top are fighting the city or private developers just to stay afloat. So it feels like a small miracle that the city of Athens supports this kind of space. I'm told that something as simple and as small as a sewer clean out makes a big difference to whether you can host music outside.
This whole area is really in a Renaissance period in terms of its potential and the talent of people who are putting in work here.
As T.S. and I head back inside to check out the sound system of the house. Something strange happens. He surprises me. Me, the interviewer with a question, a very sincere question.
What is it that strikes you when you walk into a space like just now? Like it was? Part of what I love is being able to witness everyone's first impression as they walk in and and feel those feelings.
It's super righteous in here, like it's. And I'm not a musician, but it's just I think it's the analog ness. It's the sense of like humbleness, safe. Like I really do feel safe.
That's awesome. Thank you for sharing.
There's something a little disarming about his sincerity. I'm feeling a little exposed, so I decide to jump back into my role as the interviewer. So do you make breakfast as well or. No?
Uh, if guests would like for us to make breakfast, we are more than happy to.
And do you have employees here, too?
I am the more or less the sole operator.
Do you live here yourself?
I do not, um, live here per se. I am more of a wanderer in terms of what I call my, uh, my home. I have places that I bounce around to and friends who are very gracious and host me as a guest.
So you're like a true vagabond. Bts smiles big. I realized that at the heart of Happy Top is someone who isn't afraid to rely on his community, and who in turn allows his community to rely on him. It's first a lodging right at the end of the day and then venue, but it sort of, depending on who's staying here, could turn into a venue like that very night.
With all the instruments and equipment we have here and the services we offer for recording and playing, it makes sense to have a show, and we have a beautiful space for having a small number of people here.
The appeal of Happy Top is how fluid it is home by day, venue by night, rehearsal and practice space any time of day. We got over here. We have road.
Roadmasters is a very old. Oh. This is an acoustic, electric, rare piano, 64 keys instead of 88. So it fits very perfectly in this corner here. Twin reverb from 73 Yamaha powered amplifier and microphones. Cables, uh, Hammond organ. Uh, that can play itself. You can program it to play itself. It can almost even think for itself. It's a strange, strange machine.
Tts has a background in recording and engineering from the University of Georgia, so his attention to audio detail is impeccable.
There's speakers in every room that are routed into a, you know, central stereo, vintage amplifier and equalizer.
His approach is called signal flow, and it's what he studied at UGA.
I spent a lot of time there learning the craft of signal flow, and I would work late at night on my projects by myself, and it was a fairly large space, so I'd have to, uh, you know, set up automation or, um, to, to be able to record in the, in the, the main room while running the machines in the, in the control room. And so I learned to move back and forth, doing takes and recording my own music, where I had patch bays where you can send signal in and out of machines and change the sound and compose music. And the things I learned doing that I found have translated into the house in many ways.
When we are. Cookie tongue and cookie tongues are not complicated at all unless you want them to be.
So I compose it like music, where there are levels and in pocket spaces where you can go and you can see it unfolding visually, but then also aurally, there is a sound from every corner and it's it's integrated and you maybe don't notice where it's coming from, but, uh, it envelops you and in all of the space. And so we did with the cookie Tongue show was route their performance into the main house brain, essentially. And then we sent that back into, uh, various recorders, tape machines, and then back out into the space at a perfect volume, essentially to where you can hear the performance in every room.
Oh, boy. I want to go. Like a rolled up carpet. Like a ship in a bottle.
What room sounded the best, quote unquote, in your opinion, when Cookie Tongue played or when any band plays.
The best room would be the where the action is happening. I like to walk around the house in a circle, their doors in the middle of each wall, and so there's a natural path that you can walk and listen to the audio in different environments.
When Cookie Tongue was playing and everyone's having fun and the music sounded cool in this room, it's sounding a little different in that room where you just sort of like on cloud nine. Was that your your version of heaven?
Yeah, a little bit. When the when the show is happening, when, when people are engaged with each other, I am overjoyed. I feel, uh, at home and at peace. We are doing our best to have a business here that is diverse and inclusive and non-discriminatory. That's very important, putting a show together. There's a lot of things that that tug at me. And in terms of wanting everyone to be happy, to have a great experience and for the sound to be good and for everyone to be well fed or, uh, you know, hydrated. And I love putting that puzzle together. It is a wonderful blessing to be able to do that and we get better at it each time. Again, my goal with the space is to integrate music into the experience of being in a space, being in a in a home where you're comfortable and you're have everything you need. And that's that's where music happens naturally with a friends or family or by yourself.
Please play a little bit more. This is. Sounds beautiful.
Well, what do you like?
I'm not an expert at music. I'm just simply enamored by musicians. But because we are at Happy Top, after all, I tell BTS, I'm feeling like the more the happy, let's go happy key. Was that a bee? I don't know yeah, yeah. At Happy Top, it's really easy to feel comfortable with music, to find a home within music. And that's largely because of BTS. Ragtime. Your go to. Oh, is that ragtime?
No. Yeah. Like a sort of, uh, like, uh, kitschy, uh, imitation of ragtime, for sure.
Ragtime? Oh, my gosh, an overlooked genre.
For sure. I always wanted to combine ragtime with hip hop. I think.
Let's go.
That is something that, uh, would be very cool.
I'm here for it. Without his curating, fixing and composing this place would feel very, very different. Here are a few Airbnb reviews from guests who stayed here, Laura says BTS thought of everything such a great heart. He suggested some local eateries and even went to pick up the food for us after I ordered. Peter writes the fire pit was a blast and BTS thoughtfully provided more than enough wood. John and Cindy say BTS is the most gracious host and is genuinely happy to share his timeless home with you. Saying goodbye here is not easy. You don't want to penetrate the bubble. You don't want to leave. I mean, it's just such a charming, cool place of creativity and conversation. And everywhere you look, there's something asking you to linger longer. Okay, well, I'm grateful for your time.
You as well. It's been delightful.
Is that a real twig? Mhm. Gosh, it's so perfect. It almost looks like copper or something.
Yeah. My, uh, my partner boda gave me that and I forget the name of the tree, but it's, it's something really special. And I thought.
It.
Fit really nicely on top of that mailbox which I put together out of spare parts that I found laying around.
A fair warning to you, my dear. In the Pocket concert cast listener. Happy Top is not easy to find. You can't just rock up into Athens as I made the mistake of doing and expect to find something like it right away. It's a word of mouth kind of place which makes the gift of finding it and hearing music in it and meeting artists in it. All the more wild because I love this. Like, this is why I love to do. And so thank you for providing this.
Yes, you're very welcome. It's more than my pleasure and so cool.
If you'd like to see Happy Top for yourself, all you've got to do is find the man with the mustache holding a candelabra at the top of a mountain in Athens, Georgia. Good luck. Oh, and if you're touring artist, you get a discount. Concert cast is a production of Good to Go Studios and is created and produced by yours truly. Me, Kyle Lamont, our writer and producer for this episode is Zoe Bailey, and Pete McGill is our editor and engineer. To hear more rockumentary podcasts about concert culture, go to Concert Cast Live. Here is also where you will find more info about Happy Top and how you can get in touch with us. Special thanks to BTS and Cookie Tang and thank you for listening.