Back in its heyday, the Roxy Theatre was more than just a place to catch a movie. It also played host to live music and local shows. The Roxy is perhaps most noteworthy as being a place where some patrons said they caught an early glimpse of a young Otis Redding. Students in the Civic & Community Journalism class in Fall 2015 were able to reach two former artists and talk to them about what it was like to perform at the Roxy and in Macon in the 1950s. These stories were originally published here.
Ron Wheeler grew up in the Macon area and was a huge participant in Macon’s music scene. In his youth, Wheeler performed with The Playboys, Roy Mathis, Percy Welch and Otis Redding.
Wheeler was one of the several artists who performed in interracial music groups across Macon. While his experience in the Roxy Theatre was limited, Wheeler does recall attending talent contests where Otis Redding reigned as the uncontested winner.
Wheeler’s memories of the area surrounding the Roxy and the Tybee neighborhood were made up of music and racial tension. These areas were not so much discriminatory as territorial. If you didn’t know anybody in the area, you had no business being there, he said.
As Macon began to develop into a well-known music scene, racial tensions began to fade away. Now, Wheeler is a music manager and producer in Orlando, Florida.
