People were dancing in the streets on James Brown Boulevard May 1 as part of a birthday block party for the Godfather of Soul.
“I came out with friends to have a good time,” said Dwight Johnson, who was celebrating his birthday as well as James Brown’s by showing some of his dance moves in front of the DJ tent. Johnson’s birthday is May 5. “James Brown is so much of an inspiration for me. Funk is my favorite genre.”
The party began at 2 p.m. with the section of the street from Broad to Jones Streets blocked to vehicle traffic.
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Artists set up in the middle of the street and on the sidewalk and painted to the music. Four different DJs spun vinyl records. While DJ Lady Marauder played albums, DJ Michael Mayhem pulled out the 45s.
The event was smaller in scale than in previous years due to the pandemic, but organizer Coco Rubio said he couldn’t have picked a better location, and the weather was great too.
“I love this block,” he said. “It’s cozy. I love James Brown Boulevard and the James Brown mural.”
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Cole Phail’s mural faces James Brown Boulevard in the section of the street that was blocked off for the party. The artist talked with people about the mural and played a 14-minute time lapse video of the creation of the mural at Draft Society Taproom, 875 Broad St.
The project took three months to create. He painted it over the summer of 2020 and did most of the work from sundown to sunrise. He chose those hours mainly because of the temperatures, but he also found he could concentrate on the painting during that time.
“I really like chatting with people,” he said, but too much chatting would lead to too little painting.
The project was the first one of its scale for the artist. Also, he said he didn’t consider himself a portrait artist but was pleased how the different portraits of James Brown turned out.
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Besides the Saturday Market, the James Brown Birthday Block party has been one of the few large scale outdoor events in Richmond County since the beginning of the pandemic.
Several organizations had tents set up at the event. The Greater Augusta Arts Council promoted the sculpture trail. The Otocast app that highlights the sculpture trail featured a James Brown Birthday Bash badge.
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The Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau had information on the James Brown Journey, a walking tour related to the Godfather of Soul. The Augusta Museum of History has a large collection of James Brown memorabilia and representatives were on site.
And members of the James Brown Family Foundation were also at the party.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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