First Friday Sip & Stroll Featuring David Gerald
- Location
- Park and Amphitheater, 131 S. Stevens Street, Thomasville GA
- Organizer's Name
- Dustin Infinger
- Organizer's Phone
- 229-227-4136
- Organizer's Email
- dustin.infinger@thomasville.org
- Additional Information
Grab a beer or wine from your favorite Downtown restaurant or venue and stroll the historic streets in style! From 6:00-8:00 PM, musical acts and fun entertainment will be tucked throughout the Downtown for you to discover while you’re shopping and dining. Then, beginning at 8:00 PM, grab your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy a free outdoor concert in the Park and Amphitheater in Downtown Thomasville featuring David Gerald!
David Gerald, the son of Rural Mississippi born and raised parents, grew up to the sounds of the blues and R&B music in his hometown, Detroit. He's the youngest of 11 children, 6 of whom were born and partly raised in Mississippi. "Because segregation and racial discrimination were so bad in Mississippi at the time, my dad moved the family north to Detroit when he was 33, so we'd have a better chance at the American dream."
Gerald started playing guitar at the age of 14, influenced by Prince and 80's rock guitarists. He rediscovered the blues and listened to the music of Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name just a few.
Gerald performed in many local blues, R&B, and rock bands cutting his guitar and vocal chops live and in person. Finding it hard to keep a band together, Gerald learned to play guitar, bass, keys, and drums. Using two antiquated cassette recorders he would overdub each part individually until the song was complete. "The end result sounded horrible, and the songs would not end up in the same key they started in. But it got my songs recorded," says Gerald. This was the beginning of his songwriting, most of which were pop and rock tunes during the 80's. Around the age of 24, he began experimenting with computers to write and compose music, which he has done to this day.