It’s not for us to say whether George Alan Fox, also known as “Foxy G,” is as attractive as his nickname suggests. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But what we CAN tell you is that the Charleston singer, songwriter and guitarist is the focus of Foxy G’s 4th Annual Birthday Bash at the Pour House on July 9.
Fox is a founding member of Big Stoner Creek, the group headlining this mini-music fest. And as with most birthday parties, some friends and family will be on hand.
Charleston guitarist Jeff Caldwell, formerly of Col. Bruce Hampton’s band, will play, along with multi-instrumentalist David Vaughan (Dallas Baker and Friends) and vocalist Joan Hale (The Hopeaholics). There will also be some surprises that will continue the whole birthday theme.
A question about the event
So how did this event come about? Why is it focused on Fox?
“I’ve always tried to find a gig on my birthday,” Fox said in a recent interview. “And the Pour House just happens to be a fantastic spot to not only play but to hang out. So four years ago, I asked (the owner) Alex Harris if I could get a gig there and call it the Birthday Bash.”
Ta-dah. An annual staple at the Pour House is born.
“A lot of people don’t want to work on their birthday,” Fox said. “I give a self-indulgent gift to myself by asking some of the best musicians I know to play music with me.”
Fox sounds like one of the most chilled-out people around. But as laid-back as the band’s name Big Stoner Creek might be, the music certainly isn’t. It offers a style of music that Fox calls postmodern industrial Appalachian trailer park. That basically means that the band takes acoustic instruments (notably fiddle and mandolin), cranks the volume with some electric guitars and drums and throws a bit of punk sneer to top it off.
An example is “Hey Colleen” from the band’s 2022 self-titled album. Pure bluegrass fiddle lines do battle with an insistent, sleazy blues riff, the beat is relentless and Fox’s vocal is pure wolfish rockabilly leer.
The band’s tangled roots stretch to the 1980s, when a young George Alan Fox moved with his immediate family from Kentucky to Charleston, where his extended family awaited along with the music of the South.
“I came to South Carolina as a child, but that was where all my grandparents, aunts and uncles were,” he said. “I spent a lot of my formative years here in the summertime, staying with the folks up here who were horse farmers. That’s where I heard the bluegrass sound that’s influenced my music ever since.”
The band launched in the early 1990s, standing out musically in the era of Hootie and The Blowfish, Edwin McCain and the Blue Dogs. Since then, the lineup has basically revolved around Fox, though he does have his son playing drums now.
The Birthday Bash is more than the music Fox has made over the years. It’s also about his love of the Charleston music scene. He’s also become an integral part of it. For years, Fox has organized and hosted a weekly concert series called “The Soap Box” at Chico Feo on Folly Beach where hundreds of performers have played.
“Becoming part of the Charleston scene was just something that I was excited about,” he said. “I get excited to be around creative people and trying to facilitate a spot where the audience sits down and listens to something that they’re not familiar with.”
Fox added with a laugh that he’s found a secret talent while running the Soapbox series.
“It turns out that I’m good at organizing musicians in one spot and keeping everything on a schedule,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from, but it seems to be something I can do. It’s a lot like herding cats.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 6 p.m., July 9, Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway., Charleston. Tickets: $10. charlestonpourhouse.com
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