PHOTO GALLERY: Athens mixes football and music

Jeff Griggs, a die-hard Georgia football fan who has played drums in more than 70 different bands during his 17 years in Athens, Ga., descends a staircase inside the University of Georgia's Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, which doubles as the Georgia football team's headquarters and the school's trophy hall.   |  Anthony Schick

Georgia football greats grace the entryway of Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, which opened in 1987 at a cost of $12 million and now serves as the headquarters for Georgia football, including locker rooms, weight rooms and four full-length practice fields. The hall was named for past Georgia football coaches Wally Butts and Harry Mehre.   |  Anthony Schick

Sanford Stadium, home of the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga., is famous for the hedges that surround the playing field. The university grows spare hedges at an undisclosed location in case of emergency. The stadium, which first opened in 1929, now holds 92,746.   |  Anthony Schick

University of Georgia students loiter around The Arch, a well-known landmark in Athens, Ga., upon which the three principles of the Georgia Constitution — wisdom, justice, moderation — are engraved. Most know The Arch as the gateway from campus to downtown Athens.   |  Anthony Schick

The Holmes/Hunter Academic Building on the University of Georgia campus is named for Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, who on January 9, 1961, became the first African-American students to enroll at the university. The building's Corinthian columns and soaring balconies are hallmarks of North Campus, the oldest section of the university that runs directly into downtown Athens.   |  Anthony Schick

The Grit, a restaurant on the edge of downtown Athens, Ga., has a core menu that mixes traditional Southern fare with vegetarian food. The Grit has been an Athens favorite, with inextricable ties to the town's music scene, for three decades. It bustles with students and townsfolk alike, and at a bar full of sweet tea pitchers and microbrew taps, a sharp-dressed businessman has lunch beside a man with cutoff jean shorts and tattoos for sleeves.   |  Anthony Schick

Mike Turner, the manager of Wuxtry Records in downtown Athens spends his day in late March prepping a local band's records for release. Guitarist Peter Buck of the band R.E.M. used to work in Wuxtry, where he's said to have first met Michael Stipe, who later become the band's lead singer, long before the two became members of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.   |  Anthony Schick

Inside Wuxtry Records on March 28, Gordon Lamb helps his friend, store manager Mike Turner prepare a local band's album for release. Lamb, who writes a music column for the local weekly Flagpole Magazine, is a 23-year veteran of Athens music.   |  Anthony Schick

The Kalamazoo, Mich., band "Greensky Bluegrass" plays a March 28 show inside The Georgia Theatre in downtown Athens. A century ago the theatre was a YMCA. Later it became a movie theatre and in 1989 it became a concert venue. It reopened last year after a fire gutted it in 2009. It now hosts hundreds of live shows per year and is a popular place to watch Georgia football games on Saturdays.   |  Anthony Schick