For those of you that grew up in the Forsyth area, you may have spent some time at His Rock. For the past 12 years, the local venue and community institution provided a safe haven for numerous homegrown artists looking to hone their craft into a career. Artists as varied as the Callous Daoboys, Like Mike, Bleach Garden, As Animals Eat My Insides, Funeral Portrait, and Caroline Riley, who was on the last season of The Voice, all spent a part of their formative years hanging out and performing at His Rock.

Founder and owner Bob Johnson opened the venue after moving from Florida where he served as a youth pastor for 20 years. He always had a dream of opening a place where high school and college students could hang out and develop their skills without any judgment on how they dress or what music they play. This vision became a reality with the original opening of His Rock in Dawsonville, Ga. Since then, the venue has relocated a few times, but shut down temporarily last January when Johnson closed down the Buford Highway location in order to regroup and find a better situation.

A new home for His Rock was eventually found in downtown Cumming off Dahlonega Highway with a scheduled opening for Jan. 25. The plan was for the space to house both a venue and a record store specializing in vinyl. However, tragedy struck recently when a fire burned down the new space along with several other local businesses. Since the fire, there has been a swarm of support to help get His Rock back on its feet, including a benefit concert called Our Rock scheduled for Feb. 8th at Ponce De Leon Music Center in Cumming. The event is featuring 12 different local acts, food from Big D’s BBQ, art galleries, a silent auction, tarot readings, and a donation table taking vinyl albums to help replace what was lost in the fire. With each record donation, you can get $2 off your ticket. At the event, there will be an announcement on the future plans for His Rock.

The Our Rock Benefit Show goes down Sat., Feb. 8 at the Ponce de Leon Music Center in Cumming. Featuring performances by The Vinyl Gypsies, 415, Victoira Holleman, Izza Joy Graham, Aaron Richard, Buice, Great Wide Nothing, Student Driver, Dart, North Main, and Letterbomb. Doors open at 2 p.m. Admission is $20. All ages.

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