This weekend offers a preview of the new Music Ambassadors: Macon (MAM) program. You can read more about it here, so I’ll just go over the basics.

Music Ambassadors: Macon is a project conceived by Tim Regan-Porter, who recently moved to Macon to lead Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism. He also co-founded Paste, among other accomplishments. In a nutshell, MAM will bring national and regional musicians to Macon, provide them with a music history tour, and generally introduce them to the community. In return, the musicians will play a free concert in Mercer Village and a ticketed concert in a historic home in the College Hill Corridor. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Historic Macon Foundation, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Macon Arts Alliance.

The hope is that these artists will gain an appreciation for Macon and become ambassadors for the city, singing its praises when they depart. In the future, they might book more shows in Macon, come to record in Macon, or even decide to live here. Regan-Porter received a Knight Neighborhood Challenge grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to get the project off the ground.

Sophia Bastian to play Mercer Village on Friday, June 7 and Washington Park on Sunday, June 9.

The first musician to be a part of the Music Ambassadors: Macon project is Sophia Bastian, an unsigned, New York-based artist. She’s a young performer with a lot of buzz surrounding her. She recently opened for The Roots and was featured in Vibe and on VH-1. According to Regan-Porter, she has a sultry, soulful voice, jazz training with blues and hip hop influences, and a great visual style. Bottom line, she can really sing.

While in Macon, Bastian will play a free concert in Mercer Village at Noon on Friday, June 7 and take a Rock Candy Tour of downtown Macon to learn more about the city’s musical heritage. She’ll play a private house concert on Saturday, and then perform in Washington Park on Sunday. Along the way, she’ll have chance to see some of the best that Macon has to offer.  When she departs, she’ll be Macon’s first official music ambassador.