Rock Candy Tours flyer. Photo by Maryann Bates

If you grew up in the South around older people, rock candy may make you think of a home remedy they would use to rid your body of the common cold. Of course, rock candy is the main ingredient, along with slow gin, honey and peppermint. The healing effects of a Rock Candy Tour are interchangeable with that homemade concoction.

A husband-and-wife company, Rock Candy Tour is named for the Macon rock-and-R&B legacy pioneered by Jessica Walden’s uncle, father and grandfather. The three partnered with Otis Redding to form Redwal Music, which later evolved into Capricorn Records. That spells out the rock part. The candy part of Rock Candy Tours reflects Jamie Weatherford’s family heritage of purchasing the Crown Candy Corporation in the early 1970s. Overall, the candy company has made candy for nearly nine decades. Ultimately, the union between these two creative people and their colorful backgrounds provides a unique mechanism to keep Macon’s rich music history alive.

Rock Candy Tours offer walking and trolley tours. Tour guides will also hop on a chartered bus and present well-known and behind-the-scenes stories about Macon music that will amaze the average person. Although they offer many types of tours, the Free Birds & Night Owls Pub Tour caters to the young and old, as well as hipsters and professionals. This tour enlightens out of towners, plus our urban, rural and suburban citizens with a ton of knowledge about Macon’s musical legacy.

The guides also conduct a pedestrian-friendly tour, which stops Downtown in places where music was made or performed. Rock Candy’s Free Birds and Night Owl Tours start in front of The Rookery at 9 p.m. and cost $10 per person. If you happen to be 21 and older, you can feel free to walk the tour and sip your spirit of choice. The journey ends at the legendary Grant’s Lounge.

To make reservations with Rock Candy Tours, call 478-955-5997.