Instead of connecting couples, Aubrey creates musical matches. For more than two decades, Aubrey has been pairing Athens’ musicians with the right rooms, the right crowds, and the right moments.
An indie-folk singer who’s perfect for an intimate wedding. A jazz musician to set the mood at a wine event. A college punk band that needs a stage that can handle chaos, sweat, and volume. In 2019, he launched Aubrey Entertainment to make his calling as a “musical matchmaker” official, but his passion for music started long before he reached Athens.
Aubrey’s mother loved Elvis. She brought a 6-year-old Troy to his first concert to see the King; bought him his first instrument, a violin; and passed her deep love of rock and roll down to her son.
“The Beatles. Chuck Berry. The Beach Boys. There was always a record playing in our house,” Aubrey says. “There are films of me as young as 2 bouncing up and down with my parents’ stereo.”
Once he reached his teenage years, Aubrey graduated from listening to music to playing it. He started with the violin but fell in love with the hypnotic resonance of the electric guitar.
“My parents bought me two electric guitars and two amplifiers. I don’t know why they bought two,” he laughs. “I started playing guitar in like seventh or eighth grade, and it was immediately, ‘Goodbye, violin. Hello, rock and roll!’”
Aubrey was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but his family moved to east Cobb County in the late 1970s. By the time he arrived in Athens in the early ’80s, legends like R.E.M. and Widespread Panic had a national following. More bands were forming in garages and dorm rooms at the University of Georgia hoping to follow their lead. As a student in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Aubrey also joined a couple of bands and added the thrum of his bass guitar to the sounds of the city.
In his early 20s, Aubrey stepped away from performing to help other musicians find the limelight. Over the next 20 years, he touched every part of the music business managing and booking bands as a free agent. He booked gigs, promoted tours, made press kits, and even coordinated a tour through the U.K., driving the van himself while his musicians slept in the back. But the Classic City kept drawing him back.
Aubrey was one of the first organizers to bring live music back to Athens in 2021. He helped the Hotel Indigo attract new acts to their Rialto Club, booked anniversary parties at Creature Comforts, and brought nationally touring talent to the Foundry.
“My heart and soul lie with Athens and the relationships I’ve made here,” Aubrey says. “The musicians, the venues, the restaurants, the breweries, the DJs, the community, the nonprofits, they mean everything to me.”
That devotion runs especially deep through his nonprofit work. AthFest is a three-day event that brings the city’s eclectic musical history and culture to life. Aubrey has been involved with the festival for more than two decades, since the second year.
He started out as a stage manager. By the next year, Aubrey was booking the talent (including a then-unsigned John Mayer) and shaping the sound of the festival with artists that spoke to the Athens community.
What started as a small stage on the courthouse steps grew into a cornerstone of Athens culture, and Aubrey grew alongside it. The one thing that never changed was his love of music.
Aubrey still has his parents’ 60-year-old stereo, along with several thousand records he’s collected over the years. From vinyl to cassettes to CDs, Aubrey’s collection is a living time capsule of the global music scene.
“Music isn’t just a job for me. It’s my way of life,” says Aubrey. “It’s my career and my legacy. For me, everything goes back to music.”