Georgia Bound was formed in 1984 by a group of friends who wanted to play music together.  Connie Freeman Morris had recently moved back to Georgia after spending four years living in New York City and joined with former bandmates from Cherokee Rose, Bluegrass Generation, and Whitewater to start a new group.   In the spring of 1984, Connie along with Mindy Johnson, Jimmy Ross, Matt Mundy and Lisa Ray became Georgia Bound.

Georgia Bound – 1984
Connie Morris, Matt Mundy, Mindy Johnson, Jimmy Ross, Lisa Ray

The idea for the band name came from a song called “Georgia Bound” written by the legendary fiddle player Chubby Anthony. While the original band members did not play together very long, they did create an early foundation for the band and all five original members remain close friends to this day.

By the late 1980’s, Connie had been joined by long-time friends Jane Baxter, Onie Baxter, John Farley and Debbie Farley, who along with banjo player Bob Chappell, created a new line-up of Georgia Bound.  This configuration would have a span of over five years and was well known for the unique, all female vocal arrangements.

Georgia Bound – 1988
(back row) Jane Baxter, Bob Chappell, John Farley, Debbie Farley
(seated) Connie Morris, Onie Baxter

During the mid to late 1980’s, Connie and her dad, Murray Freeman, continued to play as “The Ridgerunners”, a group that Murray had co-founded in 1964.  All through the late 1960’s and 1970’s “The Ridgerunners” was known for Murray’s enthusiastic guitar playing and traditional lead singing.  Connie Morris had joined her dad’s band in 1970 and played with him continuously until she moved to New York in 1980.  “The Ridgerunners” recorded an album on Atteiram records in 1976 and was named one of the top three bluegrass bands in Georgia by Brown’s Guide to Georgia in 1979.  Although Murray did not have a full time band in the 1980’s, he and Connie continued to do shows with various musicians filling in on mandolin and bass.   By 1990, Murray had met and become friends with two young musicians who expressed an interest in playing bluegrass music and a new version of “The Ridgerunners” was formed.  That band consisted of Murray, Connie, Mike Patton and Tracy Burdette.  Mike initially played rhythm guitar and was already experienced at singing all vocal parts.  Tracy was a guitar player also but decided to take up the mandolin in order to round out the band’s instrumentation.

By 1992, John Farley had also started to play some shows with “The Ridgerunners” and as such, he and Connie were playing at that time with both bands.  As some of the other Georgia Bound members drifted on to other musical endeavors, Connie and Murray decided to merge “The Ridgerunners” into Georgia Bound.  At that time, in approximately 1992, Connie, John, Murray, Mike and Tracy became Georgia Bound.

It was not long until Debbie Farley joined the group playing bass and she stayed with the band until approximately 1998 when she left to concentrate on her gospel music projects.  Mike saved the day when he agreed to take up the acoustic bass and the current line-up of Georgia Bound has been intact since that time.

                                           Georgia Bound 1996
             Tracy Burdette, Connie Morris, Mike Patton, Debbie Farley,
                                   Murray Freeman, John Farley

Through the years, all the members of Georgia Bound (past and present) have enjoyed playing and singing good quality bluegrass music.  But most important, they have all enjoyed the enduring friendships of fellow band members.

Georgia Bound 2004
Connie Morris, Mike Patton, Tracy Burdette, John Farley,
Murray Freeman

Awards and Recognition

Murray Freeman was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Honor in 1998 and elevated to the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

John Farley and Connie Morris were inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Honor in 2001.

Georgia Bound was recognized by the Atlanta Society of Entertainers as the “2003 Bluegrass Band of the Year”.

John Farley was recognized as the “2003 Musician of the Year” by the Atlanta Society of Entertainers.

Connie Morris was recognized as the “2003 Female Vocalist of the Year” by the Atlanta Society of Entertainers.

Murray Freeman is a featured subject of the “North Georgia Bluegrass Chronicles”, a research project by Bill Brown dedicated to documenting and publicizing the contributions of various musicians in the North Georgia area.

Murray was also one of three featured subjects of an oral and written presentation made by Bill Brown and Mike Fleming to the International Country Music Conference in 2001 at Belmont University.  The presentation was entitled “Fifty Years of Bluegrass: 1950-2000” and described Murray’s important influence (along with J.N. and Onie Baxter and James Watson) on the North Georgia bluegrass community.  The written presentation also resulted in a feature article in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine in August of 2003.