Part-rockumentary, part-presidential portrait, Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President traces how rock music helped propel Jimmy Carter to the White House, portraying him as the first US president to openly embrace rock 'n' roll, forging close bonds with Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers and Bob Dylan along the way. For Atlanta sound mixer Aaron ‘Cujo’ Cooley, this was a dream project...
Cooley grew up around live music in New York where his stepfather shared the stage with Sly Stone, Ronnie James Dio and members of the Doobie Brothers. When Cooley later moved to Georgia, he became a FOH mixer working with Christian rock bands.
More recently, he adapted to the pandemic by buying a 16-foot box truck from retiring audio engineer, Jim Hawkins – which he had been using for location recording and broadcast production work – and retrofitted it.
He cherishes the musical history behind the truck: “I have Jim’s business card hanging in the truck as an homage, and the set list from the last gig that the truck did, which was an Otis Redding celebration night in Macon. And I have Jim’s old chair!”
His appreciation for music history made taking on the Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President job a no-brainer.
“I was seriously interested. Not only because of Jimmy Carter and his history, but the music aspect involved artists that I grew up listening to, and had been fans of for my whole life. There was zero hesitation on my part,” he reflects.