IT'S BEEN 31 years since attorneys-to-be Skip Jennings and Ward Abel came together as Mercer University students, and bonded over acoustic guitars, pizza and beer. When Jerry Stenger (mandolin and percussion) came aboard, it became an act, and the act became the Massey Boys (Fun fact: although actor Raymond Massey actually died in 1983, the year the trio got together, they did not name themselves in his honor—truth was, they all lived in a nearby apartment complex called The Massee).

Jennings, of course, has been a prominent Savannah attorney for many years (the Massey Boys were semi-regular performers at O’Connell’s Pub, a favorite watering hole for those in the litigation profession). He’s also president of the Coastal Jazz Association, and a producer of the annual Savannah Jazz Festival. Abel lives in Atlanta, and Stenger is a member of the Savannah Caliegh Band, playing Irish dance music. – Bill DeYoung