A Georgia boy returns home to star at one of the South's most loved spring flings April 4 at the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta.

Jesup-born, Athens-based Randall Bramblett heaved a sigh of relief to be home planning his band's duo-performance with former bandmate and Athens musician Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Rolling Stones.

"It's going to be great, going to be fun," said Bramblett, interviewed by phone from his home in the rural countryside near Athens.

The songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is back from his road tour with newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Steve Winwood and Traffic.

His work with the vintage rockers is among numerous collaborations in Bramblett's near three-decades of music making.

From 1970s gigs with Greg Allman to jams with Widespread Panic and good timin' with Lavon Helm or the Mussel Shoals All Stars, Bramblett has played and written with a slew of acclaimed musicians. He performed with Leavell in Sea Level in the late '70s.

He's melded improvisational skills on keyboards, saxophone and flute with his vocal dexterity to mix it up with bands like Widespread Panic and String Cheese Incident.

When playing experimental numbers with them, "I listen and hope I'm on the right track. We really don't know where we're going," he said.

He switches to a more rehearsed track when he performs with Traffic. "It's a band where you know your part. It's a much tighter situation."

He plans to split his set on the Dogwood Festival stage, performing about eight songs with his touring band and another eight with Leavell. With band members Davis Causey, guitar; Mike Steele, bass; Mike Hines, guitar; and Gerry Hansen, drums; he'll play tunes from his latest release "Thin Places."

The CD, out since February, is "a little more accessible, not as dark," he said, as his 2001 release "No More Mr. Lucky."

"Some hope emerges from some of these characters (portrayed in "Thin Places"), he said. He cited some examples: "Nobody's Problem" takes listeners back to friendships on the old playground. "You Can Be the Rain" showers support for someone who needs it.

There's no telling what tunes will fill the Dogwood Fest grounds when Leavell and Bramblett team up. "We'll do a couple of Sea Level songs, I know," Bramblett said.

The combo might turn out a half dozen or so soul-tinged Southern renderings, Rolling Stones classics and jazz-infused ramblings that reflect the versatility of the Athens-based musicians.

Bramblett said that living in Athens, with its music clubs, university culture and rural surroundings, inspires his songwriting.

"Where you live affects how you write. I live out in the woods. Some of what I write comes from nature, from living in a small town and from experimental groups that you hear" in an eclectic environment, he said.

Bramblett's musical roots grew from piano playing as a child to saxophone practice with his high school band. He later picked up guitar in songwriting and learned flute with Winwood.

He advised fledgling grassroots musicians and garage bands around North Georgia to hewn their songwriting first and then learn their instruments. "The most important thing is to concentrate on writing. Unless you are a virtuoso player, spend time putting together really good material. People need good songs."