Unless it gets about 2-3 hours of good sunlight - forget it. Not even fescue will grow in those conditions, especially when it stays wet.

Try moss. Just keep the leaves off the ground and I'm sure it will grow on its own. It can get very lush and green in the shade and can tolerate a fair amount of foot traffic.

Fescue does well for me in shade just north of Atlanta - Lake Lanier area. Make sure you are not using creeping red fescue, chewing's red - it goes by different names or that it is not in your grass mixture. It is beautiful in the spring, but Georgia is too hot for it and it turns brown and dies in the summer. Your county extension can tell you which fescues to avoid and which are right for Atlanta. Sorry, I don't remember any of the good fescues. If fescue still doesn't work, try a groundcover?

How about New Zealand brass buttons? its a steppable that does great in zone 8 shade. Heres a pict of new zealand brass buttons on the left side of my old birdbath, they are very well behaved in my climate.
{{gwi:1254515}}
I wish I would have got a better picture of them before we moved, they look like small ferns, my favorite ground cover!