GARFIELD -- From the toe-stomping rambunctiousness of "Jambalaya" to the melodic strain of "I Don't Remember Loving You" in the key of C to the haunting folk-pop hit "House of the Rising Sun," members of The Black Oak Band delighted their audience Saturday night.
"Hank Williams is at the Walmart AMP, and we're not," band leader Ken Bell said with a grin as he started the evening's entertainment. "But because we're here, and he's there, we'll do a Hank Williams song."
Music at the Firehouse
Two more shows are scheduled at Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department NEBCO Station No. 1 this year:
Sept. 12 and Sept. 26. Then The Black Oak Band will hibernate for the winter.
Information: Ken Bell at (479) 330-0604 or ken [email protected].
Music at the Firehouse has been sponsored by the Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department for the past six years in the NEBCO Station No. 1 community room.
"It brings the community on to our side and in to our building," said Kara Funk, chairman of the NEBCO Board of Directors. "We continually get somebody saying, 'We're so glad that you brought the music here.'
"We've always believed that the more of our members that use our facilities, who are acquainted with our facility, the better understanding they have of our department. This gives them ownership. ... It's the community's facility... it's all good to be able to offer it up for use."
Band members are Ken Bell, 73, who plays rhythm guitar and lead vocals; Valerie Bell, fiddle; Don Halsey, steel guitar; Scott Wade, lead country guitar; Mike Gray, lead blues and rock guitar; Don Kotouc, drums; Ken Mounce, bass guitar; Ray Millon, harmonica; and John Rainone, keyboards.
"We all enjoy playing music ... and we enjoy being able to interact with each other as musicians. It's the music that brings us together," Bell said. All play by ear; some read music, he added. Several members sing and each usually has a solo during the two-hour concert.
"We play classic country and some blues and some '70s rock. We've got about two hours to get in 14 hours of music."
The musicians' backgrounds are as diverse as their musical tastes, too.
Bell, a retired math teacher, was a senior manager for Boeing in training and development before he retired to Lost Bridge Village. He's played rhythm and bass guitar since the mid-'60s. His wife, Valerie, had never played a musical instrument but learned the fiddle about five years ago.
"I played music from the mid-'60s to mid-'80s in Kansas and Oklahoma," Bell said, adding that he had a band called the Whiskey River Band, which played at openings for Roy Clark, Mel McDaniel, Gene Watson.
Mike Gray, retired school teacher, currently works part-time with the Boston Mountain Cooperative. He was the assistant superintendent of schools in Fayetteville for four years, was school superintendent in Farmington and has since retired to Lost Bridge Village. At one time, he was the band director in Warden and Paris, Ark., and was a music teacher.
"I enjoy the camaraderie," Gray said. "I enjoy music."
Gray plays with three different groups -- The Black Oak Band, a big band in Bella Vista and a jazz band out of Lost Bridge.
Scott Wade works in construction for Ground Zero in Siloam Springs. A heavy equipment operator, he plays guitar for the band.
"I've just played music all my life. I grew up in a bluegrass band family; learned the mandolin at 3, the guitar at 6 and taught myself the banjo," Wade said. He said his older brothers were in the bluegrass band Sugar Hill Express and his father, Ray Wade, used to twin fiddle with Frankie Kelly.
"There are several of us who used to play music back in our younger days in various places. We all ended up living in Lost Bridge Village and began having jam sessions at the old Coal Gap school house," Bell said, adding that they formed the band and eventually partnered with NEBCO to play "as a community service."
"We practice a couple of times a year before we open the season. Several of us play different venues around, some in nursing homes in Rogers and Bentonville," Bell said. "This is quite a versatile, very talented group of musicians."
"Let's get wild and crazy," Bell said to "Harmonica Ray" Millon, who entertained the crowd with a solo. Then, John Rainone played a solo on the keyboard as the audience clapped, swayed and tapped out the rhythm with their feet.
"I got a request for 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,'" Rainone said. "We got to do this for those folks from Chicago back there."
As Harmonica Ray played "Orange Blossom Special," Bell accompanied him with a train whistle and Dorothy Tackett of Garfield tap danced in front of the band in a red, white and blue costume.
For the past six years, the band often closes the show with "Johnny, Be Good."
"People really like it; they react to it. It's a good fast tune, and we can feature all the musicians on it," Bell said.
"The audience reaction is one of the things that makes it fun; the fact that so many people that follow us and will be there most times we play is rewarding," Bell said. "Last year we played 13 shows, and two couples were there for every show. We've gained quite a following from Bella Vista."
"Every time they're here, we're here," John Brach and wife Sandra of Bella Vista, agreed. "We don't miss them. They're so good, so entertaining."
This past Saturday, Bell's grandson Brody Caster, 18, from Douglass, Kan., joined the group. Brody, a freshman at Pittsburg (Kan.) State University, has written several songs and recently produced a CD. His younger brother, Kolby, played on the drums Saturday, spelling Kotouc.
"The old clock on the wall says we've about overstayed our welcome," Bell said as the evening wound down. "Now, get us outta here, Mr. Rainone. You got us into this mess. Now get us out."
NAN Our Town on 08/27/2015