One More For 'Ain't No More'

Musician, show consider dying arts, traditions

After sold-out shows during the Roots Festival and at Stage 18 in Fayetteville, Black Apple Crossing in Springdale will host the finale performance on Sunday of musician Willi Carlisle’s and director Joseph Fletcher’s folk operetta “There Ain’t No More!”
After sold-out shows during the Roots Festival and at Stage 18 in Fayetteville, Black Apple Crossing in Springdale will host the finale performance on Sunday of musician Willi Carlisle’s and director Joseph Fletcher’s folk operetta “There Ain’t No More!”

Northwest Arkansas folk musician Willi Carlisle used to see himself as more of the singer/songwriter sort. In certain venues, he used to avoid playing the traditional sounds of the Americana and folk music he adores for fear people didn't want to hear it. But in the time he's spent with the old, dying folk singer he portrays in the one-man operetta he authored -- titled "There Ain't No More!"-- Carlisle feels the character and the story have brought him closer to who he really is as an artist.

"Playing these folk songs and doing this show across the country has led me to believe you don't have to be a southern folklorist to be interested in this music, and that has given me a great degree of confidence in the way that I can deliver this sort of old, sometimes 'boring' material," he shares. "I really want to be the best steward to [these traditions] that I can."

FAQ

‘There Ain’t No More!’

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Sunday

WHERE — Black Apple Crossing in Springdale

COST — $12 suggested donation; limited seating

INFO — facebook.com/blacka…; willicarlisle.com

FYI — Carlisle’s performance at BAX won’t be his last ever, but it will be the last one for a while of “There Ain’t No More!” Keep an eye on Carlisle’s website for future performances, rumored to be possibly coming around the end of the year.

Returning from a summer tour where he shared his aged folksinger with diverse audiences through songs, jokes, political plot points and non-linear storytelling, Carlisle says it's a treat to be back in Northwest Arkansas where some in the crowd have seen or been part of the production since the rehearsal process. Though its run time still comes in under an hour -- which could change as Carlisle and director Joseph Fletcher continue tweaking for future performances -- Carlisle recognizes the story does ask a lot from the audience as it encourages them to sing but also to think about the value of our traditional culture.

"What is the value of dying arts?" he muses. "Because [those arts and traditions] have these complex vicissitudes where some elements of it are beautiful and deserve to be preserved, and some of them deserve to go. And to me, that polemic is part of the American story -- that there are many beautiful things about the places we've come from, but we're always sort of trying to move forward."

-- Jocelyn Murphy

[email protected]

NAN What's Up on 09/15/2017

Upcoming Events