LITTLE ROCK — A quick quiz: What do the following have in common?
King Biscuit Blues Festival, Wakarusa, Eureka Springs Blues Festival, Valley of the Vapors, Hot Springs Jazz Festival, Ozark Folk Festival.
Ideas? Anyone?
Well, of course. These are just some of the music festivals that are held every year right here in Arkansas.
There’s a new kid on the annual music festival list, however, and he’s bringing a Natural State twist.
“There are lots of music festivals in Arkansas, but this is an Arkansas music festival,” says John Miller, coordinator of the first Arkansas Sounds Music Festival,with performances Friday and Saturday in downtown Little Rock and featuring a menagerie of Arkansas musicians. And it’s free.
“It’s probably not as large as some of the other festivals,” Miller says, “but there is a plethora of really talented musicians from Arkansas and this festival is a tribute to them.”
From blues to rock, jazz, rockabilly, alt-rock and a few stops in between, the festival kicks off Friday with performances at the River Market Pavilions. The jamming begins with Amasa Hines at 5 p.m.; and then there’s rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef at 6; Tyrannosaurus Chicken at 7; and Jim Dandy comes to the rescue with Southern rock legends Black Oak Arkansas at 8.
Saturday’s lineup includes a tribute to Levon Helm and bluesman Michael Burks, who both died in the past year and who were both scheduled to be a part of the festival, Miller says.
Saturday’s shows, which are at the Riverfest Amphitheatre, start with Peppersauce Alley at 10 a.m. followed by bluegrass faves Runaway Planet at 11; indie rockers The See at noon; Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers at 1 p.m.; the Salty Dogs at 2; Billy Jones Bluez at 3; Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers at 4; the organic grooves of Velvet Kente at 6; blues-rock heroes The Cate Brothers at 7; Levon Helm and Michael Burks Tribute at 8 - hosted by Amy Garland Angel and featuring Jeff Coleman, Jess Hoggard, members of the Lockhouse Orchestra, the Cate Brothers and Ben Nichols; and country punk favorites Lucero will close the proceedings at 9:30.
You’d think two days of free music would be enough for a festival in its first year, but no.Arkansas Sounds organizers aren’t messing around. There are events earlier in the week to whet the appetite of the music lover.
The Songwriters Showcase and Workshop with Wayland Holyfield is at 6 p.m. Monday at the Darragh Center of the Central Arkansas Library System’s main branch at 120 River Market Ave., Little Rock.
Legendary critic Greil Marcus makes up for missing his appearance at this year’s Arkansas Literary Festival with a discussion of his book The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years at the Darragh Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
A screening of Towncraft, the excellent documentary of the Little Rock underground scene, will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Darragh Center.
Is there more? Yep. Shamrock Strings, a group of violinists (or fiddle players, depending on the song, Miller notes) ages 9-16 will perform at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Main Library. And teen singer/songwriter Celina Bree will give a concert at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Main Library’s Level 4.
For more festival information, check arkansassounds.org.
The origins of the festival are traced back to Central Arkansas Library System Director Bobby Roberts, who, says David Stricklin of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, “came up with the idea of having a big, free festival, not just a music festival in Arkansas but a celebration of Arkansas music.”
The festival also dovetails with the Butler Center’s stash of Arkansas tunes and the center’s work in preserving the state’s music and educating folks on the contributions Arkansas musicians have made to the cultural patchwork.
“We are working to expand our music library and make this music available to people,” Miller, who many know from the Big John Miller Band, says. “We’re working on digitizing some of the music and getting it online.”
There’s also an encyclopedia in the works documenting Arkansas music that should be ready by next year’s gathering.
And Miller and his Butler Center cohorts have big plans for the festival. There’s talk of themes for future fests, wrangling different acts and looking at different genres. It’s early, but Miller has ambitious plans, even mentioning a certain hallowed Austin, Texas, music festival (South By Southwest) as a benchmark to strive toward.
“The first festival is the hardest,” Miller says. “Everything is new from the ground up, but we want to get the awareness out there and promote not just the bands, but the music and the culture of the state. If we don’t blow our own horn, nobody else is going to do it.”
Style, Pages 51 on 09/23/2012