— March 9th, 2010
Hear them live before you go: Tea Leaf Green
Tea Leaf Green is looking for a reason. They’ve got a reason to be in Fayetteville: They play tonight (March 9) at George’s Majestic Lounge.
Friend of the blog and music aficionado DGold, host of the Honest Tunes Radio Show on KXUA (88.3 FM) is hosting a live performance and a live Web cast from California-based rockers Tea Leaf Green, who play today (March 9) at George’s Majestic Lounge.
The band will be playing live (acoustic) at 6 p.m. on the radio show and streamed live from the show via UStream starting about 9 p.m.
For details or links, check out http://dgold.info/radio
Of course, nothing beats seeing a show live. The show starts about 9 p.m.; local band Mountain of Venus opens. Tickets, which are available through the venue’s Web site, are $15.
Tags: George's Majestic Lounge, Tea Leaf Green
Posted in Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | 1 Comment »
— March 8th, 2010
Concert Wrap: George Thorogood, March 7 @ WAC
George Thorogood and the Destroyers
“I know I’m full of (crap), but I’m having a good time,” George Thorogood told a crowd gathered to watch him perform March 7 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville.
And that pretty much sums it up.
George Thorogood, approaching 60 years of age, is still full of vim and vigor. He’s still got chops on guitar. He’s still got a few moves, too, as he spent a good part of the evening wriggling about onstage, shaking his hips or spinning in circles while playing his white Gibson guitar.
But Thorogood isn’t the best guitarist you’ll ever see. His stage show isn’t the most advanced, although the LED video boards that flanked him on both sides of his spot in the middle of the stage had their moments. And, heck, he doesn’t even play that many of his own songs, making hits instead of blues standards by John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and more.
But, you know what? He’s on to something. When you’re having as he was on Sunday night, it’s hard not so share some of that enthusiasm.
Tags: Bo Diddley, George Thorogood, Hank Williams, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Moreland & Arbuckle, Walton Arts Center
Posted in Concert Wrap, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »
— March 5th, 2010
On The Way: Steve Martin in concert, April 24 @ WAC
Update: Walton Arts Center has confirmed the concert. Tickets will be $51-$101 and go on sale at 9 a.m. March 12.
Steve Martin is a funny man, with notoriety as famed standup comic and television and movie star, but he can be serious, too.
He is serious about music, for instance, and he is a talented banjo player. Really.
And, according to his Web site, fans in Fayetteville will get a chance to see it in person. The performer’s site indicates he will play at the Walton Arts Center on April 24, a Saturday night, with the Steep Canyon Rangers, an award-winning bluegrass band.
No details on tickets are available at this time. We’ll update you if more information is released.
Tags: Steep Canyon Rangers, Steve Martin, Walton Arts Center
Posted in Concert Announcements, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | 2 Comments »
— March 5th, 2010
Shannon Wurst goes solo, confessional
Shannon Wurst
Shannon Wurst knows she had a good thing going in 3 Penny Acre.
Their sound was pure, fun and, as she says, representative of the Ozarks.
But she also knows her dream: to be a solo artist. So the Alma native, who has also had brief careers as a whitewater rafting guide and a dog musher, is going it alone.
On the heels of her amicable departure for the Northwest Arkansas folk band, Wurst will release her second solo album, “What’s More Honest Than A Song?” at a show tonight (March 5) at the Smoke & Barrel Tavern in Fayetteville.
Wurst will also use tonight’s show as the starting point for a tour that will take her to the West Coast, East Coast and everywhere in between. Her tour is with a group titled the Swamp Family Band, composed of a group of songwriters who will take turns backing each other’s songs while on the road.
Wurst classifies her sophomore effort as a more honest effort in than her first album, 2007’s “Sunday Pie,” in that she wrote most of the songs featured on the new album.
It’s also a green effort — all of the album packaging is made from recyclable material and Wurst has even included a few flower seeds to plant for everyone who buys the record.
Tonight’s show is expected to begin about 10 p.m.
Before you go, take a listen to a couple of Wurst’s new tracks. The first is a reworked version of a 3 Penny Acre track that supplies the album title, “White Walls,” about a friend’s recovery from alcoholism.
The second is the song “Ivory Bill,” which Wurst wrote for the Arkansas Heritage Commission and performed at schools across the state.
“White Walls”:
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“Ivory Bill”:
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Tags: 3 Penny Acre, Shannon Wurst, Smoke & Barrel
Posted in Concert Reminders, Listen Here First, NWA Music News, Read More Here | No Comments »
— March 4th, 2010
Zum zooms, comes to Walton Arts Center
David Gordon, pianist for the British quartet Zum, calls this “the most energetic music that I’ve ever been involved in … It has the humor and passion in equal quantities.”
What that music is, however, can be a little hard to describe. Zum plays a blend of two principal types of music: gypsy jazz and Argentinean tango.
The music the band creates, Gordon said by phone from his home near London, is jazz music unlike the product of any other band.
We talked with Gordon for a story that appeared last week in What’s Up! in advance of the group’s two-night run at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. Shows take place at 8 p.m. tonight (March 4) and Friday.
His wide-ranging chat with us discussed how an instrumental quintet can find humor in their music and how the group was inspired by tango composer Astor Piazzolla, whose music is featured on Zum’s latest recording, “Zum Plays Piazzolla.”
Tickets are $16-$26 and available at the venue or through its Web site.
Tags: David Gordon, Walton Arts Center, Zum
Posted in Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »
— March 3rd, 2010
Bikes, Blues & Hot Rods Too expands
We hinted at this earlier when we discussed the artists that would be coming to The Arkansas Music Pavilion, but we learned a little bit more today.
The second installment of the Bikes, Blues & Hot Rods Too rally is expanding from its original dates in September into May, where it will come to the Arkansas Music Pavilion in Fayetteville and Pig Trail Harley-Davidson in Rogers. The September event will also take place.
Included in the May festival will be helicopter rides, motorcycle demonstrations and more. Although we knew which bands would perform on May 22 already (Blue Oyster Cult and Georgia Satellites), a few details were released about the other music offerings for the festival.
The Friday night of the rally/car show, May 21, will feature a free concert by LaFuSo and Oreo Blue at the AMP. Other blues acts are slated to perform on May 22 at the motorcycle dealership.
The Rogers Morning News has a little more on the festival, if you’re curious.
As more of the musical artists are announced, we will let you know.
Tags: Arkansas Music Pavilion, Bikes Blues & Hot Rods Too, Blue Oyster Cult, Georgia Satellites, Pig Trail Harley-Davidson
Posted in Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »
— March 1st, 2010
On The Way: Ryan Bingham, May 4 @ George’s
Ryan Bingham sings “Crazy Heart.” You’d be crazy not to see him perform on May 4 at George’s Majestic Lounge.
According to his Web site, Oscar-nominated songwriter (and, in the interest of disclosure, a favorite of the blog) Ryan Bingham will be returning to George’s Majestic Lounge on May 4, a Tuesday night.
Bingham was a rodeo cowboy before finding fame on the alternative country music circuit. His last two albums, “Mescalito” and “Roadhouse Sun,” were met with critical praise, and his recent recording for the movie “Crazy Heart” (co-written by T-Bone Burnett) has been nominated for an Oscar in the Music: Best Song category.
Bingham last performed in Fayetteville in October and performed in Fort Smith in July.
No word on tickets at this time. We’ll update you as information becomes available.
Tags: Crazy Heart, George's Majestic Lounge, Ryan Bingham
Posted in Concert Announcements, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »
— February 26th, 2010
The (mostly) new TunedIn
See anything different on this site?
Thought so.
While we didn’t do anything drastic, we’ve spent some time cleaning up TunedIn and making it a little bit more user friendly.
Which, we think, starts with the new URL: www.nwatunedin.com.
We’ll be featuring polls, our Twitter feed, updated contact information, and in a hope to facilitate comments, a new way to get logged into the blog: Facebook connect, which will allow you to post using your Facebook handle. Pretty cool, huh?
We’ve also improved the search feature and reduced some of the clutter.
We’ve still got some ideas that we’ll be implementing soon, but this seems like a good start to us. We’re open to ideas, too, so track us down through the comment page and send us your ideas, your complaints or your praise.
Thanks for reading.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
— February 26th, 2010
Many AMP tickets on sale now
With the tickets to the Indigo Girls (for May 26), captured above singing “Galileo,” scheduled to go on sale today, let this serve as a friendly reminder that seats are available for several of the shows coming to the Arkansas Music Pavilion’s 2010 season.
Tickets are available at the AMP’s Web site for Levon Helm on April 22 (use the password ‘wac’ for access), Blue Oyster Cult and the Georgia Satellites on May 22 and MC Hammer on June 22.
Also, an update: The Gary Allan show that was scheduled for May 27 at the AMP has been rescheduled for Aug. 13, AMP officials report.
Posted in Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »
— February 26th, 2010
In the Spotlight — Reckless Kelly @ George’s
Photo of Reckless Kelly by Cassandra Weyandt
With the band’s newest album, the Feb. 9 release “Somewhere in Time,” Reckless Kelly pay tribute to one of its musical heroes. The album features songs by — and including vocals from — Pinto Bennett of the group the Famous Motel Cowboys. Reckless Kelly, touring in support of the new album, will perform tonight (Feb. 26) at George’s Majestic Lounge, 519 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville. Admission to the 9:30 p.m. show is $15. The Joe Giles Band will open.
Posted in Concert Reminders, In the Spotlight, Music Industry News, NWA Music News | No Comments »