Primus — and their giant astronaut stage props — visited the Arkansas Music Pavilion last year. Who would be a good fit in 2012?

As the Arkansas Music Pavilion builds its season — we’re just now learning about its inaugural act — those responsible are asking for a little help.

Venue manager Brian Crowne is seeking input for bands for the 2012 season, which likely lasts through September.

Several are confirmed or nearing confirmation already, but more acts are needed to round out the bill.

So, the questions are posed toward the local fans: What do you want to see? What would be successful in this market? What acts make sense (financially, routing wise, etc…)?

Essentially, try to be a booking agent for a bit. What are the names that cross your mind?

Ray Wylie Hubbard photo by Todd Wolfson

Ray Wylie Hubbard speaks in story form.

That’s the type of talent one (especially with Hubbard’s keen observational skills) develops after 40 plus years on the road.

He shares those stories in many ways, such as on the new tracks that will be released on “The Grifter’s Hymnal,” an album that will be released March 27.

He’s also working on a memoir that’s 70-80 percent complete, he says.

Hubbard chatted with me recently to share a few other stories from the road, like one about former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and one about a guitar he found stuffed in a planter. Read more in a story I wrote for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers [Note: Subscriber content].

Hubbard visits Northwest Arkansas for two shows. He plays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (2/8) at Second Street Live in Fort Smith and at 9 p.m. Thursday (2/9) at George’s Majestic Lounge.

Tickets are $20 for the Fort Smith show or $15 for the Fayetteville event. Get tickets through the venue’s respective websites.

Ray Bonneville may have “Bad Man’s Blood” but it served him well at the International Blues Challenge. Bonneville, representing Northwest Arkansas at the competition, won the event’s solo/duo category.

Congratulations should be given to both Ray Bonneville and Nathan Aronowitz (along with Aronowitz’s backing band, Max RPM) for representing Northwest Arkansas at last weekend’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn.

And further congratulations should be offered to Bonneville, who managed to win the thing.

Bonneville represented the Ozark Blues Society in the annual competition in the solo/duo category. He earned the right to represent them after winning the local blues society’s annual blue challenge. Aronowitz won the band category at the local blues challenge and was the area’s representative in that category at the international competition.

Final numbers haven’t been published online for the 2012 contest, but 83 solo/duo acts competed in the 2011 blues challenge, with at least that many expected in 2012. The competition netted the winners “cash, prizes and industry recognition,” the challenge says on its website.

Bonneville, a Canadian-born songwriter, has performed many times in Fayetteville, including numerous gigs at GoodFolk Productions.

Americana/folk/jam act Railroad Earth, whose frontman, Todd Sheaffer, left, is pictured live last October at the nearby Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, return to the area this week for a more intimate gig. The sextet from New Jersey, which released their sixth studio album in 2010, will perform during a rare Monday-night show at George’s Majestic Lounge. The show starts at 9 p.m.; tickets are $20 and available at the club or through the club’s website.

Joey DeFrancesco

Punxsutawney Phil may have spotted his shadow yesterday, but if it means more 60-plus-degree days, we’ll take it.

And as the winter blazes on (with the threat of heavy storms today, even!), things will be hot inside Legacy Blues tonight, too.

Considered by many to be the best jazz organist in the world, Joey DeFrancesco and his Hammond B3 organ will roll into Fayetteville for a show tonight (Feb. 3) at the blues club. The longtime frontman and one-time member of Miles Davis’ band has released more than 25 studio recordings. The concert takes place from 7-9 p.m. Admission is $30 or $25 for North Arkansas Jazz Society members. The show is sold out, but you can call 587-8981 to be placed on a waiting list.

What else?

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart will return to GoodFolk Productions tonight. Admission to that show is $15 and it begins at 7:30. Reservations should be made by calling 521-1812.

Saturday (2/4) brings another installment of the Mudstomp Records festival, which includes artists such as Mountain Sprout, Ben Miller Band and more. That event takes place at George’s Majestic Lounge.

And on Sunday (2/5), pre-Super Bowl, of course, Emily Kaitz performs at Terra Studios in Durham. That show takes place from 1-4 p.m.

What’s on your agenda?

Perpetual Groove plays a “Sweet Oblivious Antidote.” What kind of poison/malady they are saving people from, I’m not sure.

If you’re looking to preview one of the artists performing at this summer’s Wakarusa festival, tonight (Feb. 2) is a good opportunity. Georgia jam act/electronica group Perpetual Groove will perform at George’s Majestic Lounge.

The group has released several studio albums and hosts their own summer music festival, Amberland, each Memorial Day weekend.

Admission to the 10 p.m. show is $15. Tickets can be reserved online.

Kentucky Knife Fight

Kentucky Knife Fight — a quintet from St. Louis, and not Kentucky — make a sound combining elements of punk, blues and rockabilly. The band, according to its website, “create(s) songs about desperate people doing desperate things in places they shouldn’t be.” The group returns to Fayetteville for a 9 p.m. show at the Smoke & Barrel Tavern on Thursday (Feb. 2) evening. Admission is free.

Northwest Arkansas Media photo by ANDY SHUPE

Negotiations continue to keep the Arkansas Music Pavilion at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in future years, but for 2012, the venue will be elsewhere.

AMP owner Walton Arts Center announced Monday afternoon that because lease negotiations between mall management and the arts center have stalled, the outdoor, tent-style venue will be located at the Washington County Fairgrounds for the 2012 season. It had been located at the mall every year since 2005.

Northwest Arkansas Times reporter Joel Walsh analyzes the situation and chats with AMP officials about the impact of the move and the status of the $4 million worth of renovations that were slated for the venue in 2012.

Also announced in the process was the first concert act of the season. That honor goes to Big Gigantic, a Colorado-based electronic duo. Tickets for the April 21 show are expected to go on sale early next week, and another act is expected to be announced soon.

Bonus: Here’s Big Gigantic performing “Sky High”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to being a really good percussionist, Mickey Hart is a drum scholar who has studied rhythms all over the world. Above is one of those stories.

Wakarusa created a little bit of a buzz when it announced that Bob Weir, formerly of the band The Grateful Dead, was among the many performers playing at the early summer festival.

That gig will take place sometime between May 31 and June 3.

So, what if I told you there’s no need to wait that long to see a Dead member live in concert?

George’s Majestic Lounge announce late last week that Mickey Hart, percussionist for the Dead, will come to the venue on April 23, a Monday evening. He will be joined by Dave Schools, a Widespread Panic member.

Tickets (no price announced) will go on sale on Feb. 7.

Art for "The Hills Have Amps," a metal compilation being released tonight at Smoke & Barrel.

Art Amiss has released several compilation albums that chronicle the various genres in Northwest Arkansas. This one stands to be the heaviest of them all, and for several reasons.

The newest compilation “The Hills Have Amps” will be released tonight (Jan. 27) at Smoke & Barrel Tavern. The new recording will first be available as a 12-inch vinyl album, meaning it will physically be heavier than the CDs the group normally hands out.

But it will be heavy musically, too. The album features songs from several Northwest Arkansas metal bands. One of the bands featured on the recording is VORE, who have been performing for nearly 20 years. Page Townsley, vocalist and guitarist for VORE, chatted with me about the state of metal in Northwest Arkansas, his band’s contribution to the compilation album and more.

Vore

Read the story here [Note: Subscriber content] or see the band live tonight at Smoke & Barrel Tavern, where the group will perform during a launch party for the new record.

Admission to tonight’s show is $10, but that price includes a vinyl copy of the album (which further includes a download card for electronic copies of the songs, too). Speaking of electronic copies, we understand the album will make its way to the Art Amiss Bandcamp page.

The show begins at 9 p.m. Also performing are Potions and Lightbulb Detective Agency.