John Paul Keith & The One Four Fives return to White Water Tavern with their rambling honky-tonk flavored indie rock, propelled by the band’s love of rockabilly guitars, pedal steel, piano and driving drums. The band’s debut album is Spills and Thrills.
The Red Dirt country rockers Jason Boland & the Stragglers are still touring behind their 2008 release, Comal County Blue, an album that hit the top 40 of the country music album charts. And, earlier this year, the outfit released High in the Rockies: A Live Album. Expect that live album to come alive with a boot-stomping good time with music blending country and rock when Boland and company visit Revolution Music Room. The opening act is to be announced, but expect the music at 9 p.m. with tickets for the 21-and-up show $10 advance and $12 day of.
Here’s John Paul Keith & The One Four Fives with an Ardent Sessions show:
White Water Tavern presents a night of singer/songwriter driven music with appearances by Cory Branan, a folk rock singer/songwriter known for his mesmerizing, poetic fingerpicked tales and sliding between intimate folk tunes such as “Last Man on Earth” and rugged rock ‘n’ roll tracks such as “Prettiest Waitress in Memphis,” and twangy, Colorado country rock outfit Drag the River. Branan and Drag the River’s Jon Snodgrass also recorded a batch of songs so you might expect the two acts to cover that ground as well.
Big Smith, the Springfield, Mo., band composed of five cousins and one, fiddle-playing non-cousin, earlier this year released their first studio album of original material since 2000’s Big Rock, titled Roots, Shoots and Wings, a 16-track collection of the band’s modern take on hillbilly music. To celebrate — and play — the new music, Big Smith is hitting the road, including a return to Revolution Music Room. Big Smith is simply an Ozark-Mountains powered, musical hootenanny of explosive bluegrass music mingled with country, rock ‘n’ roll and folk. The opening act is only promised as special guests, with the music starting at 8:30 p.m. and cover $8 for the 18-and-up night of music.
The Voices for Justice concert will be held at Robinson Center Music Hall starting at 7:30 p.m. The Rev. Thompson Murray and representatives from Arkansas Take Action will present new video messages from Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley along with special acoustic performances by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines. Tickets are $26.75.
Mulehead returns to White Water Tavern on Saturday night. The Saturday night will feature a special guest as opening act at 10 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 with any remaining tickets $12 day of show. Advance tickets are available through www.lastchancerecords.com. Expect the Arkansas-stamped alt country outfit Mulehead to rock through about 30 tunes over the two nights, including five from The Gospel Accordion II, 11 from Rocket Surgery and six from Finer Thing along with covers, including The Who’s “Squeeze Box.”
Mulehead returns to White Water Tavern on Friday and Saturday night. The Friday show kicks off with Slobberbone leader Brent Best at 10 p.m., and Saturday night will feature a special guest as opening act at 10 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 with any remaining tickets $12 day of show. Advance tickets are available through www.lastchancerecords.com. Expect the Arkansas-stamped alt country outfit Mulehead to rock through about 30 tunes over the two nights, including five from The Gospel Accordion II, 11 from Rocket Surgery and six from Finer Thing along with covers, including The Who’s “Squeeze Box.”
Country rock favorites Eli Young Band are swinging back through Little Rock with a show at Revolution Music Room. The opening act is to be announced, but expect the music around 9 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are on sale now for $15. Here are the band’s talking points: Their last album, Jet Black & Jealous, debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, and their single, “Always the Love Songs,” hit the Top 10 on country radio. All this success has also led to the band performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and being featured in USA Today, People, Billboard and Country Weekly, etc. The band’s newest single is “Guinevere.”
The “Iron Man” of Arkansas blues Michael Burks uses his guitar to split the sky and make it cry with piercing, soulful, electric Delta blues. Although he was born in the land of bratwurst and beer in Milwaukee, Burks grew up in Arkansas, learning the blues from his bluesmen father and grandfather. Burks issued his debut album in 1997, following it up with a series of albums showcasing his blues guitar playing and earning multiple Handy Awards nominees in the last 10 years. Burks is visiting Sticky Fingerz, and co-owner Chris King is gushing, stating: “All those things that people say about Chuck Norris? People that know blues music say the same thing about Michael Burks.” No word on the opening act, but the music starts at 9 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 21-and-up show.
Juanita’s welcomes a trio of Arkansas acts, with a visit from the electronica-infused indie rock of Mountain Home’s The Red Suite; Father Maple, a Little Rock indie rock quartet influenced by Coldplay, Ryan Adams and Death Cab For Cutie that plays “music you like”; and the Little Rock experimental indie rock of Falcon Scott. The all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover.
Jimbo Mathus is the wild man of Mississippi music, an artist born in the Mississippi Delta who recreates his roots in his music. The former member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers returns to Little Rock as Jimbo Mathus & The Tri State Coalition play White Water Tavern. No word on cover or start time. The outfit — Matt “Pizzle” Pierce on guitar, Justin Showah on bass, Eric Carlton on keyboards and Austin Marshall on drums — create interplanetary honky-tonk, roots music founded on Southern rock ‘n’ roll, blues, country, gospel and soul. Mathus and company released Knockdown South in 2005 and followed it up with his sophomore album, Jimmy the Kid, a collection of what Mathus describes as “Mississippi music.”
California rock band Deftones have never been afraid to chase their curiosity down several rabbit holes, creating a brawny sound mingled with experimental, pop and progressive music. The band kicked off a tour in support of their May release Diamond Eyes on Aug. 6, and nine shows later will arrive in Little Rock, playing Robinson Center Music Hall. Tickets are $36.60, $39.20 and $41.75 through Ticketmaster.
Here’s Jimbo Mathus & The Tri State Coalition with their “Who’ll Sop My Gravy”:
Days of the New hit it big with the stripped down, acoustic rock tune “Touch, Peel and Stand” in late ‘97 and early ‘98, and then three members split a year later, forming post-grunge act Tantric. While Days of the New has struggled, Tantric has gone on to release such mainstream rock hits as “Breakdown” and “Astounded” from their 2001 debut album and “Mind Control” from their 2009 album of the same name. The Kentucky rock band is continuing to tour, including a stop at The VillageJuanita’s presented by 100.3 The Edge. Tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door. Joining Tantric are California rock band Adema and California/Oklahoma rock outfit Burn Halo. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the music at 8 p.m.
The Revolution Music Room opens its doors to present a night of local music. The bill includes Maumelle electronica metal group The Science of Sleep, who released an EP The World Awaits in December 2009; central Arkansas hardcore band My Hands to War; Believe the Hype!, a Little Rock act coming together from the metalcore and hardcore scenes; and experimental electronica band Medic Red from Perryville. The all-ages show begins at 9 p.m. with a $6 cover.
Between tours with artists such as Ryan Cabrera, Apache Stone and Under the Elephant, the five members of Tucker Jameson & The Hot Mugs also find time to study at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. And in between all that, the quintet records and tours solo, including a stop at Vino’s where the band will run through its pop-flavored rock sound. Cover is $7 with the music starting at 8 p.m.
This is the rather cryptic e-mail I received last week: “Rikki ‘D’ formally known as Taxes Rikki ‘D’ will be returning to the Little Rock circuit, but will be returning as ‘Little Rockin Rikki D.’ He will make his return at White Water Tavern on Thursday Aug. 19th, 9:00 pm. $4.00 at the door.” I also received a phone call from “Rikki D,” asking me to run the information. The show is also on White Water Tavern’s website so, check it out.
Here’s Tucker Jameson & The Hot Mugs with their “Summer Whine”:
He’s called the “Dirty Old, One-Man Band.” Not by the media or fans, but self-proclaimed. He likes that name because Scott H. Biram captures blues, psychobilly, country and punk in a jar, violently shakes and then releases it for his primal blues rock. Biram will bring his devilish pulpit of tour-de-force music to Juanita’s. The show starts at 10 p.m. with cover $7 for the 18-and-up show. Joining Biram will be the duo of Joey and Kelly Kneiser from Glossary, the Tennessee rock band known for their fiery anthems tinged with country and R&B. Local support will be provided by local rockers Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth.
Ten local country acts — Tony Melton, Neal Travis, Heather Swain, the Alan Hunt Band, Ashley Quinn, Brian Mullen, Gwendlyn Kay, Lindsey Triplett, Bretten Low and The Luke Williams Band — are converging upon Revolution Music Room to compete in the finals of the KSSN Colgate Country Showdown. So what does the winner receive? A chance to move onto the state finals at the Arkansas State Fair in October. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. with cover $5 for 21 and over, and $10 for 20 and under.
Hot-rod Arkansas rock ‘n’ roll collides with blues-fueled Memphis rock ‘n’ roll as Little Rock act Jeff Coleman and the Feeders teams up with The Dirty Streets for a show at White Water Tavern. While Coleman has been providing organ, piano and background vocals to Little Rock Americana band Good Time Ramblers, with the Feeders one can expect Southern rock ‘n’ roll chock full of hard rock, blues and honky tonk country influences. And The Dirty Streets? A young rock ‘n’ roll outfit with punk and soul roots raised on MC5, Deep Purple, Sly & the Family Stone and Led Zeppelin.
Neckbroke Entertainment and Downtown Music presents Synfest V, including music from Evacuate the City, Bolt, Sh*tfire, Iron Ton, Knee Deep, Sychosys and A DarkEnd Era. Each band will play a 30-minute to 40-minute set. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m., and cover is $7. Downtown Music will also feature door prizes and drink specials both nights, and the kitchen will be open.
Here’s Scott H. Biram with “Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue”:
I hear Warbeast and immediately think of a blood-thirsty grizzly bear riding an angry great white shark. But Warbeast is also the name of the Dallas thrash metal act visiting The Village. And get this: The band isn’t even the headliner, that would be South Carolina death metal band Through the Eyes of the Dead. Joining the fun will be Tennessee death metal group Enfold Darkness, and North Carolina progressive death metal band Wrath and Rapture. Local support will be provided by El Dorado death metal band Once Exiled. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 advance and $14 at the door.
The wait is over for fans of power pop rock trio The Reds, as the outfit releases their second Max Recordings effort: Welcome to Stifft Station. The spare rockers are holding a CD release party at White Water Tavern, being joined by Memphis rockers Dragoon, featuring guitarist and vocalist Bobby Matthews of Little Rock punk legends Trusty.
A collection of comics, including Chris Tucker’s brother Dexter Tucker, visit Robinson Center Music Hall for the Comedy Explosion 2010 tour. Other comics include Bo-P, Rodney Perry and Pierre. The laughs start at 8 p.m. with tickets $34.05, $44.35 and $49.50.
Jacksonville’s Dupree Park will rock as the Jacksonville Parks & Recreation sponsors its first ever Rock’n the Park. The music begins at noon and continues through 10 p.m. with a number of local, heavy rock bands, including Eddie and the Defiantz, Land of Mines, Fiatlux, Livid, Finding Jimmy Hoffa, Body Drop, Knee Deep, A Darkend Era, and Between Crows and Thieves. The best part? It’s free. Although donations will be accepted to benefit the Jacksonville Boys & Girls Club. Concession will be provided by Chili’s, and the event will be emceed by Big Rock 93.3 DJ Blake Woodson.
Here’s Warbeast in action with “Scorched Earth Policy”:
Jim Mize’s website contains a Billboard magazine article from 2002 about the Conway native’s musical beginnings. So why did Mize start playing? “I was tryin’ to get in this girl’s pants, and you have to use all the keys you can.” That was Mize in 2002. Eight years later it’s unknown if that particular girl is happy Mize started playing, but the rest of the music world is happy Mize takes time out from his day job as a insurance adjuster to play his self-described “rural grinder sausage” music: a mingling of rock ‘n’ roll, country honky tonk and dirty Delta blues with Mize’s gravelly but honest voice. Mize returns to his Little Rock second home at White Water Tavern with the bluesy roots music of Steve Howell also on the bill.
The last time St. Louis post-grunge quartet Cavo visited central Arkansas, it was opening for Daughtry at Verizon Arena in December. The band returns, this time on their first headlining tour with a show presented by 100.3 The Edge at Juanita’s. Formed in 2001, Cavo finally hit the big time with their major-label debut Bright Nights Dark Days in 2009, an album that spawned the mainstream rock hits “Champagne,” “Crash” and the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen track “Let It Go.” Joining Cavo will be California hard rockers Black Sunshine, St. Louis alternative metal band Brookroyal and Florida rock band Atom Smash. Tickets are $13 advance and $15 day of show.
Bluesboy Jag is no longer only doing the one-man hill country blues show. He’s got a band, too: Jeff Clanton on bass and Paul Peterson on drums. Perfectly titled Bluesboy Jag & the Slack-Jawed Yokels, the outfit will perform at Town Pump from 10 p.m. to midnight with a $5 cover. The night will also feature special guests Mike Dollins on guitar and Jawbone Kenyon on harp on a couple of tunes.
Justin Bieber is currently the king of the pop world. (Lady GaGa is the queen. What an odd pair that would make.) And he comes to Verizon Arena for the hottest non-country ticket of the summer for his My World Tour along with Mr. Pop Reggae Sean Kingston, the “Fire Burning” artist who also sang “Eenie Meenie” with Bieber on My World 2.0. Tickets are $31.50, $41.50 and $51.50 at the Verizon Arena Box Office. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the music at 7 p.m. Joining Bieber and Kingston will be an emerging pop star, Iyaz, singer of “Replay,” a No. 1 hit the British Virgin Islands native states is Island Pop — a collection of rap, reggae, pop and island vibes popularized by Kingston.
Apparently. there’s no YouTube of Jim Mize out there doing his thing, so you got to settle for Cavo:
The Revolution Music Room welcomes country rocker Brantley Gilbert, a Jefferson, Ga., resident who, following a serious car wreck, decided to make the best of what life has to offer and pursue a music career. Five years later, Gilbert’s tunes have been recorded by Jason Aldean (“The Best of Me”) and Colt Ford (“Dirt Road Anthem”), and Gilbert has released his sophomore album Halfway to Heaven, a rock-infused country album featuring the current single “Kick It In the Sticks.” Tickets are $10 with the music starting at 9 p.m. for the all-ages show.
Opelika, Ala., is the town its neighboring town Auburn used to be — a still southern Alabama town less about the gown and more about the country. It’s also the hometown of country artist Adam Hood, an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter who wraps his music with traces of rock ‘n’ roll, folk and soul. Hood arrives at Sticky Fingerz, headlining a show that features opening act Mountain Sprout with their Arkansas-bred Americana music, kicking off the night at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the 21-and-up show.
Their beef with Ne-Yo over, Ohio alternative rock act Hawthorne Heights is back on the road promoting a new album, the June release Skeletons, the band’s first for Wind-up Records and a 13-track collection of tunes infused with electronica and pop punk. For a stop at Juanita’s, the band is joined by the hard rock and catchy rhythms of fellow Ohio act The Story Changes with local support from guitar-driven, alternative rockers pmtoday, the Jacksonville band who released the 10-track In Medias Res in April. The all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. with tickets $8 advance and $10 day of show.
Eric Sommer’s press kit describes his music in three words: singin’, harmonicas and guitars. With roots in the Boston folk music scene of the ’80s, the Massachusetts musician and former member of power pop group The Atomics transitioned from a writer of power pop songs on the acoustic guitar to a guitar wizard, using slide and open tunings to coax a wonderful alchemy of rock, blues and folk out of his instrument. Since 1995, Sommer has existed on the road, playing between 200 shows and 270 shows a year, wickedly weaving his guitar magic. A true virtuosic guitar picker, Sommer will re-visit White Water Tavern to deliver a high-energy night of his percussive, mesmerizing guitar playing.
Here’s Brantley Gilbert with his “Kick It In the Sticks”:
