Geoff Oelsner with his wife and singing partner, Leslie

Geoff Oelsner doesn’t spend too much time thinking about writing songs. Inspiration, he says, just hits him. He calls them “givens,” and he knows that a gift like that is to be used.

The songwriter releases his second CD of such songs, “Ordinary Mystery,” at a concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville. At the performance, he will be backed by local musicians Kelly Mulhollan, Robin Rues and Andrew Sieff.

On the recording, he was backed by all three of those players, but also his family, including his wife and two grown children who now make their careers as musicians.

Oelsner chatted with the us recently about the gifts of songs, the importance of recording with his family and his love of Native American cultures. Four songs on the album are dedicated to the countries different native peoples, and proceeds from the recording will be donated to Native American charities.

Read the story here.

Before you make the trip to the Botanical Gardens for the show, check out a couple of the tracks below.

Ordinary Mystery:

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Aboriginal Day, which features lyrics by the late local songwriter Nick Masullo:

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Filed under: Concert Reminders, Listen Here First, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 20, 2009 at 6:05 am
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Composer William Grant Still was not born in Arkansas, but he spent many of his formative years in Little Rock.

As for an Arkansan as a respected symphonic music composer, he’s as close we get, says John Jeter, music director for the Fort Smith Symphony.

Under the leadership of Jeter, the symphony has just released the second of three recordings of Still’s work. It includes two symphonies and another orchestral work from the man many called the “dean of African-American composers.”

Jeter discusses the recording process and the growing national interest in Still’s work in this week’s Listen Here! column, published in today’s What’s Up! section. Take a look here and also read about Steve Kimock’s two-night local run and the man who played the song “Dueling Banjos” in the movie “Deliverance.”

Filed under: Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 20, 2009 at 6:03 am
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Straight Line Stitch

Straight Line Stitch will perform at tonight at Drifters, the club. Admission is $10 at the door. The concert is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Filed under: Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 20, 2009 at 6:01 am
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For the final number of their concert on the University of Arkansas campus on Wednesday (Nov. 18), the Bowerbirds played in the stairwell of the Arkansas Union. Seriously.

They had a proper venue. They spent the bulk of the the night in the Union Theatre in that building on an actual stage.

But as the night ended, and the crowd begged for more, something out of the ordinary seemed in order. The band lugged a drum, an accordion and an acoustic guitar — their base instrumentation — down two flights of stairs and had the crowd wind up the staircase around them for a performance of “Bur Oak.”

With the reverberation of the makeshift space, and the voices of the crowd chiming in, it left the 200 some people who attended the show with something to talk about.

Not that they already hadn’t seen a fine show.

Click on the ‘more’ link below to continue reading about the Bowerbird’s recent performance in Fayetteville.

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Filed under: Concert Wrap, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 19, 2009 at 12:14 pm
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Third Eye Blind. All photos by KEVIN KINDER, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers

“Don’t be a critic. You know you love them. They are the most underrated band ever,” he offered.

I will say this: I was wrong about the San Francisco-based pop rockers. When their name was announced as the band for the University of Arkansas fall installment of the Headliner Concerts Committee series, I came as a surprise to me, considering some of the groups who had come before them in that series, namely, the Foo Fighters, T.I., John Mayer and others.

I didn’t expect Third Eye Blind to have the stadium appeal to fill the venue. I didn’t expect a band who burst onto the scene in 1997 to have any kind of raucous response from the college-aged crowd who would have been in middle school when they peaked.

I guess I did underestimate them after all.

Click the ‘more’ link to continue reading about Third Eye Blind’s recent concert in Fayetteville. 

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Filed under: Concert Wrap, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 18, 2009 at 10:58 pm
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Step back from that ledge, my friend. No need to worry. The wait is almost over. Third Eye Blind is coming here on Tuesday.

Well, as we eluded to in this week’s Listen Here! music column, there simply wasn’t enough room to include all of the details from our e-mail conversation with Brad Hargreaves, the drummer from Third Eye Blind, the band that will be coming to Fayetteville on Tuesday (Nov. 17).

In the column that was published today, we discussed the band’s ascent, fall and return to the spotlight. We also get the skinny on the after-party that’s going to take place following the show at George’s Majestic Lounge.

Not all of the material made it in, however, so we decided to include it here.

Click on the ‘more’ link below to read the exclusive content below.

Tickets to the show 7:30 p.m. show at Barnhill Arena on the UA campus in Fayetteville are $20 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster or by calling 800-745-3000.

We’ll see you at the show.

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Filed under: Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, Read More Here by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 13, 2009 at 6:05 am
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Carman

Carman (born Carman Domenic Licciardello) has been around showbiz long enough to know how this works.

Just standing around and singing isn’t going to cut it. Churches, where the Christian recording artist usually performs, often have their own musicians and no need for such entertainment.

Which is why his act has changed so over the years. The performer now incorporates humor, lecturing and drama into his busy touring schedule. His current tour, “For Real. For Now” comes to the Word of Life Fellowship in Bentonville later today.

It’s called the “For Real. For Now” tour because Carman, who has sold more than 10 million albums, believes this tour is much more reflective of himself than previous runs.

Carman chatted with us while traveling through Nevada recently and discussed his philosophy about sharing his songs, why calling his show a ‘concert’ is probably a misnomer and his success as a musician.

Read that story here.

Admission to the 7 p.m. show is $5.

Filed under: Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 13, 2009 at 6:03 am
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Bowerbirds

With nonstandard instrumentation and a knack for songwriting, indie rockers Bowerbirds have caught the ears of several of their contemporaries, earning opening slots for bands such as The Mountain Goats and Bon Iver. The neo-folk trio is touring in support of their summer release “Upper Air,” and on Wednesday (Nov. 18) will appear in the Union Theater on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Admission to the 7 p.m. concert is free.

Filed under: Concert Reminders, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 13, 2009 at 6:01 am
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George Thorogood may be getting older himself, but that blues guitar work will still make some old women blush. His Web site indicates he’ll be coming to the Walton Arts Center on March 7.

To the concert announcement that follows, I only have this to say: “B-B-B-Bad!” As in the good kind of bad.

Concert resource Pollstar.com indicates that classic rockers George Thorogood & The Destroyers are coming to the Walton Arts Center on March 7, a Sunday. His Web site redirects those interested in learning about his tour dates to Pollstar.com, so the date appears to be confirmed by Thorogood, too. The show does not appear on the Walton Arts Center’s Web site, however.

Thorogood is known for his song “Bad to the Bone” and his covers of standards such as Hank Williams‘ “Move it on Over” and Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.”

Tickets prices or availability have not been announced. We’ll update you if we learn more.

Filed under: Concert Announcements, Music Industry News, NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 12, 2009 at 11:00 am
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Today, the doors at the Bentonville and Fayetteville Ben Jack’s music stores are closed in tribute to their namesake, Ben Jack.

According to the stores’ Web site, the founder of those stores passed away unexpectedly on Friday (Nov. 7).

The stores are expected to resume normal operation at 10 a.m. Tuesday (Nov. 10) after employees have had time to pay their respects.

For more than 40 years, Ben Jack and his employees have outfitted the area’s music scene with guitars, amplifiers and anything else one would need to get onstage.

Read his obituary here.

Anyone have any memories of Ben Jack or the stores? Buy your first guitar there?

Share it in the comment space below.

Filed under: NWA Music News by Kevin Kinder. Posted on: November 9, 2009 at 11:22 am
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