NAMA XIV Showcase Bands

Jarris

On the scene for a few years now, Jarris has amassed a legion of followers who come out for the melodic rock. The band is made up of Jon Kelley, vocals, guitar; Jarrod VanBrunt, guitar, vocals; James O’Connor, drums; and Jon Best, bass.

Souled Out

The new band Souled Out is a collision of hip-hop meets soul. The group is fronted by vocalist Black P.R.O.F.I.T. with some of NWA’s most versatile musicians providing the beat: Brad Haj, drums; Drew Packard, bass; Will Collins, guitar; and Anthony Lofton, keys. The band just broke onto the scene last year and has been instrumental in bringing the urban sound to NWA. 

Cletus Got Shot 

Cletus Got Shot is a four-piece acoustic band from Fayetteville. They first played at Tables & Ale, then the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market, on Dickson Street and Maxine’s Tap Room eventually branching out to play Eureka Springs, Little Rock, Fort Smith, Tahlequah, Okla., Joplin, Mo., Neosho, Mo., Springfield, Mo., Pierce City, Mo., Kansas City, and Lawrence, Kan. This year they will add Wichita, Kan., and Colorado to their tour schedule and will be performing at Mulberry Mountain Harvest Festival in August. Band members are: Adam Cox, guitar, vocals; Nathan Miller-mandolin, vocals; Mark Landry, gas tank bass, vocals; and Richard Hartrick, fiddle and vocals.

Kory Montgomery Band

Led by blues guitarist Kory Montgomery, who has caught the ears of those from Memphis to Los Angeles, the Kory Montgomery Band is made up of some of NWA’s most in-demand musicians. Making it to the finals of the 2005 International Blues Challenge is just one of the milestones. Kory was selected to attend The Grammy Foundation’s “Grammy Camp” where he studied with Lee Ritenour, Steve Vai, Rickey Minor, Phillip Bailey and studied at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles with other prominent guitarists. The band is: Garrett Jones on bass and Johnny Arredondo on drums.

Pat & Mattie

Mattie Speece and Pat Villines are a folk duo from the upper woodlands of the Buffalo National River. Between gardening, working on the construction of their new home and Pat’s installing of solar arrays, they like to sing, write and play music. Last March, the two entered a contest on NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and were invited to play in St. Paul, Minn. in front of a live audience at the Fitzgerald Theater and with 4.3 million radio listeners internationally. With the support of the community in the Ozark region, the two were voted second place in the contest, from among thousands of entries. This inspired a concentrated year of writing with plans to release a debut album in 2009.