Béla Fleck & the Flecktones Sunday
Can you name the artist nominated in more categories than anyone in Grammy award history?  If you answered Béla Fleck then you’ll probably be the first in line when Fleck and his talented Flecktones play in Fayetteville.
Majestic Concerts has announced the multiple Grammy winners will perform on Sunday at the Fayetteville Town Center with an early show time of 8pm.
The groundbreaking group bridges the world of jazz, bluegrass, pop, R&B and jam into a musical styling that is unlike any other band today, possibly ever.  Comprised of four truly innovative musicians, they have been astounding audiences worldwide for over 17 years and continue to expand their music and fan base.
In case you aren’t familiar with Béla Fleck, there are some who say he’s the premiere banjo player in the world. Others claim that Béla has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career.  He has played with Allison Krauss, Bruce Hornsby, Jerry Garcia, Stanley Clark, Peter Frampton, Joe Satriani, Dave Matthews, Sting and the list goes on—as varied as his music itself.
“The more diverse the audience, the better. If you’ve got people who would normally be jazz fans sitting in the same room with people who love bluegrass, some funk fans who love Victor, some Deadheads, it turns into this roomful of happy people who are all real different”, Béla commented.  “It’s been almost 10 years since we played Fayetteville and we’re looking forward to this show in the Town Center.”
Victor Wooten is regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist.  He is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine’s Bass Player Of The Year, and has performed with Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov’t Mule, Susan Tedeschi and others.
Victor’s brother Roy (‘Future Man’) plays his own invention—the Synth-Axe Drumitar (a hybrid guitar/synthesizer/drum machine).  It’s a midi trigger
device shaped somewhat like a guitar that allows him to replicate sounds of an entire contemporary drum kit and other instruments that adds a unique quality to the Flecktone sound.
Jeff Coffin joined the Flecktones in 1997 and is a virtuoso saxophonist and composer, adding a distinctive horn sound to the eclectic mix.  Those with whom Jeff has shared the stage and/or the recording studio include such diverse artists as The Dave Matthews Band, Branford Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Garth Brooks, Phish, Van Morrison, J.D. Souther, Vinnie Colaiuta, Del McCoury, Stanton Moore, George Porter Jr., John Scofield and  Lynyrd Skynyrd.
This is the first concert for the new collaboration of Brian Crowne, Dan Allen and Harold Wieties as Majestic Concerts LLC. Tickets for Bela Fleck & the Flecktones are available at George’s Majestic Lounge and Sound Warehouse as well as www.georgesmajesticlounge.com  A limited number of VIP reserved seats are available by e-mailing Brian Crowne at Saxsafe@aol.com  The show is for all ages and there will be a cash bar for 21 & up.  Doors open at 6:30, show is at 8pm. Tickets $25-$35.

Geoff Oelsner
Poet and songwriter Geoff Oelsner will play at 8 p.m. Friday at Arsaga’s on Gregg. Oelsner will read from his poetry and sing some new original songs, including “From a Motel 6,”,Cherokee Trail of Tears,”,and “How I Got Over.” Free.

Art Amiss VII
Art Amiss, the locally grown art collective, will hold its seventh semi-annual show Sept. 20 at the Dickson Theater. Art Amiss VII will showcase the work of 30 visual artists, eight filmmakers, seven jewelry and fashion designers, four musical acts, two hairstylists, two make-up artists and the work of a crack team of installation artists to create a diverse yet cohesive art extravaganza.

Art Amiss VII promises to be the largest show yet. The first 250 guests will receive free chapbooks, which features the work of five Arkansas writers, a compilation CD of local music and a catalogue of all the artists, designers and filmmakers of Art Amiss VII.

The night will start out with DJ Luminfire spinning for the “quiet hours” when visitors are encouraged to view the work of the visual artists. The majority of the artwork will be available for purchase throughout the night.

Starting at 8:30 Donovan Tippet and his jazz ensemble will take the stage for an acoustic set before DJ Shortfuse takes over to provide the soundtrack for the local designer fashion show.

Throughout the evening films by eight Arkansas filmmakers will be shown next door in the parking lot of the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse.

Art Amiss was created four years ago as a Fayetteville based, not-for-profit art collective with the express purpose of giving opportunity to Arkansas artists. Since then, Art Amiss has had six semi-annual shows and several smaller events, sponsoring the work of more than 100 Arkansas artists, writers, designers and musicians. The organization’s website, www.artamiss.org, features the work of 205 (and counting) artists from or living in Arkansas.

Doors of this multimedia event will open at 7 p.m. An all ages show. Tickets $5 dollars at the door.

Little Feat plays two nights for Feat Fest
The second annual Feat Fest opens tonight in Eureka Springs with events scheduled daily through Sunday. More than 800 Little Feat fans from around the world are expected to convene in Eureka for the festival and of course, those of us in NWA will be able to jump in on the fun.

Last year, the inaugural event flew a bit under radar—Under Radar, by the way, is then name of the band’s 1998 album— but this year the word-of-mouth success of last year’s festival has pumped up the excitement.

Not only is the festival a celebration of Little Feat music, but a way for out-of-towners to hear bands from the Ozarks.

Little Feat band member Fred Tackett, a Little Rock native, said it was his own attraction to Eureka Springs that sparked the idea to stage the event in the tiny Ozark village.

“People like to come here,” Tackett said. “It brings people to town who would never think about vacationing in Arkansas and now they do. There’s a New York City postman who came last year and he’s coming back this year. It’s a big fraternity of fans.

“They love Eureka Springs. They tell me ‘I wanna buy a house here,’”which is what Tackett and his wife, Patricia, did about three years ago.

Former Eureka Springs mayor and Little Feat fan, Beau Satori, met Tackett after a show in Kansas City several years ago and encouraged him to come to Eureka. The Tacketts rotate their time, spending about three weeks in Eureka Springs, three week at their Topanga Canyon home near Los Angeles and three weeks on the road touring and performing.

Tackett said Feat Fest draws older fans who have followed the band for 30 years, as well as younger fans who come to see bands like Speakeasy and get their first introduction to Little Feat.

Little Feat came into being in 1969 when the late Lowell George left Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention to form a unique California rock band with a distinctive funky flavor, long before funk was a musical word.

The band members are spread out across the U.S. living in places like Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Montana and Michigan. For tours, they fly into a common airport and jump on their tour bus, which takes them from show to show. In the last few years, the band has done shows in places like Kosovo and Kuwait City.

“I never thought I’d be doing a show in Kuwait,” Tackett said.

When the band is not on tour, Tackett and band mate Paul Barrere do an acoustic gig performing Little Feat songs that the band doesn’t often play and renditions of Little Feat songs that they have arranged sometimes as bluegrass tunes. The duo will tour England in October and will perform tonight at Chelsea’s.

This year’s Feat Fest will have a notable dose of New Orleans music, In the vein of Little Feat funk, two New Orleans bands will play Chelsea’s. On Friday night the Soul Rebels Brass Band, a sexy, funky outfit that can be frequently found at legendary New Orleans clubs like Le Bon Temps Roule and the original Tipitina’s, will take the stage. On Sunday, Chelsea’s will host a matinee performance by John Gros that will feature a little bit smoother side of funk. Gros has been hosting Monday nights at The Maple Leaf, another venerable New Orleans club, since 2000.

Local music fans will be able to catch the vibe of the semi-retired hometown favorites, the Cate Brothers, when former Cate Brothers band members Earl Cate, Terry Cagle and John Davies, team up with Jimmy Thackery and R. J. Mischo as Earl and Them, for two nights at the Basin Park Hotel Ballroom.

Interspersed with the music are some other fun events.

On Saturday afternoon, a parade through downtown will culminate at a Feat Fan jam at Basin Park. The parade will leave the Post Office and 2 p.m. and end at the park. Everyone is invited to join the parade and the jam. Feat Fans will recognize costumed characters from Little Feat songs—Dallas Alice, Hot Tomato and Fat Man in a Bathtub, who will be parading with the usual wacko lineup of Eureka Springs artists, musicians and dancers.

The windup on Sunday night will be another festival highlight. The Lucky 13 Outdoor Cinema, a walk up movie in a downtown parking lot, draws several hundred people on Sunday nights and this Sunday night will be extra special. Before the film, Fred Tackett and friends, which speculators say might likely include Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon who will be opening the Little Feat shows on Friday and Saturday nights and perhaps some other Little Feat band members.

The featured film will be he hilarious British comedy, Kinky Boots about a shoe company that makes festish footware. Topping that off will be a light show by Jerry Younkins. A native of Detroit, in the ‘70s Younkins moved to San Francisco and started doing liquid light shows and concert posters for the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and The Stooges among others and incorporated his signature photo collage into the light shows. He just recently fired up the old, but new, light show for the public. The fest will wrap up with a show and jam hosted by Tiffany Christopher at the New Delhi Café, across the street for the Lucky 13 Cinema.

Tackett hopes that Northwest Arkansas music fans will get out for festival and meet some of the Feat Fans from out of state. “It’s a family kind of feeling, There’s so much going on. Drive over, get a hotel room, go to one show, go to all the shows.”

For tickets and information go to www.theaud.org. or call 479-253-7788.

Feat Fest Schedule

Today
Chelsea’s
9 p.m. Tiffany Christopher
10 p.m. Paul and Fred

Friday
The Auditorium
7:30 p.m. Little Feat, Vince Herman

The Gem at The Auditorium
10 p.m. Sugar Free Allstars (doors at 6:30 p.m.)

Basin Park Hotel Ballroom
10 p.m. Earl and Them

Chelsea’s
10 p.m. Soul Rebels Brass Band

New Delhi Café
10 p.m. Tiffany Christopher

Saturday
2p.m.- Little Feat Parade from Post Office to Basin Park. Open music jam by Feat Fans at Basin Park. Bring your instrument.

The Auditorium
7:30 p.m. Little Feat, Vince Herman

The Gem at The Auditorium
10 p.m. Sugar Free Allstars (doors at 6:30 p.m.)

Basin Park Hotel Ballroom
10 p.m. Earl and Them

Chelsea’s
10 p.m. Speakeasy

New Delhi Café
10 p.m. Tiffany Christopher

Sunday
Chelsea’s
2:30 p.m. New Orleans’ John Gros

Lucky 13 Outdoor Cinema
7 p.m. Fred and Friends Jam, movie “Kinky Boots” at dusk, Jerry Younkins light show. Bring seating.

New Delhi Café
Post movie Au revoir party with Tiffany Christopher, Fred Tackett and friends.

Peace on Earth Music Festival
International music, family fun, free bicycles and free food?  It’s all part of the third annual Peace on Earth Music Festival, a free event from 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday at the Chi Omega Greek Theater on West Dickson Street on the UA campus.

The festival was originally organized by UA student, Stephen Coger, who still spearheads the event. While preparing for the first festival, UA student April Love was killed in an act of domestic violence. This year’s festival will be a benefit for the April R. Love Scholarship fund.

“This is an event where everyone in Northwest Arkansas, without regard to politics, can come together and feel comfortable, at ease,” Coger said. “This event is about inclusion, about community.”

Musical entertainment includes Rochelle Bradshaw, a vocalist from Kingston, Jamaica; Radio Free Earth playing their personal genre of “crossover” music; DJ Hod-I; the Afrique Aya Dance Company led by Angelo from West Africa; Kenyon ‘The Dawn’ Lowe, UA student and rising hip-hop artist; and folk musician Susan Shore.

A short lesson for children in the art of stepping will be conducted by members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and will introduce the art, which has its roots in Africa.

Also part of the program are performances by two poets from Little Rock’s Poets in the Streets and Tibetan monks in exile Geshe Dorjee, Rinzin Dorjee and Pasang Gelek, who will open the festival with a blessing in the form of an ancient multi-phonic chant. The festival will also feature a “Tapestry of Cultures” ceremony with representatives from various cultures speaking about peace and war in their native countries.

The event will have hands-on crafts and vendors that will include henna tattooing, face painting, and booths by non-profit groups that will offer information how individuals can take action to help create a peace in our own communities.

There will also be a children’s bike giveaway and free Mexican food from El Camino Real.

In case of rain, the festival will be held in the Parrish Hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on East Street.

Peace on Earth Music Festival
5 p.m. – Ochido Ochieng
5:20 p.m.- Geshe Dorjee, Rinzin Dorjee, and Pasang Gelek
5:40 p.m. – Tapestry of Cultures
5:45 p.m.- Susan Shore
6 p.m. – Tapestry of Cultures
6:10 p.m. – Poets in the Streets
6:40 p.m. – Children’s Step Lesson
6:45 p.m. – Afrique Aya Dance Company
7:30 p.m. – DJ Hod-I
8 p.m. – Kenyon “The Dawn” Lowe
8 p.m. – Radio Free Earth
9:30 p.m. – Rochelle Bradshaw