Highlights
7 Band Night
George’s has a big night cooking tonight with some of NWA’s best. Both stages will be running all night with music by the.radio.sky, A Good Fight, Kingsdown, Mar, Jarris, Ethan Durelle and Sirhan Sirhan, A Good Fight and the.radio.sky both took home NAMA’s this year and at tonight’s show, the/radio/sky will also rollout their new EP.
The.radio.sky was formed two years ago in Fort Smith by members of two groups that had toured nationally: Silence the Epilogue and Welton. After going through some personnel changes, the band began basing out of Fayetteville and now includes members from The New Ending and The Cities Below. In addition to nabbing the NAMA for best indie/underground/ambient band, the group has been picked up by Outerloop management of Washington, D.C. and their new 10 song EP “Interlude: Aside” is ready to spin.
The groundwork for the new album was laid down by their first EP, “Tracing Phone Lines.” For the new recording, they enlisted the help of producer Ryan Boesch (Emery, Foo Fighters, Norma Jean) and recorded at the Barry Poynter studio in Little Rock.
The songs range from billowy ambience to desperate forthrightness, making it a study in diverse to say the least. The band is: Josh Gowan vocals; Lee Acktinson and Bobby Geren, guitars; Keith Baskett, bass; Jon Allen, keyboard and synthesizer; and Daniel Dickey, drums.
Doors at 8 p.m. $7 cover.
Ryan Fourt tonight
Kudos to the North Arkansas Jazz Society and Bordino’s for creating a jazz scene in Fayetteville that is happening consistently every week at the Dickson Street restaurant. If you’re not aware, every Thursday night Bordino’s has free jazz in the bar area with top shelf players. Tonight, jazz guitarist Ryan Fourt will be in town to play the venue. Fourt studied music at the UA and studied and with nationally known players like Mark Elf, Denis Irwin, Fred Hamilton and Corey Christiansen. In 2004 he moved from Northwest Arkansas to northern Colorado. For tonight’s show he will be joined by Fayetteville’s Claire Starr on bass and Andrew Sieff on drums. Next Thursday night catch the fabulous Walter Savage with Ben Harris on guitar and Darren Novotny on drums. Music from 9 to 11 p.m.
Stomp, quilts, wine and movie stars
The big thing happening this week in NWA is, of course, Stomp. The Broadway sensation opened at the Walton Arts Center earlier this week and will have shows today through Sunday. Tickets are $28 to $57 and you’re worth it. This is one of the best high-energy stage and percussion performances ever.
While Stomp, is all New York, something you won’t find in the boroughs is the “Airing of the Quilts.” Drive by 3302 Perry Road in Rogers at 6 p.m. May 22 to see quilts hanging on the rail fence creating a fierce display of color. The quilt airings traditionally mark the beginning of spring, the time when women could take their quilts outdoors for airing after a long winter. The display was assembled by Quilters United in Learning Together, or QUILT and today quilts are not just winter bed coverings, but also art.
This week, you can meet and pick the brain of Free Weekly wine columnist Bruce Cochran, who will be in town for an “After Work Wine Tasting” at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Joe’s Bistro in Fayetteville. For $10 you can taste the newly arrived Left Coast Cellars from Oregon’s Willamette River Valley—two Pinot Noirs, a Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay. These are relaxed events that are always a lot of fun.
If you’re a fan of the star of “Joan of Arcadia” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” you can meet Amber Tamblyn at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville, when she and performance poet Derrek Brown will meet, greet and read from their work. In addition to acting, Tamblyn is also a poet. Brown, a former paratrooper, gondolier and magician, is “dedicated to bringing American poetry into rock and roll status.” And, of course, don’t miss NWA’s own Donald Harington reading from his work at Nightbird on Saturday.
