“There are so many talented people here, it’s unreal,” says Collin Westerlund founder, producer and songwriter for the newly formed Arkansas House Records based in Bentonville.

“Our big mission is to help people who don’t have a band, singers that don’t have songs [and] don’t have anything released,” says Westerlund. “We have a few artists that we’re working with.

He says that they are still in the planning stages for a possible showcase of different styles and different singers on the label that will provide not only an entertaining show, but will reflect the company’s strong emphasis on good songwriting.

He believes that great songs are just the start of a great career.

“We really want to help these people get to notoriety,” he says. “That’s why our big focus is writing amazing songs for them. It’s kind of a lofty ideal, but we’re working very hard to write the best songs we can write.”

Arkansas House Records — which also includes Rob Henley, Roman Summers, Hunter Neville and Barry Crocker — is hosting regular meet-and-greet events with new musicians to help them connect.

The label has a video of the first event on their YouTube channel that features Bentonville Jazz Band featuring Ian Curriden on saxophone, Nick Plumlee on guitar, Evan Wood on trombone, Dillon Brouse on drums, Marco “Catfish” Wimer on bass, Eli Dranow on piano and Juan Segura on additional percussion.

Westerlund says they are a group of good musicians who have become a defacto house band for the label.

“They’re the steady band,” he says. “Then we invite any other musicians [and] singers that want to come over and just play in an environment that doesn’t have a lot of pressure. You can make mistakes.”

Westerlund says that they aren’t focusing on jazz music so much as trying to bring that sound to other genres of music. He’s open to the sound.

“We’re not doing anything with profanity,” he says. “We’re just trying to keep it clean. We’re doing a lot of old school kind of stuff — a lot of vocal harmony … We’re just trying to focus on music that makes you feel good.”

“We’re not big money. We’re local, and we are trying to focus on the little guy — help the smaller personality.”

Westerlund moved to Bentonville last year and has been looking to connect with other musicians. Half of his house is the recording studio for Arkansas House Records. For him, music has been a lifelong pursuit.

“I’ve been playing music ever since I was a kid,” he says. “And I’ve been in bands. I’m originally from Baltimore, and I was involved in the punk scene there. I was involved in the rap scene there. And I pretty much have been traveling all over trying to find a really solid band.”

Westerlund began to discover how much talent was in the area while trying to put together his own album.

“It turned away from me trying to find musicians for myself and more of ‘How can I help people who are very talented and just need a little help need some guidance?’” he says. “Our main goal is to have it so these people who dream about making music and doing it for a living can actually do it for a living and that’s our that’s our end goal.”

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FYI

Arkansas House Records

Helmed by Colin Westerlund, this up-and-coming record company based in Bentonville hopes to connect musicians and help them to produce great songs. Learn more about them at arkansashouserecords.com and linktr.ee/collinwesterlund.