Category Archives: Music

Monsterboy at South on Main tonight

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M2 Gallery is curating May Sessions at South on Main by highlighting connections between music and visual art. For the final Wednesday in May, M2 invites people to experience the music of Monsterboy.

Tickets for this event are $10 at the door. Music begins at 8 pm. You may reserve a table for dinner by calling (501) 244-9660.

ABOUT MONSTERBOY
Monsterboy is Chris Long and Veronica Wirges, a husband and wife duo out of Little Rock whose love story captivates audiences one room at a time. After being discovered at a Bonnaroo open mic by MTV.com, the couple took on the task of finding a method for capturing the music that was playing in their heads.

The duo landed on recording everything for Monsterboy in their home studio, influenced by creatives such as Beck and Prince. Each instrument is separately tracked out and layered to realize the finished song, often using classical or tribal instruments in non-traditional pairings to get the feel they know the song needs.

Monsterboy is a genre-less artist, marrying indie pop with elements of alternative, folk, and grunge. Each song is uniquely Monsterboy in composition and vibe, regardless of the genre it is labeled. Their reworked covers are crowd favorites as each song is re-envisioned to feature a baritone saxophone.

This power couple has found that being a duo has its perks on live performances, as acoustic gigs lend a more intimate vibe for coffee shops, college campuses, and house shows. Alternatively, they can showcase the multi-instrumental skills of both musicians on the larger stages of venues and festivals.

Monsterboy has supported acts such as GGOOLLDD, Wild Moccasins, and Vesperteen, as well as featuring at festivals like SXSW and Solar Flux. The act is looking forward to touring regionally this year, while continuing their waterfall release of a new song every 3 weeks.

ABOUT M2 GALLERY
M2 Gallery is located in SOMA and offers a large selection of original artwork from both established and emerging artists. With a wide range of style and price, M2 Gallery is sure to fill your art needs. M2 also works with a large network of galleries throughout the country so that we can make sure to find exactly what our clients are looking for.

Gallery director Mac Murphy has over 15 years of experience and has been the driving force behind M2 Gallery winning the Platinum Service Award for several years.
 

2019-2020 OXFORD AMERICAN music series at South on Main

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One of the best music series in the South takes place in Little Rock as the Oxford American brings musicians to South on Main. It is actually three different music series: Americana, Jazz, and Archetypes & Troubadours. Tickets are already on sale, and many of the concerts will sell out. So do not delay!

Up first is Amy Helm in the Americana Series. She will perform on Thursday, August 22 at 8:00pm. “One of Americana’s most impassioned, soul-stirring singers.” —Rolling Stone Country

First in the Jazz Series is Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo featuring Erin Bode. They’ll be in Little Rock on Thursday, September 5 at 8:00pm. “One of the most underrated pianists in jazz today … Martin plays with the kind of daring and excitement that marks a distinctive personality on the keyboard.” — Washington Post

The first in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series is Rev. Sekou on Thursday, September 26 at 8:00pm. “Rev. Sekou delivers the spiritual performance we need now.”—Paste

Next in Americana is Chatham County Line on Thursday, October 17 at 8:00pm. “What initially drew me to this Raleigh, North Carolina-based quartet is that in addition to the unique mix of bluegrass, folk and Americana tunes they harmonize so beautifully on is the fact that they typically crowd around a single, large, silver radio microphone. And that’s not the band’s only nod to the past.” — Huffington Post

Marsalis is a name synonymous with jazz. The Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet is next in the Jazz Series on Thursday, November 14. “[Marsalis’s] playing is eccentric within graceful boundaries, concerned with polyrhythm as science, history and gamesmanship, full of technique used to non-slick ends … Discipline and strategy are written deeply into the band.” — New York Times

Next in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series is Catherine Russell on Thursday, December 5, at 8:00pm. “A wonderfully charismatic performer with a show­stopping voice and an unabashedly old-fashioned repertoire.” — The Washington Post

The Fred Hersch Trio takes the Oxford American stage for the Jazz Series on Thursday, January 30 at 8:00pm. “An elegant force of musical invention, Fred Hersch cannot be discounted in any discussion of the top contemporary jazz pianists.” —LA Times

Jon Cleary is next in the Americana Series.  He’ll be on stage on Thursday, February 20 at 8:00pm. “Cleary embodies the heart and soul of the Crescent City, keeping the sound and the fury of its legendary piano pounders alive and kicking.”— No Depression

John Fullbright will be next in the Archetypes & Troubadours Series on Thursday, March 12 at 8:00pm. “In a short-­attention-­span world overloaded with sensory stimulation, there aren’t many artists who can stop you in your tracks with a single song.” —American Songwriter

The final 2019-2020 Americana Series entry is Mary Gauthier on Thursday, March 26 at 8:00pm.  “…[Mary Gauthier’s] Rifles and Rosary Beads, is not only one of the most arresting American singer-songwriter records in recent years, but one of the most vital pieces of art to come out of those two wars.” — Rolling Stone Country

Ranky Tanky closes out the 2019-2020 Archetypes & Troubadours Series on Thursday, April 16 at 8:00pm. “Ranky Tanky proved that exotic music can be both unfamiliar enough to be surprising, and yet familiar enough to provoke swinging hips and nodding heads. When it works, it’s the best of both worlds.” —Paste

The final Jazz Series concert is on Thursday, April 23 at 8:00pm. It features the Miguel Zenón Quartet. “This young musician and composer is at once reestablishing the artistic, cultural, and social tradition of jazz while creating an entirely new jazz language for the 21st century.” —MacArthur Foundation

Beethoven’s Triple Concerto highlights final Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concert of 2018-2019 season

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Image may contain: 2 people, including David Gerstein, people on stage and indoor

Laskarov, Mann, and Gerstein in rehearsal

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra closes out the 2018-2019 season with its final I.N.C., Intimate Neighborhood Concerts, performance.  It is tonight (May 23) at 7pm at Calvary Baptist Church, 5700 Cantrell Road.

The program features Karlowicz’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 2; Moszkowski’s Prelude and Fuge, Op. 85; and Beethoven’s Concerto Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C Major, Op. 56.  Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Music Director Philip Mann is the conductor.

The ASO Intimate Neighborhood Concerts series is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy fantastic music in gorgeous, acoustically unique venues around Little Rock. The concerts offer special, intimate performances where patrons can get up – close and personal with chamber orchestra ensembles performing pieces in perfect settings. In addition to hearing these beautiful works, concertgoers are invited to mingle with the musicians after the concerts.

Soloists tonight are Kiril Laskarov, violin; David Gerstein, cello, and Tatiania Roitman Mann, piano.

Kiril Laskarov is in his 20th season as Concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. A native of Bulgaria, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State Academy of Music in Sofia and a Master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he studied with Prof. Michael Barta.

David Gerstein, a devoted performer of chamber and contemporary music has played concerts all over the world, from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the Great Wall of China. Mr. Gerstein has recently appeared in concert with the Ying Quartet, flutist Leone Buyse, clarinetist Michael Webster, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, soprano Renee Fleming, cellist Fred Sherry, violinist Jonathan Carney, and Vern Sutton of The Prairie Home Companion.

Tatiana Roitman Mann has appeared as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe. The BBC hailed her performance of G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Oxford Pops Orchestra as “formidable…both accurate and with rarely seen joy.” Mann’s radio broadcasts include H.Villa-Lobos’ Mystic Sextet, on NPR’s Performance Today.

As part of M2 Gallery’s May Sessions at South on Main: Neal Harrington’s art and the music of Black Sabbatical

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Sessions :: Neal Harrington + Black SabbaticalM2 Gallery is curating May Sessions at South on Main by highlighting connections between music and visual art. For the fourth Wednesday in May, they invite you to experience the music & art of Neal Harrington and Black Sabbatical.

Tickets for this event are $7 in advance or $10 at the door. Music begins at 8 pm. You may reserve a table for dinner by calling (501) 244-9660.

ABOUT BLACK SABBATICAL

Black Sabbatical is comprised of four college professors who cannot agree on anything except ROCK and ROLL!

ABOUT NEAL HARRINGTON

Neal Harrington was born in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1973.  He graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (emphasis in painting) in 1998.  Mr. Harrington then recently married, followed his wife to graduate school in Wichita, Kansas.  He graduated in 2001 with a Master of Fine Arts degree (emphasis in printmaking) from Wichita State University.  Currently Neal, Tammy and their two children live in Russellville, Arkansas.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Printmaking, in particular relief, is my primary means of exploration in the visual arts.  The content of my work fuses the rich tradition of Greek/Roman mythologies with an American Roots Music perspective.  These visual ballads sing out in their symbolism, narrative, and energetic atmospheres.  My work balances a multifaceted investigation of independence and mystical narratives.  These themes can be found in The Bootlegger’s Ballad series and the pulp novel/comic pinup imagery of The American Goddesses series.  The bold and graphic marks of the woodcut/relief technique reiterate the tension and energy of the figures in these works.  In my Bootlegger series, I create an intensified atmosphere and an amplified dramatic sense of light with the addition of India ink washes.  The shades of gray either softens the focus or strengthens the focal point and contributes to the dreamlike quality of the piece.

ABOUT M2 GALLERY

M2 Gallery is located in SOMA and offers a large selection of original artwork from both established and emerging artists. With a wide range of style and price, M2 Gallery is sure to fill your art needs. M2 also works with a large network of galleries throughout the country so that we can make sure to find exactly what our clients are looking for. Gallery director Mac Murphy has over 15 years experience, and has been the driving force behind M2 Gallery winning the Platinum Service Award for several years.

Kari Faux at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight presented by Arkansas Sounds

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Tonight (May 22), CALS Arkansas Sounds presents Kari Faux

Arkansas’s biggest hip-hop artist returns to her hometown of Little Rock for a special performance, making a stop on her Help Wanted tour to celebrate the release of her new EP Cry 4 Help. The tour takes her from coast to coast.

Since 2011, the rapper, singer, and record producer has released her debut album, four mixtapes, and two EPs, working with artists such as Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), bLAck pARty, the Internet, Chloe x Halle, and Issa Rae and being featured on NPR and in Spin, Vogue, The Fader, XXL, Vibe, and Rolling Stone. 

THIS EVENT IS ADULTS ONLY: AGES 18 & UP  Tickets are $15 day of show, all general admission seating. The doors open at 7:00 pm, and the concert starts at 8:00 pm.

Presented by CALS Arkansas Sounds.

Sponsored by Friends of the Central Arkansas Library System (FOCAL), Acansa Arts Festival, FM 89.1 KUAR, Dr. Elizabeth Fletcher Dishongh Charitable Trust and David Austin at The Charlotte John Company.

The Natural State Brass Band in concert today

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Image may contain: textThe Natural State Brass Band presents its pre-Memorial Day concert on May 19 at 3 p.m. at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn, in Little Rock.

Admission is free.

Selections will include “American Overture,” “A Sinatra Salute!,” “Joshua Swings the Battle,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “John Williams: Epic Themes,” “Armed Forces Salute,” “America, the Beautiful,” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”