Headliners for the Arkansas Sounds Music Festival will be Lucero, a country-punk rock band fronted by Little Rock native Ben Nichols; southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas; and rock and roll pioneers Sleepy LaBeef and Sonny Burgess (appearing with his band the Legendary Pacers). Arkansas Sounds is hosted by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), and will be held September 28-29, 2012, in the Riverfest Amphitheatre and the River Market Pavilions. Admission is free.

The Festival will feature a tribute to two Arkansas artists who died this year, Levon Helm and Michael Burks-featuring and hosted by Amy Garland Angel. Additional acts include the Cate Brothers Band, Runaway Planet, Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers, Tyrannosaurus Chicken, the Salty Dogs, and Velvet Kente.

Focusing on Arkansas music and musicians both past and present, the Festival will also work to get musicians and songwriters involved in local schools, create songwriting workshops for kids and adults, and host related performances and events throughout the state.