Tag Archives: King of the Cocktail Party

John Plays Joni tonight at South on Main featuring John Willis and friends

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johnplaysjoniToday is John Willis’ birthday – and we get the present!
“John Plays Joni” is his birthday gift to Little Rock.
Little Rock-based singer/songwriter and founder of Late Romantics band John Willis performs a tribute concert to the music of singer/songwriter legend Joni Mitchell. The program will feature selections from the iconic songwriter’s over 5-decade career in music and give tribute to Mitchell’s genius as a poet and word-painter, a lover, an activist, and as a modern day mystic. Willis will be at the piano and the mic as usual with help from some of Little Rock’s finest musical talents.

Show begins at 8:30 PM with a $10 cover. Call (501) 244-9660 to reserve a table for the show.

John Willis is a singer/songwriter based in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. He writes and performs on piano with insightful lyrics, sensitive arrangements, and lush harmonies that derive from in part from the gospel music of his minister father, Motown groups that were his mother’s favorites, and his classical training at the piano.

Willis has been a featured songwriter in the UALR Songwriter’s Showcase (2011) and on local PBS affiliate AETN’s “On the Front Row” television series (2013). He was a finalist in the 2014 Arkansas Times Musician’s Showcase and has released two EPs, “King of the Cocktail Party” in 2013 and “Bad Boyfriend” with his band Late Romantics in 2015. Willis is an Artist, Inc. Fellow with the Mid-America Arts Alliance and has taught on faculty at the Wildwood Academy of Music and the Arts teaching yoga for young musicians.

Sessions at South on Main is a series of concerts featuring Arkansas artists, curated by one of their own. He is curating the December Sessions. His birthday show will kick off the month; watch the South on Main website and social media for updates on the rest of December.

Creative Class of 2015: John Willis

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JQW 2015John Willis is a throwback to the era of singer-songwriters who did not focus on genre, but instead letting the mood and theme of quality songs lead them to the appropriate style.

His new single “Enough” is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnwillis2

After the success of his solo EP “King of the Cocktail Party” he and Late Romantics, his relatively new band have a new EP, “Bad Boyfriend.”  Willis spent his early musical years as a classically trained pianist playing private parties and backing several successful performing artists around Little Rock, including Cody Belew and Bonnie Montgomery.

With his release, King of the Cocktail Party EP, Willis stepped into his own light as a front man with an intoxicating blend of piano-based pop, jazz, and parlor music that has elicited comparisons to Harry Nilsson, Leon Russell, Rufus Wainwright, and Feist.  As a composer and performer, he has been featured on AETN and the UALR Songwriter Showcase.

Raised on a steady diet of old-time gospel sung in his father’s church, Motown and early ’70s singer/songwriters beloved by his mother, and Chopin, Debussy, and Gershwin tapes given to him by an elderly mentor, Willis has grown up to create a sophisticated musical style that is both instantly familiar and at the same time fresh.

Willis is actively promoting his new release locally and planning a tour in the coming months with his band. Though he still delights cocktail party audiences as one of Little Rock’s favorite piano guys, he is enjoying the success and sharing his stylish mix of piano grooves and heartfelt ballads with lush, vocal harmonies liberally dosed throughout. These well-crafted songs are as much a nod to the past as they are a well-placed note hovering on the musical horizon.

Release Party for John Willis and the Late Romantics new EP “Bad Boyfriend”

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John Willis is a throwback to the era of singer-songwriters who did not focus on genre, but instead letting the mood and theme of quality songs lead them to the appropriate style.

After the success of his solo EP “King of the Cocktail Party” he and Late Romantics, his relatively new band have a new EP, “Bad Boyfriend.”

It comes out on March 21.  To commemorate the occasion, he and the band are having a performance party at Whitewater Tavern tonight at 9:30 pm.  Also peforming that night are Listen, Sister and DJ Baldego.  All in attendance will get the EP for free.  After that, it will be available on iTunes.

Recorded at Jason Weinheimer’s studio, Fellowship Hall Sound, “Bad Boyfriend” features Willis with Late Romantics.  The band was formed last year for the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.  It includes Jack Lloyd (bass), Mike Motley (drums) with Sarah Stricklin and Sydney Hunsicker (backup vocals, additional percussion).  As Willis told Mitchell Crisp in a recent interview, “we’ve transitioned into a band where everyone is collaborative, rather than one where everyone just plays my songs. So all of the songs were written by me, but it’s the effort of everyone involved.”

Tonight at 7:30 – John Willis, King of the Cocktail Party at South on Main for Local Live

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local live logoJohn WillisJoin the Oxford American magazine and Landers FIAT of Benton, Arkansas at South on Main for this week’s Local Live concert, featuring soulful indie-pop pianist, John Willis. at 7:30 PM

Local Live is a free Wednesday night series featuring local and regional Arkansas musicians on a solo bill. Call ahead to guarantee your seat at a table for this popular weekly event!

John Willis, the self-dubbed “King of the Cocktail Party,” spent his early musical years as a classically trained pianist playing private parties and backing several successful performing artists around Little Rock, including Cody Belew and Bonnie Montgomery. With his new release, King of the Cocktail Party EP, Willis has stepped into his own light as a front man with an intoxicating blend of piano-based pop, jazz, and parlor music that has elicited comparisons to Harry Nilsson, Leon Russell, Rufus Wainwright, and Feist.

Raised on a steady diet of old-time gospel sung in his father’s church, Motown and early ’70s singer/songwriters beloved by his mother, and Chopin, Debussy, and Gershwin tapes given to him by an elderly mentor, Willis has grown up to create a sophisticated musical style that is both instantly familiar and at the same time fresh.

Willis is actively promoting his new release locally and planning a tour in the coming months with his band. Though he still delights cocktail party audiences as one of Little Rock’s favorite piano guys, he is enjoying the success of King of the Cocktail Party and sharing his stylish mix of piano grooves and heartfelt ballads with lush, vocal harmonies liberally dosed throughout. These well-crafted songs are as much a nod to the past as they are a well-placed note hovering on the musical horizon.