Tag Archives: Oxford American

Local Live free music series features Claire Holley tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm

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[*Photo credit: James Patterson]

[Photo credit: James Patterson]

This week’s installment of the free Local Live concert series features Claire Holley at 7:30 pm at South on Main.

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservation and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

A native Mississippian now living in Los Angeles, Claire Holley began performing and writing songs in college, but released her first recordings while living in North Carolina. She began getting regular airplay on WUNC’s “Back Porch Music,” and her self-titled debut from Yep Roc Records was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition. A move to the west coast followed and, soon after, she began collaborating with directors on their film and play projects.

Holley has released seven records, and her powdercoat ep, a collaboration with Kristin Mooney, won the 2014 “Best in Popular Music” from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters—Huffington Post called it “one of the year’s loveliest recordings.” A tasteful vocalist and guitar player, Claire is an engaging performer and has sung at Merlefest, Mountain Stage, and a host of listening rooms around the country. Holley’s forthcoming solo album, Time in the Middle, will be released March 2015.

“…she owes much to the Southern tradition of storytelling, and just as much to the Southern tradition of charm…” —Image Journal

“The slight catch in Holley’s voice can break your heart…” —Time Out New York

Dirty Dozen Brass Band jazzes up South on Main tonight

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The sounds of New Orleans come to South Main tonight at 8pm as the Oxford American magazine presents the legendary ensemble Dirty Dozen Brass Band at South on Main’

 

In 1977, The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud, but antiquated, traditions at the time: Social and pleasure clubs dated back over a century to a time when black southerners could rarely afford life insurance, and the clubs would provide proper funeral arrangements.

 

Brass bands—the earliest predecessors of jazz as we know it—would often follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges and then, once the family of the deceased was out of earshot, burst into jubilant dance tunes as casual onlookers danced in the streets.

 

By the late ’70s, few of either existed. The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band and, over the course of these early gigs, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue’s name: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

 

Thirty-five years later, Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world-famous music machine, whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances. They have revitalized the brass band not only in New Orleans, but around the world, progressing from local parties, clubs, baseball games, and festivals in their early years to touring nearly constantly in the U.S. and in over thirty other countries on five continents.

 

The Dirty Dozen have been featured guests on albums by popular artists including David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse, Dave Matthews Band, and The Black Crowes.

 

Tickets to Dirty Dozen are at http://www.metrotix.com, or by calling (800) 293-5949. All patrons require a ticket for entry. Tickets are general admission and are $25 each. Seating at tables is limited and available on a first-come, first-seated basis when the doors open at 6:00 PM.

 

No reservations are being taken ahead of time. To ensure the best possible seat, plan to arrive when the doors open. The concert starts at 8:00 PM, with food and drinks available for purchase at that time.

That Arkansas Weather tonight at South on Main

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The Oxford American magazine is proud to welcome That Arkansas Weather to South on Main!

The concert starts at 10pm; doors open at 9pm. This is a ticketed event, with a $10 cover payable in cash only at the door on the night of the show.

That Arkansas Weather is a dynamic young band consisting of some of central Arkansas’ finest professional musicians. Deriving its name from the mercurial climate of our state, That Arkansas Weather plays a delightfully unpredictable combination of Jazz, Soul, R&B, Funk, and Hip-Hop.

All capable composers and improvisors, they perform both original material and new interpretations of classic songs while striking the perfect balance between accessible and experimental; familiar and new.

Gig-tested and audience approved, That Arkansas Weather is clearly one of the best new bands on the block.

Local Live tonight with Chuck Dodson and Joe McMahan

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At 7:30 tonight at South on Main, tweek’s installment of our Local Live concert series features Chuck Dodson and Joe McMahan! 

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent and is always free and open to the public. 

Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservations and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

Hailing from Hot Springs, Chuck Dodson (keys) has been a mainstay in central Arkansas for years. Joining him onstage is Nashville-based guitarist Joe McMahan. Mc Mahan is co-founder of the group Luella and the Sun. He is also a respected producer who’s helmed records by Webb Wilder, Patrick Sweany, Altered Statesman, Kevin Gordon, Mr. Hazelwood, and Jeff Finlin, among many others.

Tonight’s Local Live at South on Main: The Amy Garland Band

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Tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm: the Local Live music series features the Amy Garland Band. 

Call (501) 244-9660 to ensure your seat at a table for this popular event. The Oxford American’s Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

The Amy Garland Band, a six-member group formed in 2000, released its most recent album, Hang a Light, in June 2013. Earlier albums include Plays Well with Others (2000) and Angora (2004). Hailing from Little Rock, the band’s style blends folk, R&B, bluegrass, pop, and country for a deliciously unique sound. Members include: Amy Garland, vocals and guitar; Nick Devlin, guitar; Mike Nelson, bass; Bart Angel, drums; Jeff Coleman, keyboard; and Brad Williams, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica.

Amy Garland, who started playing guitar at the age of nine and began songwriting at ten, was a regular on the stages of the Louisiana Hayride and the Northern Louisiana Hayride as a young girl. After traveling and playing broadly during her high school and college years with prominent artists and at infamous venues—such as the Whispering Pines club in Ringgold, Louisiana, and honky tonks along the infamous Hwy 80 Bossier Strip—Garland moved to Arkansas in 1995.

During her years in the Natural State, Garland has become a regular host of KUAR’s “Arkansas Flyer,” and she began hosting the weekly Americana-flavored “Backroads” radio show on Little Rock’s KABF, greatly expanding her musical footprint. While touring the South, Garland has proudly collaborated with some of the best musicians in the region.

The Sea Nanners headline tonight’s Local Live at South on Main

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sea_nanners_cropped.jpg.190x140_q60_cropThis week’s installment of the free Local Live concert series, featuring the group Sea Nanners! Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservations and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

The music starts at 7:30 pm on the stage at South on Main.

Sea Nanners is a Little Rock band named after the handle of an acclaimed Call of Duty player. The group has expanded in the past year, adding four new members into their rotating door of a lineup. Their sound ranges from stadium rock to beach pop, with a focus on jaunty melodies and hip swinging rhythms. They are recording their first LP this winter in the hopes of a release in late spring /early summer 2015.  Band Members are Lee Petray, Brooks Tipton, Jonathan Jacobs, Michael Inscoe, Thom Asewicz, Clayton Scott Grubbs, Matthew Steel, and Phillip Rex Huddleston.

 

Tonight at South on Main’s Local Live – Hired Guns featuring Bruce Johnston, Tyndall Jackson, and Cliff Aaron

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LOCAL_LIVE_Logo2The streets are clearing, and things are returning to normal. This includes the fact that Local Live concert series takes the stage tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm.

Join the Oxford American magazine for this week’s free concert starring Hired Guns featuring Bruce Johnston, Tyndall Jackson, and Cliff Aaron! Call ahead at (501) 244-9660 to guarantee your seat for this popular series. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

Bruce Johnston is a bassist and award-winning composer with a doctorate in music composition from the University of Miami. He is a lecturer at Ouachita Baptist University where he overseas the Classical Guitar and String Bass programs. Johnston has studied with the likes of jazz legends Donald Brown and Jerry Coker, and he can be seen around the region performing with Charlotte Taylor, Kim Griffin, and David Rosen, as well as a host of other great talents.

Tyndall Jackson is a thirty-year veteran of the delta region, and he holds a guitar performance degree and received the Outstanding Musicianship award as a student. He has toured extensively with his band, Mojo Depot, and was active in Los Angeles for ten years before moving back home to Little Rock. Jackson has a true gift of seamlessly connecting ideas with blazing speed that builds in ever-increasing intensity, and he is quickly becoming a local guitar legend.

Cliff Aaron is a seasoned professional drummer and the CEO/Founder of Drummerboyinfinity—dedicated to bringing attention and respect to the incredible musical talent that exists in the region. He grew up in central Arkansas and has performed, toured, and recorded with the likes of Beyonce, 311, and Victor Wooten. Aaron’s aggressive yet finessing approach to the drum set is incredibly unique and boundless; he creates sheets of sound that truly transcend the audience to a higher plane.