Smokey & The Mirror — Saturday October 6 at 7pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

Chemistry + Talent + Energy =
Husband & Wife Americana Duo
Building Community Through Excellence
as Crooked Creek presents
Smokey & The Mirror!

Saturday, October 6 at 7:00PM

 

“Bryan and Bernice Hembree (Smokey & The Mirror) are making some of the best folk music today. The songs remind me of a time when Guy Clark was unknown and Ray Wylie Hubbard was still a folkie. Smart, cool and never pretentious.”

– Greg Johnson, The Blue Door

Crooked Creek Concert Association presents Fayetteville Roots Festival  founders, Smokey & The Mirror, who will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater, on October 6 at 7:00PM. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

Smokey & The Mirror is husband/wife duo Bryan and Bernice Hembree. Based out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Smokey & The Mirror has toured nationally and internationally over the past decade. The band has supported tours for Old Crow Medicine Show, The Wood Brothers, I’m With Her, Elephant Revival, John Fullbright, and many of their musical heroes. They tour most often as a duo, but also play many shows as a four-piece band. Whatever the configuration, the interplay of their two unique voices coupled with engaging, accessible songs form the foundation of Smokey & The Mirror.

The Hembrees work tirelessly on many musical and creative pursuits.  They are committed to others’ music as much as their own.  They have found that the most satisfying path to longevity in music is to put others’ art in the spotlight or to inspire others’ to find their voice.  They believe that the future of music is not winning the “me first” battle, but rather building community. To this end, they are founders and co-creators of the Fayetteville Roots Festival and also spent a year (2017) with Austin-based international songwriting collaborative, House of Songs, to pilot House of Songs Ozarks in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Crooked Creek Concert Association presents Fayetteville Roots Festival  founders, Smokey & The Mirror, who will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater, on October 6 at 7:00PMTickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

The thing I love most about this band and the evening with them is not only the powerfully beautiful voice of bass player, Bernice Hembree, or the well-written songs of Bryan Hembree, sung with his rustic, true American voice – it’s the energy they bring on stage and to the audience! You can tell when they are performing; they truly treasure what they do. They feed off each other to the point it’s sometimes hard to tell where the guitar stops and the bass starts!”  – 

– Chris Roberts, Red Arm Music

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Battle of the Bands — Saturday August 4 at 7:00pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

Summer 2018 Battle of the Bands
featuring FOUR local bands and a tribute to
 The Beatles!
Saturday, August 4 at 7:00PM

 

Sound Pilot

 Four great area bands, playing the songs that keep crowds all over Northwest and Central Arkansas and Southern Missouri coming back for more, plus what they’ll be judged on in this show: their covering of a Beatles tune, whether in the original setting or in their own style! Who will most compellingly make a Fab Four song their own and take this Summer’s bragging rights—and the cash prize?

The Ozark Arts Council is delighted to host these wonderful musicians who have graciously chosen to play for us at this fundraising event, through which we are hoping to begin our restoration of the Lyric Theater’s original balcony restrooms, which have been out of service since the 1970s. Thanks to some fantastic sponsors, the bands are competing for a cash prize, as well as area bragging rights, and we’re expecting a dynamite show!

The Hedley Lamar Band

The doors of the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks—Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater—will open at 6:00 for a 7:00 performance on Saturday, August 4. Adult beverages and general concessions will be available throughout this concert, and there will be short (5–10 minute) intermissions between bands, as well. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15.

Midnight Rider performed by Earth Bone

 

As you can see from the videos posted here, our bands have very different styles, often showing blues and folk roots with an edge both in their covers and new compositions that shows a personal ‘backstory’ that can make even the same song relate in completely different ways.

Featured bands include The Hedley Lamar Band, LeadFoot 65, Sound Pilot, and Earth Bone, all of whom you’ve heard and loved for several years, and, thanks to our sponsors, you get to hear and love them again but all in one place. Many thanks to Milam Refrigeration, TLD Construction, GFI Inc., Anderson Electric & Plumbing, Quality Construction & Remodeling, Harrison Mini Storage, Elite Plumbing & Construction, The Arnold Team at Weichert Realtors, and Mitchell Electric for sponsoring the grand prize for our Battle!

The Outlaw performed by Leadfoot 65

 

The Summer 2018 Battle of the Bands will begin at 7:00 on Saturday, August 4. The doors of Harrison’s historic Lyric Theater will open at 6:00 and adult beverages and general concessions will be available throughout the evening. Tickets are available in advance online or at (870) 391-3504 for $10; at the door, they will be $15.

 

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Piano Magic with Scott Carrell — Sunday June 24 at 2pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

How about Some Musical Sleight of Hand?
The Magic of the Piano with Scott Carrell!
Sunday, June 24 at 2:00PM

We were very honored that he included Oklahoma State University on his tour schedule. While the audience was dazzled by his technical brilliance, they were also drawn in by his thoughtful musical interpretation. He was so engaging and knowledgeable as he talked to the audience; students and community members alike felt as though they came away having learned a great deal. It was also a real treat to have the opportunity to hear him perform his own wonderful composition.

– Ms. Heather Lanners, Assistant Professor of Piano
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Showcasing well-known masterpieces as well as less familiar works deserving greater recognition, pianist Scott Carrell is known for his virtuosic flair, expressive playing and informative comments. From Romantic fireworks to graceful classics, he gives audiences the “highest level of classical music entertainment and education.” Now he brings that virtuosity and desire to give all he has received also to every audience member the historic Lyric Theater on the Harrison, Arkansas square. June 24 at 2:00PM is the time for the event and tickets are available in advance for $7.50; at the door, they will be $10. 

A native of Texas, Carrell has performed numerous recitals as soloist and as collaborator, including concerto appearances with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra, the Southwestern University Orchestra, the Plainview Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra, the Little Rock Wind Symphony, the New York Classical Players, and twice with the Harding University/Community Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, he co-founded the Searcy Chamber Music Series and has performed on many of its concerts.  He has also performed in recital and small ensembles in Florence, Italy, and Mainz, Germany and was the guest artist for the 2011 Robert Herrin Piano Festival at Texarkana College.  In 2014, Carrell was invited to Guangzhou, China, to perform a concert, to give lectures, and to teach piano students in masterclasses. Most recently, he was the featured artist for the 2017 Scott Joplin Festival at Northwest Missouri State University, giving a recital, lecture, and masterclass.

In 2005 his compact disc Crossings was released, including the world premiere recording of the title work, an original composition based on a painting by an Arkansas artist.  The disc Ragtime Memories was released in 2007.  Other premieres of original works include a Suite for Brass Quintet (2011), Dance for Oboe and Piano (2011), and Conversation for double-reed trio (2015).

Carrell has spent much of his career exploring the music of French composers, with an emphasis on finding unknown masterpieces deserving recognition.  This work has resulted in several concerts of French music and in the release in 2016 of the disc Piano Works of Noël Gallon, featuring world premiere recordings of music by a Paris Conservatory professor.

Receiving degrees from Southwestern University, the University of Illinois, and the D.M.A. from the University of North Texas, Carrell studied with internationally-known artists Drusilla Huffmaster, Ian Hobson, and Vladimir Viardo and participated in masterclasses with Abbey Simon, Gail Delente, and Dominique Merlet.  The French Piano Institute awarded him a prize for the best performance of a work by Henri Dutilleux at the 1996 FPI Festival in Paris, France.  He was also honored with the Distinguished Teacher Award from Harding University for the 2003-2004 and 2012-2013 academic years.

An active member of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association, he has presented sessions at both regional and state conferences and serves as a division coordinator of MTNA. Currently teaching piano, piano-related courses, and music theory at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, Carrell is in demand as a soloist, collaborative artist, teacher, and adjudicator.

Pianist Scott Carrell will appear at the historic Lyric Theater on the Harrison, Arkansas square. June 24 at 2:00PMTickets are available in advance for $7.50; at the door, they will be $10. 

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White Fox Kill: Album Release Show! — Saturday June 23 at 7:30pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

“Wild West Fairytale Rock Music”
It’s an Album Release Show
with White Fox Kill!
Saturday, June 23 at 7:30PM

“I wasn’t exactly sure what I was gonna be hearing when I walked into AJ’s for my first White Fox Kill show; (my wife calls me a music snob). They settled into their first song and I knew this was gonna be somethin’ special. Wow….They absolutely Killed it!!!!!…Ozarks Original…..Must See Band. Support your Local Music People, you’re lucky to have these guys in the area!!!!”

–  Brett McDaniel, Facebook review

The Ozark Arts Council is delighted to host the album release show for alternative rock band White Fox Kill. The doors of the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks—Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater—will open at 6:30 for a 7:30 performance on Saturday, June 23. Adult beverages and general concessions will be available throughout this album release party. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

From “the southern wild jungles of Arkansas” comes a new breed of Alternative Rock that has resonated with fans across a broad spectrum of genres: White Fox Kill is exactly the sort of band that those who know Americana and want more of a rock edge would expect to hear at the Lyric!

With influences that range from Johnny Cash to Eminem, from the psychedelic, proto-progressive rock sounds of Pink Floyd to the blue-collar rock of Bruce Springsteen and back to the blues underpinnings of rock giants Led Zeppelin, White Fox Kill has no problem weaving together both lyrical and musical images that are both pleasing and challenging. Considering that they are fans of some of the greatest roots music lyricists of the past century—Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt—and have an expressiveness akin to some of today’s top artists (from Kings of Leon to Lana Del Rey), their willingness to mix styles to get their point across is the very picture of being an Arkansawyer in the modern world: they build on the best of the past and extract the best from today, as well. The influences of Nirvana and The Pixies come through, as well, in the band’s willingness to mix hard and soft, all to present their ‘jungles of Arkansas’ take on their subject matter.

White Fox Kill has been honing their craft on the road and in the studio, releasing several songs (complete with on screen lyrics) via YouTube the past couple of years. Recently, they were able to complete their first album, with Scott Hoffmann in charge of production. He says that they went for a “raw, puckish” sound that lets the composition of the music shine forth as both simple and complex, allowing the hearer to fix on the lyrics that are, he says, “reminiscent of Lennon, Dylan, Cobain, and Townes [Van Zandt].”

White Fox Kill will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks at 7:30 on Saturday, June 23. The doors will open at 6:30, and adult beverages and general concessions will be available throughout the show. Tickets are available in advance online or at (870) 391-3504 for $10; at the door, they will be $15. For more WFK videos, check out their YouTube channel;

 

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2nd Annual Summer Lip Sync Showdown! — Benefit for Ozark Rape Crisis Center — Saturday, June 1 at 7pm, but Come at 6:00! — #LiveAtTheLyric!

 

Summer Lip Sync Showdown II!
in support of
Ozark Rape Crisis Center

Saturday, June 1 at 7:00PM
Doors open at 6:00PM to view silent auction items
and to grab refreshments and get to your seat!

Check out this video on how you can get involved & support victims of sexual violence in our community.

The Ozark Rape Crisis Center provides 24-Hour Crisis Intervention and Advocacy services for victims of sexual violence, as well as violence prevention education for the general public in Boone, Carroll, Johnson, Marion, Newton, Pope and Searcy Counties in Arkansas.

All services are confidential and free of charge. Call ORCC’s Hotline at 1.800.818.1189 for assistance. Visit their website and Facebook page or email ORCC for more information about the services they provide.

Come support ORCC through this fun event and help put an end to sexual violence!

To sign up for the Lip Sync Showdown, please call 870.741.4141.

 

OAC Ticketing Link

Winona Wilde — Thursday May 17 at 7pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

“Just your
run of the mill,
post-structuralist
cowgirl Americana…”
Crooked Creek presents Winona Wilde!
Thursday, May 17 at 7:00PM

Photo by Brandon Albert, Flare Magazine

“Over simple, well-worn chords, Wilde’s voice sounds weary and wise, and yet still full of life…Her storytelling binds together personal experience and political ideas in relatable ways, the way only the best songwriting can.”

–  Peter Ellman, Exclaim

Crooked Creek Concert Association presents 2017 Kerrville NewFolk Songwriting Award winner Winona Wilde, who will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater, on May 17 at 7:00PM, with special guest opener Fayetteville’s Elizabeth Scott. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

Karl Magi recently profiled Winona Wilde for Spinditty, so we’re going to borrow some quotes from his excellent article there. He shows her love for the Roots Music fans and culture: “If I had known all of these people and festivals existed when I started law school, I probably would have quit instead of suffering through it. The sense of community I have felt from the folkies is unlike anything on this earth. It has made me a better person.”

It’s not having gone to law school that makes people wonder most at her rise to prominence in the Americana scene—nor even her being Canadian, since that’s “North Americana,” at least—but the fact that she is a Canadian of Iraqi descent

Photo by Sim Al-Surraj

who has so embraced—and been embraced by—Western “Roots Music”/Americana and its fans.

Wilde (whose non-stage name is Noosa Al-Sarraj) says that music was a part of her life from her earliest days. “I do not come from a musical family, but opportunities for making music always came into my life at the right time. As a little tiny baby, I used to sing my mother’s lullabies back to her, and as a toddler, I was really good at clapping back rhythms and freakishly repeating back entire verses from the Koran, so my mother suspected there was something at play there.”

Her musical influences are wide-ranging. “I grew up on classical music. My faves were the moody, dense composers like Beethoven and Schumann. I spent hours every day alone with the piano, deciphering the language. To this day, I can still recognize a composer from just a few bars of music. Nobody generally cares when it happens, but it always feels like a little bit of a fist-pump moment.”

“When I hit my teens I got all the way into older blues artists like Ray Charles and Nat King Cole and then started to experiment with the edgier stuff like Tool and Nine Inch Nails. I loved the melodic metal my younger brother Sim listened to, he got me into Opeth, Dream Theatre and stuff like that. The heaviness of my lyrical content might have something to do with that.”

Magi writes: “Her transformation into a country/folk artist is something for which Noosa has an interesting explanation. She says, ‘My parents both worked a ton so we had a nanny whom we affectionately called Nana. She may have had country music radio on all day, so my young brain had the country music of the 80’s hammered into it without my even noticing. When I eventually heard John Prine and Loretta Lynn as an adult, all of this country music came pouring out of me.’”

Photo by Mary Matheson, BC Musician Magazine

 

Eleni Armenakis makes it clear in her review of the Wilnona Wilde album “Wasted Time” that as much as her music can reach the heights and depths of introspection and social commentary, her music is not one dimensional: “‘Buy a Round’ marks a change in the album, as Al-Sarraj laughs into a pure country number that fittingly rolls in and around itself. There’s more of a folk sound to ‘Black Forest Black Forest’ before ‘To The Corner’ finds a balance between the two to quietly see out the album.” Armenakis concludes, “Al-Sarraj knows what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Despite the title, she’s clearly not wasting any time.”

“The best introduction to troubadour songwriter Winona Wilde’s wry sensibilities is through her delivered-with-a-wink song, ‘Chick Singer’…She sings with both exasperation and good humour, because, as we all know, sometimes the truth is so bleak, it’s hilarious. The same autobiographical song also references the blank stares she gets from people surprised to see an Iraqi-Canadian woman singing country songs. Wilde, whose real name is Noosa Al-Sarraj, fell in love with country music thanks to a nanny she had as a kid. Her kickass songwriting abilities led to win an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk competition this year—one of few Canadians to do so, and certainly the first of Iraqi descent.”

– Sarah Boesveld, Flare Magazine, 2017-10-18

Winona Wilde will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater, on May 17 at 7:00PM,with special guest opener Fayetteville’s Elizabeth Scott. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15.

Can you recall the first song you ever wrote?

From age 11-17, my subjects were mainly animals — for example, “Everything tastes like chicken when you’re not around,” a musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, and a mini-opera about a donkey who eats spaghetti. Although one early song I remember went something like “darkness into darkness” and had some complex chord changes and a heavy subject. I gave it to my teacher and I never got it back, so I am really curious about what was going on in that song. Perhaps she passed it along to a psychiatrist.

– Interview in BC Musician Magazine, 2015-11-07

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Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute — Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 2pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

“Fun, Fun, Fun” is on Its Way:
Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute
Sunday, July 22 at 2:00PM

Better than the actual Beach Boys!” “Our all time favorite program at the Club EVER!” “How soon can we have them back?” are just some of the comments our club members made after Sail On performed on our stage. Our 450 members of the audience enjoyed great harmonies and the musicianship that each member of the band brought to the show. Sail On delivered  a fun, high energy show of classic songs that filled our evening with summery good vibrations.

–  Director of a Private Club in Dallas

Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute, the world’s fastest-growing tribute to the music of The Beach Boys, will be playing all your favorite hits such as Good Vibrations, Fun Fun Fun, Barbara Ann and more at Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater at a special matinee performance on Sunday, July 22. 

Photo by @willbyington © 2018

Tickets are available in advance at a deeply discounted price, thanks to our wonderful sponsors! Sail On has consecutively sold-out multiple shows ranging from 300 to 700 seats and is sure to sell out very rapidly at the Lyric with these radically-discounted prices!

Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute focuses on performing songs by America’s Band, The Beach Boys, to sheer perfection. Members of Sail On have performed with musicians from Brian Wilson’s band, The Zombies, Earth Wind and Fire, Cheap Trick, Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders), and produced recordings for Micky Dolenz.

Sail On will perform at the Lyric on Sunday, July 22, 2018, at 2:000PMTickets are available in advance for prices ranging from $8–$12 through our ticketing site or by calling (870) 391-3504 (please leave your name, number, and the number of tickets you need on our voicemail and we will call you back); at the door, tickets will be $15.

We cannot thank these fantastic sponsors enough for allowing us to offer this concert at such an unbelievably low price!

Neighbors Mill
The Hedley Lamar Band
Backstreet Trader
King’s Tree & Lawn
Apex Electrical Services, LLC
Sprott, Golden, and Bardwell
Mike Mitchell Electric
Neighborhood Diner
Floyds’ Metal Buildings
Veda Remington
Southern Hills Kitchen in Jasper
Southern Confession

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Southern Confession w/Harvey Stone! — Friday, July 20, 2018 at 7pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

Boone County Original Southern Confession
and Special Guest
Harvey Stone!
Friday, July 20 at 7:00PM

 

Get ready for some killer Alternative Southern Rock with a Boone County Original: Southern Confession, comes home to Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater for a special performance with Branson’s favorite alternative rockers, Harvey Stone on Friday, July 20, 2018, at 7:000PMTickets are available in advance at a deeply discounted price, thanks to the desire of these great bands to give back to the communities that launched them!

Over the past five years, Southern Confession has played all over the mid-south region of the country and has become well known both for the breadth of styles that they cover (both with their own songs and those that have resonated with all of us for decades) and for the live show energy that draws you in and keeps you there throughout the evening.

Southern Confession preparing to open for Saliva in the Fall of 2017.

With the closing of some live performance venues in the Harrison area and a need to keep performing, Southern Confession has had to schedule shows farther away from home lately (and for the rest of the year), but wants to take the opportunities it can to give back to the community that has so embraced them throughout their history. For that reason, they have not only scheduled themselves to play for the free “May Days on the Square” during Harrison’s Crawdad Days festival, but drummer Jody Marshall actually undertook the coordination of all of the live music on the Square for that weekend! Along with that, though, the band wants to give everyone a great time in the middle of summer, bringing you into the cool environs of the historic Lyric…and that with their good friends from Branson, Harvey Stone, and all at a highly-discounted price…or two…!

Yes, there are two prices for tickets purchased in advance: the already-amazingly-low $7.50, and the even-more-amazingly-low $5.00, which is offerred to anyone who wants to see both Southern Confession on July 20 and Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute on July 22! The band doesn’t want anyone to be left out because feeding the kids and paying the mortgage need to come before seeing them, but they also realize that to keep the Lyric open we have to pay bills, too…so they and we have cut things to the point of just barely covering expenses, so that our whole community can come together to celebrate the summer together at the Lyric. Thanks to the sponsors for Sail On, that means that you can come to both concerts for less than we would typically have to charge for one—and far less than Sail On tickets alone are costing in most venues!

 Southern Confession with special guest Harvey Stone,  Friday, July 20, 2018, at 7:000PM. Tickets are available in advance for $7.50 through our ticketing site (or just $5, if you buy Sail On tickets first!) or by calling (870) 391-3504 (please leave your name, number, and the number of tickets you need on our voicemail and we will call you back); at the door, tickets will be $10.

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Lawless & Mae — Friday, April 6, 2018 at 7pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

Classic Country Duets that Rock the Lyric
JMA Fan Favorite Winners Lawless & Mae!
Friday, April 6 at 7:00PM

“We really enjoyed your singing. You both sound so good together and it’s obvious you enjoy what you do.”

–  Don Blankenship “Coffee Talk” on Macon County’s Country 102.1

Lawless & Mae, a classic country and rock n’ roll duo will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater on Friday, April 6, 2018, at 7:000PM. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. Don’t miss their superb quality and high energy entertainment, for lovers of country, bluegrass, and even rock n’ roll!

Jack Lawless and Rebecca Mae instantly capture their audience with their fabulous tonal quality, impressive stage presence, dynamic energy, style, and personable interactive charm.

This incredible duo, which won the Josie Music Awards prestigious 2017 “Fans’ Choice” award, provides top shelf, world-class entertainment that wows crowds of all ages with a wide variety of tunes that span the decades. They are well known for performing many of the great duets of Country Legends like George Jones & Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash & June Carter, Waylon Jennings & Jessi Coulter, along with favorites from great Country Legend soloists like Patsy Cline, Lynn Anderson, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Dolly Parton, and others.

Their show doesn’t stop there, though! Beside their Classic Country sounds, they perform Bluegrass, New Country, and traditional Rock’n’Roll, including great original material.

Jack Lawless has traveled the U.S. and Canada performing at casinos, on cruise ships, festivals and fairs. He has opened for many of the greats, like Kenny Rogers, Exile, The Gatlin Brothers, Lynn Anderson, Ronnie Milsap, Little Eva, Jerry Reed, Sawyer Brown, and many more. On May 27, 2012 at “Thunder On The Rock” in Monte Eagle, TN Confederate Railroad invited Jack up on stage to play guitar and Jack has since gone on to perform as a guest at several of their concerts. Jack not only sings great country but also performs songs from the 50’s and 60’s along with many popular rock n roll and R&B hits.

 

Do yourself a favor and go see Lawless & Mae…and listen to some real, traditional, Country and Gospel music!
– Douglass Chapel UMC

Rebecca Mae is an award-winning vocalist and entertainer who has traveled the North America performing as a featured soloist at casinos, fairs, and festivals, including featured-artist performances at the Country Tonite Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN, Silver Dollar City, the American Lawn Mower Racing Association festivals, and just about anywhere that fans of country music will gather to have a good time…like at our own “Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks,” the historic Lyric Theater!

Lawless & Mae, Friday, April 6, 2018, at 7:000PMTickets are available in advance for $10 through our ticketing site or by calling (870) 391-3504 (please leave your name, number, and the number of tickets you need on our voicemail and we will call you back); at the door, tickets will be $15.

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Ordinary Elephant — Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 7pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!

Extraordinary Nomadic Roots/Folk
with Ordinary Elephant
Thursday, February 8 at 7:00PM

Photo by Richard Herron Studios, http://herronstudios.smugmug.com

“Their harmonies, singing, the whole presentation…as genuine as it gets”

–  Lloyd Maines

Ordinary Elephant will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater on February 8 at 7:00PM, with special guest opener Kerri and Stefan Szabo (National Park Radio). Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

Brought to the Lyric Theater by the Crooked Creek Concert Association, Ordinary Elephant captivates listeners with their well-honed combination of insightful writing, effortless harmonies and intertwined clawhammer banjo and guitar. Husband and wife duo Crystal and Pete Damore have been performing together since 2011, but their 2017 sophomore release ‘Before I Go’ established them nationally and internationally. Quickly receiving the support of the folk community, the album reached No. 2 on the Folk DJ Chart for January of this year with their opening track ‘Best of You,’ not only setting the tone of the record, but capturing the No. 3 Song of the Month slot, and also secured them slots as a 2017 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Finalist and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist. Crystal and Pete have lived the song’s message—being moved to create, perform, and put everything into what they do.

‘Before I Go’ is also exciting European ears. Upon his review of the album, Dani Heyvaert of Rootstime.be said “I remember when Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were here for the first time…I suspect that this couple is going to play in the same league in the foreseeable future.”

These were particularly welcome words given that it was Gillian’s playing that led to Ordinary Elephant’s particular configuration. From an early age Pete has been a guitarist, but once Welch’s “Hard Times” came across his car stereo speakers, the banjo beckoned. The realization of how well the clawhammer style he was unearthing complemented Crystal’s lyrically rooted singer-songwriter approach was a happy accident at the kitchen table one night, which led to many more nights of collaboration.

…their voices were made to go together and we’d all feel deprived if for some reason they chose not to sing together.
– Bill Aspinwall, Texas Music Journal

This collaboration of husband and wife, their connection, and their influences (such as Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, Anais Mitchell, Mary Gauthier, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West) all meet on stage. You see it, hear it, and then you find

Photo by Kerry Scherck Photography, http://www.kerrysherckphotography.com/

yourself truly feeling it. Pete’s understated, melodic and mellow banjo weaves through Crystal’s steady and clean rhythm guitar, and poetic lyrics are purposefully delivered in rich harmony, “like their voices were made to go together and we’d all feel deprived if for some reason they chose not to sing together.” (Bill Aspinwall, Texas Music Journal)

After growing up a state apart, Crystal in Louisiana and Pete in Texas, the two found each other at a weekly songwriter night in Bryan, Texas in late 2009. After a couple of years of co-writing and developing their sound, Ordinary Elephant brought their music to Houston with a move in late 2011. They recorded their 2013 debut album ‘Dusty Words & Cardboard Boxes’ there, which garnered a nomination for Vocal Duo of the Year at the 2014 Texas Music Awards. Today, they happily call the road home after shedding most of their possessions in 2014 to take on nomadic life. Living full-time in a van and travel trailer with their dogs, they are exploring the country, creating, and uncovering attentive audiences with which to share the conversation of their music.

I’m impressed by many things, but mostly by the songwriting style…[the lyrics are] very economical and stripped down, but seem to effortlessly evoke the kind of poignancy and emotion someone expects of artists with more salt on their shoulders.

– Chuck Hawthorne

Ordinary Elephant will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas’s historic Lyric Theater on February 8 at 7:00PM, with special guest opener Kerri and Stefan Szabo (National Park Radio). Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15. 

Listening to Ordinary Elephant live was a real treat. Tight harmonies, solid songwriting, and an overall musical experience comparable to the best of T Bone Burnett
– Ray Younkin

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