As in…
“HeyMama…JaWannaMakesomeMUSICwithMe for some great causes‽
Live on the
Harrison Square’s hot new Entertainment District
and inside the always-cool Lyric Theater
3:00PM–11:00PM
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Join us on June 10, from 3:00–11:00, both in the Lyric (7–11) and on the Harrison Square (3–6) for the first ever Mama JaWanna Music Festival—showcasing talented female performers from our area who have banded together to raise funds for Hope Cottages and The Sanctuary, Inc. of Boone County!
7 Hours of multi-genre music on 2 stages, featuring women singer/songwriters of the area, supported by local musicians.
Singers include: Susan Swanson, Sierra Schwanz, Brooke Albright of Angels and Outlaws, Rachel Hewitt-Groves, Snowflake Henson, Susan Boone-Rowan, Denise Dore, Maggie Lee, and Shelly Watson.
Article Under Construction…but Mark Your Calendar…and check out these videos from our featured performers!
Matt Schofield
Maybe the Best British Blues Guitarist Since Clapton, Page, and Beck!
Friday, February 17, 2023 at 7:00PM
Join us on February 17 at 7:00PM, for the music of the man whom the Los Angeles Daily News called “the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades… head and shoulders above the herd,” while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green: Matt Schofield! Though he holds a British passport and is an inductee of the British Blues Hall of Fame, Matt Schofield has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds. Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12. “My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video. It was like, ‘I’ve got to do this.’ There’s something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didn’t think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dad’s great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Article Under Construction…but Mark Your Calendar!
Eli Cook
Maybe the Best Vocals
in Today’s Blues…and the Guitar Work
is Top Notch, Too!
At the Lyric for a Class and a Concert
Saturday, October 22, 2022 Class at 3:00PM — Concert at 7:00PM
Join us on October 22 at 7:00pm, for the guitar mastery and rich baritone voice that brought the writers of Blues Matters magazine to rank him as a “top international solo artist” above Devon Allman and Elvin Bishop…before he had reached his 30th birthday: Eli Cook’s busy hands and feet (resonator and 12-string, plus tambourine and stompbox) are coming back to the Lyric this Fall!
Even Better: Join us earlier in the day, too: from 3:00PM to 5:00PM Eli Cook’s Acoustic Blues Guitar Workshop returns! Ages 13 and up with a moderate skill level and an interest in “Blues-based music” are welcome. You must bring an acoustic guitar (no electric instruments will be allowed this time). If you know basic chords and want to play the Blues or incorporate its influences into your playing, there will be something here for you; if you know more than that, there will be something here for you, too! BUT: Get your concert tickets first, so that you save $10 on this class! (More info below!)
AllMusic noted that Eli Cook “has what it takes to be the best blues singer of his generation.” Blues Matters! stated that Cook is “among the top 3 solo blues artists world-wide.” Arnie Goodman’s words in Elmore Magazine immediately make sense when you consider Eli’s main influences—John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Soundgarden, and Rage Against the Machine—
What Eli is doing is giving an authenticity to the blues, but giving it the energy a modern rock band would give it. That’s the key to it.
As Eli himself says, “Everything I do is always deeply rooted in classic blues—meaning the feeling of it and the music theory aspect of it. It’s especially rooted in what they call pre-war blues, the more acoustic, rootsy stuff.” Joe McSpadden, writing in the roots music quarterly No Depression sums it up this way:
On the seventh album of his career the phenom from Nelson County, Virginia reins in his inner guitar god and makes his most focused roots blues album yet. High-Dollar Gospel finds Cook showcasing his acoustic mojo and the result is the most satisfying record of his career.
That album—released to universally rave reviews in 2017—was a blend of Cook’s love of country pickers to blues rockers and included covers from Muddy Waters and Roosevelt Sykes that have been in his live shows for years, as well as an outstanding cover of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.”
Through the years, Cook has performed and recorded both acoustic and electric blues, and his Primitive Son album (2014), contained guest appearances by Vinny Appice and Artimus Pyle (drums); Tinsley Ellis, Eric Gales, Leslie West, Pat Travers and Harvey Mandel (guitar); Sonny Landreth (slide guitar); Rod Piazza (harmonica); and Reese Wynans (Hammond B3 organ). He has shared the stage with B. B. King and other greats from Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, and Robin Trower to Shemekia Copeland and Parliament-Funkadelic, appearing every where from the Kennedy Center to the South by Southwest festival…and now we are pleased to welcome him back to The Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks,Harrison’s historic Lyric Theater!
“Everybody knows the story of the crossroads, where blues guitarists go at midnight to trade their souls to the devil for musical prowess. It’s just a myth, of course, but if it were true, firebrand Eli Cook could have bragging rights, as his scarifying solo-country blues chill like a hellhound on your trail.” – Guitar Player (2007)
Eli Cook is a mystifying soul. He’s a keen observer and a provoking thinker…but with swagger!
Under the messy blonde hair is a passionate heart with fingers of silver and gold that recalls John Lee Hooker, Chris Smither, and Chet Atkins, mixed in with a dirty, grungy sound. It’s clean playing mind you; it’s just his fingers are covered in the dirt left over from the crossroads.
Coming from Albemarle County in Virginia at the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Eli Cook grew up listening to the blues, country, classic rock, and alternative rock. He grew up with no TV, but radio shows like Prairie Home Companion were his Saturday night entertainment. Life moves slowly in this rural area of the world giving him time to hone his skills with his voice and guitar chops. At 18 he was opening up for B.B. King—a few years later he’s playing in Canada the one week and then the next week he’s blending in with his hometown locals.
“It’s what was around me, and I just tried to pick up on everything and everybody, including Doc Watson and Chet Atkins. In fact, hearing Chet fingerpick made me realize I didn’t need a band.” – Guitar Player (2007)
Tickets are available now for Eli Cook’s Saturday, October 22 performance at Harrison’s historic Lyric Theater, now celebrating its 90th year. This is a venue perfectly constructed for a performer like Eli, with the maximized ‘live’ acoustics that were necessary for the first generation of talking motion pictures—and the dedicated Lyric fans that consistently fill our seats for blues concerts will make for the sort of electric environment this acoustic blues concert deserves, so choose your seats early for what promises to be an outstanding evening!
Classic turnarounds, walking patterns, tricks for transitioning between chords, and signature riffs and licks will all be included and discussed from both a player’s technical standpoint and from a historical perspective, using examples from players such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Albert King, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. This class will have something for anyone who wants to play Blues guitar or just enjoys the music and wants to learn more about it.
RFD TV Star David Church with Terri Lisa
Saturday, January 6 at 2:00PM
Steeped in the music of Hank Williams Jr., David Church brings classic country and his own roots music compositions to the Lyric stage.
From the iconic “Hank Williams” to his own “roots/retro” country music, David Church has made a huge impact on music enthusiasts all over the world. David & Terri Lisa have reignited a passion for traditional “RETRO” country music. They have made a connection that has crossed generations, from college students to great grandparents.
The “Star” of RFD-TV’s MIDWEST COUNTRY for over 10 years, David Church, along with his wife, Terri Lisa, has been lighting up TV sets throughout the US. Midwest Country is featured on prime time Saturday night. With Nielson ratings in the top 3 on the RFD-TV network, David Church is the “most requested and most popular” artist! They have captured the hearts of millions, from baby boomers to college students. With their dazzling rhinestone suits, this dynamic couple has thrilled audiences around the world. David Church is recognized for his authentic rendition of “Hank Williams,” and recognized by music historians, celebrities, and family members as the “#1 tribute to Hank.”
David Church carries the torch for traditional Country music! His voice and music touches the soul of millions around the globe! The true fans of traditional Country music need a standard-bearer to help keep this sound alive. Luckily, they don’t need to look any further than David Church.
The RFD-TV network has grown by leaps and bounds and is now broadcast to over 65 Million viewers throughout the US. Church has been featured as a regular on the popular show “Midwest Country.” It is easy to understand why he is RFD-TV’s “most requested” artist. Amazingly, without a major hit on mainstream radio, Church has millions of fans all over the world. Bruce Maier, the editor of a major music magazine, Damn Good Tunes called David, “a rare entertainment entity”. He went on to say “he creates a visual presentation that is absolutely dazzling to witness. He does something that 99% of all other artists cannot do and that is stand on their own with their own music.”
A strong advocate for American made products, David and Terri Lisa made the decision a few years ago to only sell American manufactured products on their merchandise table. In April, 2014, The Church’s joined forced with “American Made Matters®” organization as members and ambassadors. The mission is, “to educate consumers that buying US-made products strengthens the American dream,” and to bring awareness of American made products and manufacturers to consumers and strengthen the economy.
David Church can be mesmerizing when performing, as you close your eyes and go back years listening to Hank’s songs. His presentation is done with style, integrity of the music, and from the heart. David has some songs of his own that I believe are some of the very best country music has had in many a year. Catch his performances live and I’ll guarantee you’ll come away totally satisfied and waiting to tell your friends about it and ready for another show.
– Minnesota Times, Larry Rose 5/2013
David has been featured in numerous major country music magazines including, Country Weekly, Country Music Report, Nashville, Music Guide, Dreamwest, Damn Good Tunes, Furious, and many others. Church attributes his success in the music business to the millions of “true country fans” that are tired of what they hear on the radio. “The success that I have had has come from the fans that so long for the traditional sound of country that they have heard in the past, but no longer find in mainstream country music. Those are the fans that have been forgotten. I also feel that a lot of RFD-TV’s success can be attributed to the country music shows that they have been airing, which go along with the country and farm lifestyle. We are proud to be a part of this family oriented TV network.”
David performs throughout the world along with his talented wife, Terri Lisa Church. Terri Lisa is also a recording artist/songwriter. She sings lead and backup vocals. Terri Lisa is a published journalist.
David Church is a rare entertainment entity. David performs the songs and creates a visual presentation that is absolutely dazzling to witness! And, if that were all that David could do in this music business, one would think that’s quite an accomplishment, but David stands on his own with his original music. And that, my friends, makes for a very powerful package! My Rising Star pick: David Church.”
– Bruce Maier, Editor, Damn Good Tunes Magazine, 3/12/11 www.damngoodtunes.com
RFD’s most requested artist, David Church and Terri Lisa will perform at downtown Harrison’s historic Lyric Theater on Saturday, January 6, at 2:00. Tickets available now at our ticketing page or by calling (870) 391-3504.
has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds.
A—
international solo artist” above Devon Allman and Elvin Bishop…before he had reached his 30th birthday: 
From the iconic “Hank Williams” to his own “roots/retro” country music, David Church has made a huge impact on music enthusiasts all over the world. David & Terri Lisa have reignited a passion for traditional “RETRO” country music. They have made a connection that has crossed generations, from college students to great grandparents.
Church attributes his success in the music business to the millions of “true country fans” that are tired of what they hear on the radio. “The success that I have had has come from the fans that so long for the traditional sound of country that they have heard in the past, but no longer find in mainstream country music. Those are the fans that have been forgotten. I also feel that a lot of RFD-TV’s success can be attributed to the country music shows that they have been airing, which go along with the country and farm lifestyle. We are proud to be a part of this family oriented TV network.”