Music of Arkansas
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Arkansas is a Southern state of the United States. Arkansas's musical heritage includes country music and various related styles like bluegrass and rockabilly. Traditional folk instruments include the fiddle and banjo as well as guitar, mandolin, dulcimer and autoharp. Among its most prominent modern musical manifestations is Riverfest, a music festival held along the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock. Riverfest has been held annually since 1978.
Located in the Ozark Mountains, the town of Mountain View bills itself as the "Folk Music Capital of the World". There is an Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, which includes musicians like Ronnie Dunn, Melvin Endsley, Al Green and Jimmy Driftwood.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1966. When the orchestra was founded, a local bank held the organization responsible for the debts of previous attempts at organizing an orchestra. Ten individual members assumed responsibility for the debt, and so the orchestra was formed, led by experienced conductor Vasilios Priakos.
The state's local music scene includes bands like American Princes, Rwake, Dreamfast, and Fire to Reason . Tommy Riggs (Tom Payton) is an Arkansan singer, piano and keyboard player who had several bands while performing around the state in the 1960s and 1970s. He also was working as a radio DJ (as Tom Jones) at the time, on KCLA, during 1968 through 69 &As Tom Payton on KXLR in North Little Rock in 1964, and in 1966 at KAAY. During this period, he promoted himself as Tom Payton and the Kingpins, Tom Payton with The Playboys, and several other names. He recorded while he was Rock Robbins from KAAY on the Little Rock label "MY Records" in 1966. Two songs from the session were released on a 45 rpm record, "My Little Girl" and "Good Lovin'"... The other songs and all tape masters are in private hands. Promoting himself as Tommy Riggs, he performed around the country From St. Louis to Las Vegas before settling down in Nashville, Tennessee and frequently playing at the Stockyards Lounge.
Two Arkansas politicians have been noted for mixing music with their campaigns for the presidency. Bill Clinton, attorney general and 50th and 52nd governor of the state and later president, played the saxophone, famously performing "Heartbreak Hotel" on The Arsenio Hall Show during the 1992 presidential election. Mike Huckabee, 54th governor, plays the bass guitar, and his campaign in the 2008 presidential election has prominently featured cover song performances by his band Capitol Offense.
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[edit] State songs
Arkansas has four official state songs:
- State Anthem: "Arkansas" by Mrs. Eva Ware Barnett
- State Historical Song: "The Arkansas Traveler" by Colonel Sanford C. Faulkner
- State Song: "Oh, Arkansas" by Terry Rose and Gary Klaff
- State Song: "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)" by Wayland Holyfield
The reason for two of the official state songs is a copyright dispute. "Arkansas" was published in 1916 by the Central Music Company, written by Eva Ware Barnett and Will M. Ramsey (though state law only credits Mrs. Barnett). It became the official song on January 12, 1917. Until either 1945 or 1949, "Arkansas" was the only official song in Arkansas. At that time, there was a copyright dispute and the state adopted "The Arkansas Traveler" as the official song, a situation that remained unchanged until 1963. In that year, the copyright dispute was resolved and "Arkansas" became official again, until 1987, when it was changed to the official state anthem. In that year, "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)" and "Oh, Arkansas" were officially designated state songs as well, and "The Arkansas Traveler" was designated the official state historical song.
[edit] The New Wave of Musicians
While Arkansas is known for it's southern styles, of country music and related styles of music, there's a much younger style coming from the state. In the late 90's, and early 2000's, there were many rock music groups, as well as pop rock groups. One of the well-known bands from this time would be multi-platinum-selling alternative rock band Evanescence, which has origins in Little Rock.
Pop and Rock groups today, are still around, as well as a few young bands, that play southern styled music, or Christian Pop/Christian Rock like The Wedding. However, as the trends change, post-hardcore and metalcore bands have popped up left and right. Many bands after the mid 2000's, and currently, have taken refuge in styles like that of Norma Jean and Underoath, while others continue slightly poppy and/or less chaotic acts, similar to Blessthefall and Fear Before the March of Flames. Some have even taken on the Math rock genre, like Burn Baby Burn, and others have added unusual time signatures to their music. Most of the bands on the AR scene, havn't made it out of school, and the rest have just graduated, or dropped out. Much of the music scene of post-hardcore and metalcore is indie, and dependent on teenagers and young adults.
Arkansas is also becoming known for the underground metal scene most prevalent in the Little Rock metropolitan area. Bands such as: Rwake, Deadbird, Shitfire, Seahag, Circle of the Black Thorn, The Witch's Tit and Placid Eclipse, all have their roots in Arkansas. Venues such as Downtown Music host metal shows nearly every weekend.
Saline county (a region just south of Pulaski county) is also becoming known as a metal hotspot with bands such as: Borderline Blasphemy, Woodswyck, Casting Hate, Divine Existence, Colossus Bound, Livid, and Bloodletting Device all of which are following the footsteps of Saline County metal legends, Wraith. These bands are known for playing heavy, aggressive, southern influenced, metal: taking influences that range from new age bands like Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage to more "classic metal" such as Slayer, Black Sabbath, and Danzig. Many of these bands take influence from the grunge movement of the early nineties as well as the southern sludge, and "true metal" genres. Venues such as Downtown Music and Vino's Pizza/Pub in Little Rock are home to shows of this movement.
[edit] Bands of the new scene
These are musicians, other than Evanescence or The Wedding that are accomplished in producing music and spreading it across the Arkansas music scene.
After the Tragedy, PMToday, Strike the Choir, Kaiden, Roulette Roulette, Asteios, Reason For Rescue, Heart For A Hand, Magnolia, and Ashes of Augustine.
Out of all these bands, the greatest population of fans has been produced by After the Tragedy, pmtoday, Kaiden, Strike the Choir and Ashes of Augustine. All of which play alternative music, such as Alternative Rock, Progressive rock, Math rock, Post-hardcore, Metalcore and have some roots in Southern Metalcore.
[edit] Venues
The most popular venues are The Attic in Hot Springs, Vino's in Little Rock, The Village in Little Rock, Juanita's in Little Rock, 4U in Camden, The Soundstage in Conway, and The Music Hall in Fayetteville.
