The third annual Arkansas Country Blues and String Band Festival is taking place tomorrow through Sunday in Springdale. Orson Weems is the executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit behind the festival, The Music Education Initiative. Weems spoke with Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani about the organization and its connection to the three-day event.
It began with a mission of connecting music students with industry professionals to learn skills in both performance and behind-the-scenes work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Weems says he was approached by his friend and co-founder Greg “G.T.” Thompson about pursuing this work.
Orson Weems: He realized from his experience in music that he could actually say, he calls me, ‘O’, he says, ‘O, I think we need to look at the music business from the production side, not from the performing side during this time, and start training people to get skills and how to get their foot in the doors in music, entertainment and live events from that. Setting up stages, learning how to wrap cables. Learning how to move the road cases logistically so you can get your foot in the door. Learn how to do that. Become an audio tech or production tech, a lighting tech, all these different career opportunities that people don’t think about.
Sophia Nourani: And are really essential as well.
Weems: That’s right. It’s just incredible to have it. But it’s not well known and thought about because there’s so much focus on the performing, the glitz and the shiny and new. But the things that made that happen are the people that you hardly see or you see. If you go to a big concert, you can see how much actual work is there. And so we have put on workshops around the state, and I’m glad to say that our very first workshop was in 2022, was at George’s Majestic Lounge, and it was fabulous. And those folks there, Brian, wonderful folks. All there was was the facilitator of that. And he’s had so much experience. And you listen to him and these people that showed up, we were expecting. I think our first workshop had over 20 people in it and then they got it. And so from that point, we’ve been able to move around and do more.
We’ve done over 60 workshops in the state of Arkansas, and we’re exposing and we’re doing more things. And we’ve been down in the Delta. We’ve been into some other areas. We’ve been asked to speak and come and speak to different conferences with educators and people that are looking for jobs. I like to say job seekers, and we like to say, ‘well, here’s the opportunity that one might see dealing with music, entertainment and live events.’
Nourani: It’s so great that you guys are kind of, you know, facing both elements of that, the production and the work that goes behind the scenes and this festival kind of exhibiting all of the music that you’ve experienced with, with your travels. So back to the festival, can you tell me about the lineup for this year and the run of events that you guys are going to be having?
Weems: I’m excited to share that, because this is great to have this, to come to Northwest Arkansas and to especially have it in downtown Springdale. Opening night, Friday, Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m. We’re going to have Larry & Joe, and it’s just exciting. Just Google them and check them out. Larry & Joe, a Venezuelan Appalachian duo of just incredible artists and harp, mandolin, banjo, fiddle. These guys play it and they sing wonderfully. And then we have the Jake Leg Stompers out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Just an incredible group that really—they just emulate this music with excitement. And some—they like to say some, some, some gaudy type things in the way they act and all, but it’s just fantastic and just energetic.
What’s very exciting is for us to bring in to recognize a group of elementary school students out of Little Rock at Chico Elementary that actually have put together a string band by their—I guess founder of their string band is Aaron Farris, who’s from what people like to say the folk capital of the world is Mountain View, Arkansas. And this guy plays I don’t know how many instruments, but Aaron Farris is bringing those elementary school students here to actually open for somebody that will be a legend, as Dom Flemons. And Dom Flemons is from the part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops at one time, but now has Dom Flemons & the Traveling Wildfires. And he’s the headliner, Grammy Award winner, banjo Hall of Fame, American songster, storyteller. Just incredible artist in downtown Springdale. Grammy Award winner. And Larry & Joe, by the way, are Larry. Uh, Joe. Let’s see, Joe has been Grammy nominated from that duo as well.
Nourani: That’s very exciting.
Weems: And then on, after that finishes at Luther George, we’re going to zip over to the American Legion Hall over there in Springdale for some square dancing. So that’ll just keep going from that incredible music. So that starts after we finish at Luther George Park. So that’s about 10 o’clock for square dancing.
Saturday morning we move to the Jones Center. Those folks have been wonderful over there with working with us at the Jones Center. They have us coming in after their big night, which is Friday night. They have a big fundraiser and event. They’re inside and they’re so we’re just going to keep that energy going.
Nourani: Keep the party going.
Weems: Saturday morning, we start off in the Jones Center at 11 o’clock with just incredible music. Carolina Mendoza just powerhouse, just incredible singer that we’ve worked with as well. Even with the Music Education Initiative, we’ve produced some of her singles that we have—she is amazing and we have that. We have I think Terry Harmonica Bean. We have Ferd, we have local artists coming in the Ozark High Ballers, the Clark Bowling and I mean his orchestra. We’re just having some great music. And then again, we finished that about 9:30 or 10 o’clock. We’ll finish that, I think preferred earlier around 8:30 or 9. And then the ballot office Saturday night, before the square dance. So after we finished that we’re going to go over to Turnbull Park in Shallow Square, Turnbull Park and do a ballad off. And there’s topics on a wheel and spin a wheel and it’ll land on a word and they have a few minutes to create a song for it and they can sing. Oh, it gets really fun because the other group can steal that song and make it theirs. It’s funny.
Nourani: Oh wow. That sounds super fun, yeah.
Weems: And it’s fun and it’s very creative. And to take that energy over to the American Legion Hall for some more square dancing.
Nourani: That’s a fundamental part.
Weems: Yeah, yeah. Something fundamental. You can’t—you can’t keep still when you see this, hear this music.
And then on Sunday at 10:30, we have our—this is so incredible, as we call it, ‘Not Your Mama’s Gospel Brunch.’ And that’s where some of the artists stay around. They want to hang out and they just start talking about which gospel songs they want to sing. And they all start joining in and singing.
Nourani: Oh, that sounds amazing.
Weems: And after that, about 1 o’clock on Sunday afternoon, we finish the festival with the Arkansas Country Blues and then the String Band Championship, and that’s wonderful. There will be some artist workshops that the artists actually will have a fee for folks to go and join their workshops, like a banjo workshop with Dom Flemons. How do you pass up a banjo workshop with Dom Flemons? You have Dom Flemons, you have Clark Bowling there. You have Bill Steber there from the—how do you not want to show up for a banjo workshop with these incredible guys on a Saturday morning? We have a what we call a craft-distilling workshop. That’ll be just some tips on how you would distill a certain kind of spirit. So you just have to go and find out. You have to go and find out.”
So again, reach out for ARBluesAndStringBand.com and also reach me on the Music Education Initiative’s website which is MusicEducationInitiative.org.
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