Kyle Kellams: In the age of MP3 streaming and digital, local musicians need as much support as ever. Les Key is one of those vital supports for singers, songwriters, musicians and bands here. For years, he managed Meteor Guitar Gallery in downtown Bentonville, hosting singers in the round events, hosting COVID-era stream performances and booking local acts to open for national touring performers. Recently, Les suffered a fall, and tomorrow, musicians, vendors and residents will host a one-day music fest to raise money to help Les and his family recover. Bands, food, vendors will be at The Ravington in Centerton for Les Fest. It's tomorrow from 1 until 8. This week, three of the scheduled performers hopped on Zoom to talk about it: Lacy Hampton, Pat Ryan Key and Ashtyn Barbaree.
Pat says Les Key's devotion to the stage at Meteor Guitar Gallery was a boon to local music.
Ryan Key: And that thing just took off like a rocket. They had so many supporters and a really awesome following. I think he really built his own community out of that building there in downtown Bentonville. He's just a really neat guy, and we're first cousins, so I can say that. He's got four kids. His wife, Alanna, she's really sweet. And they all kind of keep it in the family, that they work hard, and they do their best to support themselves, as well as to be a beacon in the community to help others. And I think that would be his mantra, if you will, is that he was that guy to go to. If you needed something, he would give you the shirt off of his back. And Meteor Guitar Gallery was a special place. I'm glad that he was able to find a new home at The Ravington.
Kellams: Ashtyn, you've played at the Meteor. You know him. What makes his relationship with musicians so special?
Barbaree: I think Les is one of the, if not the most, supportive person of live local music in Northwest Arkansas. He has looked out for us so much. During COVID, letting us live stream concerts and keeping us alive and looking out for us, putting us on his support when bigger acts come through, and just pouring his heart into everything he can. And it's just incredible how much he's impacted my life, and I know a lot of others.
Kellams: Lacy, what is the value of that? Having someone who has a venue but also has that sort of support of musicians, how can that help local musicians?
Hampton: It's just something that's really needed in Northwest Arkansas, as we've grown so much, to have a true community connection and place where we know that we can go to have our music heard, and not just be background noise for a so-called venue, but have actual music as the forefront. And that's kind of a dying breed. That's the pillar of our community, and Les has really offered that for the last over a decade. We did the songwriters in the round there, and that would have been impossible without Les and his family's cooperation. They have volunteered so many hours and time. And so when he did fall off a ladder and I heard about it, I think all of us were kind of going, how can we help, if it's not financial? I would love to give my time. And so it was really easy to find people that were willing to show up and put this event together, because we love him and we appreciate and see the amount of work and love that he's put into this community. And we want to get him back on his feet.
Kellams: What can you tell us as we talk? We're three days away. What can you tell us that we’ll experience at Les Fest?
Hampton: We worked really hard to make it, in kind of a crunch amount of time. We've worked really hard to give it a community and festival vibe. It's a one-day festival, and we'll have yoga. We'll have music all day. We'll have a few vendors that are kicking back percentages to Les and his family. We'll have a silent auction, and all of those things are donated. And so the majority of all the benefit is just going straight to Les. But also trying to make it fun, community based and kind of give you that feel of going to a music festival and all of the things that you have to see and do. And then at the end, we're going to have kind of like a community jam thing, because that's my favorite part of a festival. I love all of the music and getting to experience new musicians and hearing their set list. But I also really love the jams at the end of the night around the campfire. And so, Pat is going to be kind of leading that up at the end, and we're kind of working toward a cool sort of transition to try to get, at least, everybody up there feeling that community vibe at the very end.
Kellams: Ashtyn, I want to ask you about being able to not just play for something like Les Fest, but see some of your colleagues from Northwest Arkansas, your fellow musicians. Is that just sort of an added bonus for a musician, because often you're playing the same nights in different places and you might not get to see each other perform all that often?
Barbaree: I'm so excited for us all to be together. A lot of us show up at venues and we feel this distant connection of being like, oh, someone I loved was here last night or next weekend. And so us all being together will just be like a big hug. I'm so excited.
Kellams: Ashtyn Barbaree, Lacy Hampton and Pat Ryan Key are three of the musicians performing at Les Fest tomorrow from 1 until 8 at The Ravington in Centerton. The day will begin with yoga, and all along the seven hours there will be food trucks, local brew, silent auction items and more. You can find many more details by searching for Les Fest on Facebook.
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