Texarkana Entertainment Blog

It’s always refreshing to see someone deal directly with an issue that appears to be sensitive and perhaps taboo. That’s not always the case in my line of work, particularly with subjects who are self-conscious about image control. Believe me, I run into a lot of that, too much in fact.

I had wanted to interview Nashville, Ark.-based musician Greg Gardner for a while now—first of all, because he’s received a heap of praise as a musician and singer. He’s been a favorite fixture in local music for many years, and we sat down to chat recently at Fat Jack’s Oyster and Sports Bar prior to a Friday night Greg Gardner and Voodoo Cowboy show. When it came to discussing his incarceration and drug addiction, Gardner was refreshingly honest and direct about it, and as a journalist I appreciated it. We featured him and his band in a Sunday Accent story, which you can see here: Dream’s still alive for this Voodoo Cowboy.

- Aaron Brand

Staff photo by Eric J. Shelton.

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I tend to like art that admits its own artifice and shows its inner workings. I love the Pompidou Centre in Paris, for example, because the high-tech arts complex sports an architecture that wears the insides outside. I love theater where characters step outside the action and address the audience. It’s part of what I love about readers’ theater and radio plays. In a radio play, the audience sees the actors create the sound effects. There’s no wizard behind the curtain; it’s an art that’s upfront and honest.

About a month ago the TAMU-T English Club and Drama Department staged a radio play at the new Bringle Lake campus, and now the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council is presenting “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at the Paul W. Klipsch Auditorium in Hope, Ark., Dec. 9-12. The play depicts various actors at a 1940s radio station, each of whom plays several characters in what’s become a traditional holiday tale. Director Mark Gunter says the crew utilizes a wind-making device and cereal is used to mimic the sound of crunching snow. We’ll have an advance story in Friday’s Gazette. You can also find out more by calling SWAAC: 870-777-8200. Tickets are $10 for adults, $2 for students through college.

- Aaron Brand

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It’s not every day I make a world-famous musician laugh. A little more than a week ago I interviewed Michael Martin Murphey about his upcoming “Cowboy Christmas” show (see this Friday’s Accent page in the Gazette for the advance story). Mr. Murphey was waxing poetic about the cowboy traditions established in Texas and, in particular, the Christmas celebrations associated with cowboy music and culture. It’s what inspired Murphey to take this Christmas show on the road, he explained. Well, he mentioned that this show gives him a chance to celebrate the greatest day in history. Taking a cue on what I, as a non-Texas native, have seen of Texas pride in my eight years down here, I ventured a guess: the creation of Texas? No, Murphey said, it’s the birth of Jesus, Christmas day itself. Then he proceeded to have a great big booming laugh about my guess, which I suppose was worth it to me as it helped break the ice in an interview (not that it really needed any breaking as he’s a pretty good interview). Murphey comes to Texarkana to celebrate Christmas for a 7:30 p.m. show on Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Perot Theatre. He sounds ready to share the friendly Christmas spirit.

- Aaron Brand

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That unmistakable onslaught of the winter holiday season has already commenced. Last night I found myself momentarily transfixed and mesmerized by aisles of cheap Christmas merchandise when I ran to the store to simply buy envelopes. Sitting down to plan stories yesterday and today, I see a ton of Christmas events on tap in the next month.

While the holiday season sometimes feels like an indulgent, overwhelming, mass-marketing paradise, it remains a good time for coming together to hear music and share similar festive happenings. Here are just a few such events coming down the pipe:

1) Texarkana College Choir presents “Yulefeste” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3, at the Truman Arnold Student Center Great Room. The TC Choir is joined by choirs from Texas High School, Liberty-Eylau High School, and Veritas Academy. Admission: $5.

2) Historic Washington State Park presents its “24th Annual Christmas and Candlelight Celebration” on Dec. 4 and 11. “Christmas and Candlelight” finds the historic restoration village decked out in Christmas finery and graced by choirs and other sorts of musical entertainments. Candlelight tours are available in the evenings and surrey rides transport you back in time.

3) The Downtown Youth Theater presents “A Christmas Carol” at Williams Memorial United Methodist Church Dec. 9-12. This is a new venue for the theater group and the show includes a Victorian street scene and feast. We’ll be advancing this (and the other events) in more detail on our Accent page.

4) Two Texarkana Symphony Orchestra events coming up next month. The TSO presents “Sounds of the Season” on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center/John Thomas Theatre. The show repertoire includes holiday favorites and features performers Leslie Harper and Texarkana’s Stacy James Mayo. The Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra presents its Christmas show on Dec. 5 at 3 p.m.

5) TRAHC provides festive holiday music, refreshments, and a chance to see and purchase unique, artsy gifts at the Regional Arts Center during the “Holiday Open House & Arts Market” Dec. 10-11 with a preview party on Thursday, Dec. 9.

6) Just a couple blocks away up at the Perot Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, Michael Martin Murphey brings his “Cowboy Christmas” show to town for the next show in TRAHC’s Perot Theatre series.

UPDATE: Info. reflects change in date for Texarkana Youth Symphony show.

- Aaron Brand

Christmas wreaths await deployment for Historic Washington State Park's "Christmas and Candlelight" festivities in this submitted photo.

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Texarkana, meet your Vicious Vixens: a group of local women who make up a new, all-female roller derby team. Sporting tattoos, helmets, and toughness, they have been seriously practicing and working hard with derby drills and skill building up at Bringle Lake Park’s basketball court. They’re on the hunt for a local indoor venue to practice and, hopefully, hold bouts someday. The Vixens have bouts scheduled starting early next year, but those competitions are out of town on the road. I must admit, meeting them was a total blast; for such tough women, they were awfully sweet and, most importantly, pretty thoughtful and reflective about this unique pursuit. Check out our Sunday Accent piece on the Vixens (multimedia video included): Roller derby queens.

Update: Looks like a couple Vixens have split from the group to form their own team/league. We’ll keep you posted on the progress as we find out more.

- Aaron Brand

Staff photo by Evan Lewis. Cori McIntyre gets in some practice.

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A collection of miscellaneous items:

1) Texarkana has a new coffeehouse downtown: The Blues Iguana. Located at 205 E. Broad, this funky establishment has a comfortable, relaxed vibe with unique art, cozy seating, eclectic ambiance, and decidedly iguana-esque decorative touch (copies of “Iguana Times,” for example, on the walls). It feels like the kind of place you’d find in a city like Austin. It’s offbeat but mellow and welcoming.

Getting the coffeehouse underway has been a three-year project for owner Cliff Perkins, who renovated the interior to get the building up to speed. He has all sorts of coffees and soups, pastries, and sandwiches on tap. You can surf the Web, chitchat with friends, or even play the piano and drums while enjoying life at the Blues Iguana. Go check it out and support something different.

2) TexRep finished its production of “The Foreigner” this past weekend. “The Foreigner” was show number three in TexRep’s 20th anniversary season, which has brought back old favorites TexRep performed in the past for another go.

In this play, a shy Englishman pretends he’s unable to speak English, and the characters around him at a Georgia lodge either take him into their confidence or show him scathing disdain. A breakfast table scene between Michael Skotnik (as the “foreigner,” Charlie Baker) and Austin Alford (as Ellard Simms, a lodge resident who “teaches” English words to Charlie) was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on stage here, full of great physical comedy. And for such a hysterical play, the message hits home, particular at a time like the present when what’s deemed “foreign” is so routinely dismissed.

3) Anyone attending Thursday’s “ABBA Mania” show at the Perot Theatre gets a sneak peak at ABBA-style fashions and a photo booth during the pre-party before the big show. Stylin’.

- Aaron Brand

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Texarkana’s Charles Everett Pace both entertains and educates audiences with his engaging performances of powerful black figures like Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes. This week he’s in New York City to help celebrate 100 years of “The Crisis” magazine, the official journal of the NAACP. Pace, a scholar with the Great Plains Chautauqua Society, is performing as Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois in a celebration at the New York Times Building tomorrow. Du Bois founded the journal in 1910. More info on our local scholar: Charles Everett Pace – Performer/Scholar.

- Aaron Brand

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Thursday evening’s auction of 23 artistic “chairs” earned more than $2,500 for the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s Arts on Main community art class program for both kids and adults. That’s an average of more than $100 per chair and a nice overall haul for scholarships and supplies the program needs.

Artists reworked a bunch of plain, brown club chairs into things altogether different—beautiful works where people may sit and others completely unique and fantastic simply to see and admire. Sitting in the Regional Arts Center’s Cabe Hall, they made for a colorful crew. Jeff Sandford, chamber of commerce president, served as the quick-witted auctioneer for the night, and for about half the auction the room was absolutely packed. The top money earner was Jerome LeGrand’s “Flowing Steel” (it fetched $400), while People’s Choice awards went to “Enchairted Garden” by Rachel Freeman and Lisa Sloan in 1st place and “Chair-O-Kee” by Cari and Vince Brown and Doris Vaughn in 2nd place. I caught a few pics you can see below.

- Aaron Brand

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One of Texarkana’s true champions for music will be honored Monday for decades of tireless but joyful work in promoting jazz here. The late Jerry Atkins, who was a longtime radio deejay at KTXK and a real treasure as both a person and knowledgeable jazz fan, will be inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame during a Little Rock ceremony at the Afterthought Bar.

Though I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Atkins, we did talk on the phone for interviews, and he was always an invaluable source for us here at the Gazette, whether the topic was other musicians or Texarkana history. For radio listeners, he was a fountain of knowledge, particularly about the West Coast jazz he adored. When I first moved to Texarkana, his inviting voice and love for jazz were a wonderful find; when you listen to some people, their joy in discussing a subject can be truly contagious, and so it was with Mr. Atkins. We profiled him for a Sunday Accent feature story nearly two weeks past, and I wanted to cross-post this feature here: Local radio icon Jerry Atkins lauded for contributions to jazz. Atkins is seen below in a submitted photo playing the saxophone, the instrument he loved.

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photo. The late Jerry Atkins, a longtime Texarkana musician, promoter of jazz music and radio host, will be inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame in a ceremony Nov. 8 in Little Rock.

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A rainy election day evening brought some fantastic, decidedly contemporary folk rock music to Texarkana. Folk singers don’t cruise through this town too much, but Austin-based BettySoo sure made me wish more folk musicians made Texarkana a stop on their road show. Armed with her guitars and a smile, BettySoo regaled the full bar crowd at Timothy’s Grill for more than two hours with her heartfelt songs of relationship observations and sage storytelling. It felt like the right kind of night to hear her voice. There is something clear-eyed, disarming, and yet hopeful in her songwriting. Out for a six-week swing on the East Coast, Texarkana was a stop on the way; perhaps we’ll be graced by her presence again someday. Check her out at BettySoo.com. Her newest album is “Heat Sin Water Skin,” a work that’s well worth some listening.

- Aaron Brand

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