Texarkana Entertainment Blog

Musicals and live music, festivals and more: a busy time now for Texarkana in the arts and entertainment scene. So much so, in fact, it’s been impossible for me to land back on this blog and jot down the news, but I am here to correct that. Let’s start with a live music rundown.

This weekend is a big one for local music – if you are a country fan, in particular. On the way are Travis Tritt on Saturday at New Haven Golf Club for the initial Concert on the Green series show, and then the night before, Friday night, Tracy Lawrence initiates the fair festivities with an opening night concert at the Four States Fair & Rodeo. The folks at New Haven are pulling out all the stops for the Travis Tritt concert, including a massive stage that should be arriving tomorrow morning. Joining Tritt on that stage (things kick off at 4 p.m., Tritt scheduled to start at 8 p.m.) are several local and regional acts, including Driven, a hot new country band from Texarkana, and Kosmic Girlz & Koltrane, who have found quite a following through their local live performances.

Over at Hopkins Icehouse: Friday night it’s Synergistic for another unplugged acoustic show, and then Saturday night Basic 5 bring the reggae and rock vibe to the charming Hopkins stage. Fat Jack’s has Greg Gardner & Voodoo Cowboy for Friday night, rockers Teazur for Saturday. At the Wagon Wheel, it’s 4 Wheel Drive on Saturday night.

That’s not all. James Otto performs Sept. 24 at Shooters Sports Bar, coming back to a venue where he performed a successful show a couple years ago.

By the Texarkana Museums System organizers of the MoRH Better BBQ, Bands & Bikes Festival, which is this year’s “Quadrangle,” some big music is being organized for both festival nights. We’ll be advancing that soon for a Friday Accent piece.

The MoRH Better BBQ, Bands & Bikes headliner? For Friday night, Sept. 30: Shooter Jennings (with Greg Gardner and Voodoo Cowboy as openers). Saturday night, Oct. 1 : Robert St. John Band (with a Battle of the Bands to start things off). Street concert tickets each night are $10, and there’s a whole lot more happening too: barbecue competition, best bike competition, and other activities.

The Road Map has been hosting a series of truly rocking shows. On Tuesday that continues with Gypsyhawk, a gang of straight-ahead California rockers who bring their hard but catchy riffs to town once again, and our very own metal monsters, Tha Mutha Load.

Local rockers The Inside bring it to The Branch Office for a show this Saturday. Hippys Texarkana (that used to be Off the Line) brings in Tennessee metal on Sept. 24 with the bands Pengea and Death Remains Silent. That same night, Paul Capps Jr. plays The Blues Iguana: blues, country and classic rock.

Local country singer Gena Roberts will play a benefit show at the Oaklawn Opry on Sept. 24 to help Hospice of Texarkana in its quest to bring a new patient care facility to Texarkana. Roberts will be joined by Lonnie Spiker and Joe Mack Bennett.

And last but not least for this rundown, the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra has an all-Beethoven evening coming up at the Perot Theatre; that show, featuring pianist Stephen Beus, is Sept. 24.

That’s just a taste of what’s coming up. Enjoy it live: music.

- Aaron Brand

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This afternoon I talked with the good folks over at the Four States Fairgrounds about what’s in store for this year’s rendition of a time-honored Texarkana tradition. One big piece of news is the 67th Annual Four States Fair & Rodeo headliner this year: Foreman, Ark.’s own bigtime country act in Tracy Lawrence. He performs Friday, Sept. 16, for the opening concert. General admission tickets are $25 in advance—no reserved seats. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. show start time.

A few other changes are in store: One, the fairgrounds will be promoting its own demolition derby this year. Two, there will be a different carnival at the fair, so expect to see some new rides and such when you bring the kids to see the cotton candy, colorful lights and wild rides along the midway. This year’s fair runs Sept. 16-25. We’ll have a preview of some of these changes in our Friday Accent page next week, so be sure to check it out.

- Aaron Brand

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For all you Tracy Lawrence fans out there, the man from Foreman is slated to release his next album, “The Rock,” on Tuesday. It’s an inspirational country CD that shows Lawrence’s spiritual and religious side, where he’s honest about his past mistakes but looks forward with a renewed sense of purpose and, it seems, contentment. I’ve given it a listen and will have a review—well, actually more of an analysis—in Sunday’s Accent page. More info: Tracy’s Website. 

- Aaron Brand

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If you check out Tracy Lawrence’s Website you may notice a small change in its write-up about the Homecoming Concert on June 6. Previously, 3 Doors Down, Clay Walker, and Neal McCoy were named as participants in Lawrence’s Homecoming Concert. Not true and they’ve changed that info on there. McCoy, Walker and 3 Doors Down have all played with Lawrence before for his big show, but they’re not playing this time. We got word of this today, so I’m just passing the info along. We were originally given the wrong info in the press release for the show as well.

So without further ado, the true lineup for Lawrence’s show includes Zona Jones, Tracy Byrd, and Richie McDonald. 

- Aaron Brand

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Tracy Lawrence is an alum of Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Ark., just down the road from Texarkana and his hometown of Foreman.

And all things Mulerider will be touted Wednesday for a 100-year anniversary celebration of the university, which serves students from all over the area. As part of the festivities, Lawrence will be in town to headline a concert. (Opening for him are the Warner Bros. Nashville recording artists The Dirt Drifters.) Lawrence plays at 7 p.m. on the SAU Mall. If there’s bad weather, the show moves to the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. 

Here’s the price: free. That’s right. 

For more information on the SAU celebration, check out www.saumag.edu/100. 

- Aaron Brand

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The Texarkana-area’s country music big names are working hard to get some new material out these days.

Collin Raye will release “Never Going Back” April 28 on Time Life. Raye also plans to head out on tour when the album is released. Promo material states the album mixes rock and country with the “laid back rock and folk of mid-seventies Southern California.” It sounds like a more stripped-down and no-frills kind of music for Raye, formerly of De Queen, Ark. On the album, he sings “Without You” with Susan Ashton, a Grammy nominee. “Before this, I’d never done an album where I’ve wanted to immediately go out and perform the whole thing,” said Raye in a statement. 

Tracy Lawrence, who grew up in Foreman, Ark., will release his gospel album “The Rock” in June on his label Rocky Comfort Records. But before that, he’ll put out the first single, “Up to Him.” It will go out to country music and Christian radio stations on March 24 and is already available digitally. “In the current political climate and in consideration of the overall mood of our country, ‘Up To Him’ is hopeful, positive and looks toward a brighter future,” Lawrence said in the statement. 

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photos:

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