Carnival of Soul

The next several days feature not one but two Grateful Dead tributes in the region, a concert honoring Charles Mingus and his connection to Arkansas, and plenty of blues, folk and more.

Wednesday, Feb. 5

Several international songwriters were in Northwest Arkansas in early January for the 2020 House of Songs Songwriters Summit. They also stopped by our Firmin-Garner Performance Studio at the Carver Center for Public Radio. We previously heard performances from Kaia Kater, Peter Muhkerjee, Jane Ellen Bryant and Aaron Smith. This week, we hear from four more songwriters, including Peter More, Dean Owens, Leslie Stevens and House of Songs Artistic Director Graham Weber.

The Fred Hersch Trio performs at the Walton Arts Center Friday, Jan. 31. Hersch spoke with Robert Ginsburg, host of KUAF’s Shades of Jazz, about his music and the coma that kept him off the stage for some time.

Jess Harp has performed throughout Northwest Arkansas for a year or two. Friday evening, he and his band will perform at the Record in downtown Bentonville. We get a preview of the concert, talk about the band’s style, and hear about a debut album in the works.

The House of Songs will host its 2020 Songwriters Summit at 7 p.m. Saturday at Midtown Associates in Springdale. The event will showcase songs co-written this week by participating songwriters at the House of Songs Ozarks. Songwriters Kaia Kater, Oscar Mukerjee, Jane Ellen Bryant, Aaron Smith, Peter More, Dean Owens and Leslie Stevens, and House of Songs Director of Artist Management Graham Weber, came to the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio to give us a preview.