Live performances set — but with limitations
Live music is in short supply this weekend, especially due to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (and mix in a bit of global pandemic), but there are a few possibilities in Central Arkansas.
LITTLE ROCK
“Christmas Eve at the Library” will be held at 4 p.m. today and Cory Fontenot will perform from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at The Library Kitchen & Lounge, 313 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. Admission is free. Fontenot, a Jonesboro native, now lives in Bryant.
■ “Rock & Roll Piano Bar” will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday at Willy D’s, 322 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.
CONWAY
Darren Barry will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kings Live Music, 1020 Front St., Conway. Admission is free.
EL DORADO
Mary Heather Hickman will perform at Marilyn’s on the Square, 119 N. Jefferson Ave., El Dorado, from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday.
FORT SMITH
Jabe Burgess, with opening act Cooper Van Kooten, will perform from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at The Majestic, 817 Garrison Ave., Fort Smith.
HOT SPRINGS
Scenic 7 will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Trough Bar and Grill, 833 Central Ave., Hot Springs. Admission is free.
■ John Calvin Brewer will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Big Chill, 910 Higdon Ferry Road, Hot Springs. Admission is $5.
STAY TUNED
Bill Jagitsch, renowned for building cigar box guitars when not repairing Apple computers, will do a livestream on Facebook at 8 p.m. Sunday, which he does each Sunday, on his page.
■ Embassy of Sound will perform a streaming show from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday at pastelink.net/2e7dx.
Daman Hoffman of Embassy of Sound is a certified sound therapist
based in Little Rock who plays Himalayan singing bowls, gongs and other sacred instruments. The concert takes place at Sixth House Studio in Little Rock.
■ Crossover classical/pop piano virtuoso Reuel will perform livestream broadcasts of his 2018 holiday album, “First Snow,” at 7 p.m. today and 11 a.m. Christmas from Studios at Fischer, a state-of-the-art facility in the Texas Hill Country between Austin and San Antonio.
The concerts will be carried on the Live at SF YouTube page and Studios at Fischer Facebook page, as well at Reuel’s Facebook page. Past performances are archived and can be viewed on the YouTube post broadcast.
■ Those of us who have resorted to road trips in the past to see musical heroes including David Bromberg and Richard Thompson have found our way to a friendly Dallas venue, Poor David’s Pub, which is, like all such venues, struggling. An email from the club notes that it has a site that can be viewed: youtube. com/poordavidspub.com.
Donations “are split between the club and the artist during these tough times,” the club notes, mentioning Venmo and Paypal as the places for donations. (The club also donates to the Parkland Burn Camp for Kids.)
The club will have a virtual Christmas party via Zoom from 7 to 10 p.m. today, and will feature some familiar names to music fans: Michael Hearne, Ann Armstrong & Steve Hughes, Betty Soo, the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz and others.
READ IT AND DON’T WEEP
Pastemagazine.com had some good news on Monday: “Indie Theaters/Concert Venues to Receive $15 Billion in Stimulus Package … which also includes a special carve-out for our beloved music venues and theaters, in the form of the Save Our Stages act. In total, this portion of the stimulus will provide around $15 billion to independent music venues and independent movie theaters in the coming months — desperately needed money, given that the live performances/exhibition business has been practically nonexistent in many markets since March of 2020.”
Paste adds that “… even this aid package amounts to exactly that — just a fighting chance for these venues, given their almost total inability to generate revenue during the pandemic. Some independent theaters have managed to set up ‘digital screening rooms’ to digitally sell movie rentals during recent months, but that kind of revenue only replaces a tiny fraction of what they would be making otherwise. Music venues have arguably been hit even worse ….”