Momentary At Home

Playlists feature ‘voices, genres and musical styles one might hear’

It used to be mixtapes. After that, it was burned CDs. I’ll admit — I don’t know what DIY music method came before mixtapes (teensy bit before my time), but now, it’s playlists.

“These days, the technology has really leveled the playing field in terms of what people can [create] from a world of music rather than just from their own collections,” says

Stuart Rogers, head of music and festivals at the Momentary in Bentonville. The accessibility of streaming services and ease of creating a playlist makes it easier than ever to relate to a mix, Rogers notes.

That’s why when the Momentary decided to temporarily close its doors in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, playlists are what immediately came to mind when Rogers thought, “What can I bring to the table now?”

“I sort of thought that what everyone needs at this time is an opportunity to just have a dance,” he shares. “Have a chance to provide, hopefully, surprise and delight. Or provide comfort for folks during these trying times.”

Those were two of the first playlists Rogers curated in response to the closure: The Momentary Dancer — upbeat jams and pumping beats

— and The Momentary Listener — an introspective and maybe even cathartically melancholic blend. While the third, The Momentary Eclectic, weaves more between highs and lows and is more reflective of the Momentary’s aesthetic as a whole, all three playlists embody the Momentary’s diverse artistic perspective.

“It’s always been beat mixing; it’s all been about telling a story with songs,” Rogers says of his curation style and background in radio and music presentation. “And one of the things that music allows is a window into other facets of the performing arts, because, in many ways, music can be a bit more accessible to people.

“When we get back to putting music on live, my hope is that playlists will be a part of that building trust in the curation because people can see that we’ve got a pretty wide purview and knowledge of music. Hopefully, people can find some favorites among these, and perhaps when we get back to opening, there will be some [artists] we’ll bring in that people will have been turned on to from these playlists. That’s my hope.”

Rogers