Bluegrass flows Saturday at Hempstead festival
WASHINGTON, Ark.— Three different spins on bluegrass music entertain Historic Washington State Park visitors Saturday afternoon.
The Hempstead County Bluegrass Festival brings a finger-pickin’ grand time to the idyllic spring setting outside the 1874 Courthouse, which also serves as the state park’s visitor’s center. Admission is free for this annual show, which this year features three regional bands from noon to 6 p.m.
The Hempstead County Melody Boys, whose history stretches back nearly to World War II, are up first, fol-
lowed by two family bands: The McWilliams Family from Caddo Gap, Ark., and The Hartley Family, who hail from Arkadelphia, Ark. Admission is free, and each band will play twice during the six-hour festival.
“The main purpose of the event is again to showcase bluegrass, which has its roots in the 19th century with a variety of folk and country music mixed together,” said Josh Williams, curator at Historic Washington. The festival shows how modern musicians have a connection to the bluegrass tradition.
Mark Keith of the Hempstead County Melody Boys explains that when the radio station KXAR went on the air in 1947, the Hope Star ran a four-page insert about it with a photo of the Melody Boys. So, they existed at least as far back as then, he explained.
“When the war was over there was a barn dance here at the Fair Park,” Keith recalled, and that’s an event the Melody Boys were known to have played. The original Melody Boys were very active in the community, playing what was then considered modern country music of the day.
Fast forward decades later and Keith worked at a Hope radio station. He had a band, and in the mid-1990s they replicated a Melody Boys broadcast live on the radio. The response was positive, and so Keith and crew became the Melody Boys, adopting the name to pay homage to this homegrown band and their legacy, “to carry on their memory of what they used to do because they did a lot of things for the community.”
The McWilliams Family have performed at Historic Washington State Park before. They’ll perform bluegrass and early Americana music. Expect to hear instruments like the fiddle, banjo and bass, instruments common with the folk music tradition. The band consists of a couple and their daughters.
“It’s a passion of theirs,” Williams said.
Perhaps a little more widely known is The Hartley Family, who’ve played at venues like the Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo., the park curator said.
“They’ve played at a variety of different events in bluegrass circles,” Williams said. As it is with the McWilliams, it’s a family endeavor, the Hartleys going on the road and playing at venues all over.
Williams says many pieces of music today have a connection to the 19th century, pointing to a song like “The Arkansas Traveler” as an example. It’s an old folk song that fiddlers love and one played within the bluegrass tradition. Some songs like this will be performed Saturday as bands like the ones playing the festival continue this bluegrass tradition.
In the case of inclement weather, the event will be moved indoors to the Presbyterian church. Historic Washington is partnering with 107.9 FM KHOA-LP to present this event.
(For more information, call the park at 870-983-2684 or visit HistoricWashingtonStatePark. Historic Washington State Park is located nine miles north of Hope on U.S. Highway 278 West. Off of Interstate 30, take exit 30 and head west.)