LR singer-songwriter Currey featured at WNP
Little Rock singer-songwriter Mark Currey, a threetime nominee in the Arkansas Country Music Awards, will be featured at Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee + Tea, 110 Central Ave.
The regular open mic session for all poets, musicians, and storytellers will begin at 6:30 p.m. today. Currey will begin his feature set at 7:15 p.m., followed by another round of open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages. Masks are recommended. All are welcome.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1964, Currey moved to Little Rock in 1984. “I have lived in Little Rock since 1984. I followed a girl I love, and we have been married 37 years. Kim and I have four children and four grandchildren,” he said in a news release. “I studied vocal music at the University of Central Arkansas in the early ’80s, and I finished a BA in University Studies at the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2020.”
When asked about his writing, Currey says, “I have been writing since high school. I am inspired by Southern writers and songwriters and works that are rooted in place. As a singer-songwriter, my roots run through north Texas and southeast Arkansas. Inspired by roots rock, classic country, folk and Americana music as well as southern gothic literature, I am a storyteller searching for an honest expression of my own Southern voice.”
Currey was a finalist in the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Associations 2015 Texas Songwriter U Competition and a three-time nominee in the Arkansas Country Music Awards.
His first solo recording, “Tarrant County,” released in July 2017, features 11 original songs supported by an impressive lineup of locally and internationally respected musicians.
“I have shared the stage with artists such as Robert Earl Keen, Radney Foster, Billy Joe Shaver, Todd Snider, Chris Knight, Jack Ingram, American Aquarium, and Amanda Shires. I have performed at a variety of venues in both central and northwest Arkansas, house concerts in Texas, and was part of a Southern fiction, art, and songwriting project called ‘Trio.’ The project included songwriters such as Rodney Crowell, Mary Gauthier, and Radney Foster. I have also had flash fiction published in ‘Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.’
“This is my third feature at Wednesday Night Poetry. I first participated in WNP in the spring of 2013. I came with my friend, RJ Looney, who was reading that night. I ended up doing a song and came back to feature a few weeks later, and again in 2019. I love WNP and have so enjoyed getting to be a part of the WNP family,” Currey said.
“I am so glad to welcome Mark back to the WNP microphone,” Kai Coggin, Wednesday Night Poetry host, said in the release.
“There are a lot of new folks who are coming to WNP now, and I can’t wait to see them experience Mark’s music. His writer voice is authentic and his music is rich with that authenticity and experience, almost dripping with southern Americana. I was glad to have him participate virtually during the isolated days of the pandemic, and I am excited to see and hear him in person again. It’s going to be a special night,” Coggin said.
This week marks 1,749 consecutive Wednesdays of open mic poetry in downtown Hot Springs since Feb. 1, 1989. “WNP is the longest-running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country,” the release said. Email wednesdaynightpoetry@gmail.com for more information.