Depot Days to feature The Artimus Pyle Band, more
NEWPORT — The 23rd annual Depot Days Music Festival will take place Friday and Saturday on historic Front Street in downtown Newport. Part of the Monster Nights Downtown Entertainment Series, the festival is a showcase of local, regional and national talent to pay tribute to the early history of rock ’n’ roll. Music will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and at 1 p.m. Saturday on the Terry Scoggins Memorial Stage in Front Street Park. The 57th annual Lions Club Auction will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Admission to the festival is free, and it will follow the directives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in regard to COVID-19 safety precautions. Vendor booth spaces will be limited to allow for better social distancing. For booth availability, call the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce at (870) 523-3618.
The 17th annual Jackson County’s Best Backyard Barbecue Championship Cook-off will take place Saturday. Each team will receive a free Boston butt and a rack of baby-back ribs for judging. Entry forms can be mailed to or dropped off at the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce, 201 Hazel St., Newport, AR 72112. The team entry fee of $50 includes both the Butt and Ribs divisions. New this year is the addition of an Anything Goes division, which is $10 extra. Barbecue Contest winners will be announced at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Friday’s musical lineup includes the following:
• Nightwing at 6 p.m. — The members of Nightwing have been playing around northeast Arkansas for decades and have reunited to become a powerhouse group that plays a wide range of favorite rock hits from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
• Jim Ranger at 7:30 p.m. — Singer-songwriter Jim Ranger, the 2019 runner-up on “The Voice,” was born in Newport and now lives in Bakersfield, California. With big vocals, charisma and skill, Ranger impressed music legends Blake Shelton, John Legend and Gwen Stefani on season 19 of NBC’s “The Voice.”
Saturday’s musical lineup includes the following:
• Jimmy Dunham Family at 1 p.m. — This group has been singing gospel music for more than 40 years, traveling throughout Arkansas and surrounding states to play at churches, theaters, reunions and any place folks want to hear their country-style gospel music with a twist of “rockin’ gospel.”
• Assembly Worship at 2:15 p.m. — This contemporary Christian worship band serves at The Assembly Church in Tuckerman. Members of the group are Malachi Gates, Jaxson Gates, Cole Gates, Braylee Smith, Ami Driver and Devin Soles. In a recent national competition in Orlando, Florida, the band won in the Small Worship Group category with a perfect score against 35 other teams.
• Fonky Donkey at 3:30 p.m. — This band combines traditional Delta, hill country and Chicago blues with the influences of Bob Dylan and beyond, all while emphasizing some original Swamp Donkey and Gil Franklin songs. Fonky Donkey is the House Band for the Arkansas River Blues Society’s Sunday Afternoon Blues Jam in Little Rock and was the Champion of the Rail Yard Battle of the Bands in Little Rock in 2019.
• The Legendary Pacers at 5:15 p.m. — 2021 is the 66th year of music by the Pacers. They have been honored by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Hot Springs Walk of Fame, the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, the Now Dig This Hall of Fame in Europe, the Arkansas Governor’s Award, the Arkansas Travelers Award, the Sonny Payne Blues Award and many others. The Pacers have toured all over the world and were voted one of the alltime great rock ’n’ roll bands in Europe.
• Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets at 6:30 p.m. — To honor Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Haley and continue the impact of his music, his son, Bill Haley Jr., and the Comets recapture the heyday of his famous father, recreating hits such as “Rock Around The Clock,” “See Ya Later Alligator,” “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” “Razzle Dazzle,” “Rock This Joint,” “Skinnie Minnie” and many more.
• The Artimus Pyle Band at 8:30 p.m. — Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame member and longtime drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Artimus Pyle’s career path of solo records and projects has culminated into one of the finest tributes to Southern rock royalty. The Artimus Pyle Band is a high-energy, true-to-the-music, true-to-the-era rock group delivering hit after hit. From “Free Bird” To “Sweet Home Alabama,” these musicians give fans the best of Skynyrd with one of the men who made it, honoring the music of Ronnie Van Zant’s Lynyrd Skynyrd. For more information, visit www.
depotdays.org or find Depot Days Festival on Facebook, or contact the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce at (870) 523-3618 or director@ newportarchamber.org.