Impressions of local music
To this writer, live music remains one of the most passionate of artistic experiences. It’s fun, it’s thought- provoking, it’s raw and real.
I’ve lived all over and, truth be told, have high expectations when it comes to live music. I grew up on Ravinia symphony orchestra shows in Chicago and the indie music scene in Portland, which was sort of like Seattle’s grunge scene, but without the pretentious, take-itself-too-seriously vibe.
I expect a lot from live music, not just competent musicianship. Here in Texarkana, the passion local musicians show for their music has been a welcome surprise in a town that’s not too small and not too big. It’s the right size.
Here are a few impressions of what impresses me, starting with the Perot Theatre.
Yes, the Perot. A majestic little palace for music. An ornate beauty. This writer’s favorite place in Texarkana, without question. No other place captures the essence of the city’s artistic big dreams like it does.
The Perot Theatre has been called by other names—the Saenger, the Paramount—but no matter the name, to hear music at the Perot is to hear the swells of a Beethoven symphony, the fluid barrage of notes from a Mozart masterwork or the best of Broadway braggadocio and classic romantic tunes from the 1950s.
It’s not only the gem of downtown Texarkana, but also the gem of our music scene, in a way. In the Perot, you’re anywhere in the world, but also sitting right here in Texarkana. You don’t have to go far to be taken elsewhere by the power of music. And a big reason the Perot can transport your mind and soul elsewhere is the music performed there and the elegant environment for it.
At the Perot, you’re truly steeped in history in the way only a historic theater can send you into the past. When performers strut across a Perot stage, it’s not hard to imagine a Sinatra up here or the premiere of a great composer’s new achievement. The Perot has that sort of feel.
Texarkana has great music history, from Scott Joplin growing up here to Don Henley being a native son to nearby Linden, Texas, and more. There’s something here in the mix of cultures that makes for good music and people who appreciate it.
Live music venues in Texarkana are generally pretty relaxed places, which is part of the appeal. Regionally, it’s the center of live music, and on any weekend, you’re likely to find something worth hearing, whether at a local club, down the highway at Music City Texas Theater (for Texas singer-songwriters), or at a restaurant or social venue such as an American Legion Post.
Cover bands dominate the Texarkana live music landscape, with acts such as Jawbone, Soultones, Moss Brothers Band, Relentless, Captain Joe, Dusty Rose Band, Split Decision and Crooked Halo, just to name a few, building a steady following. The area also supports original acts ranging from the country music of Jason Helms to the blues of Wes Jeans and soul and R&B of Avail Hollywood. The clubs here feature a handful of great deejays such as DJ Sgt. B or Gdash.
Perhaps less well-known in the local music milieu are indie bands doing original music. Texarkana has a nice tradition with that. To hear them, get to the Silver Dollar, which has hosted acts such as Oh My Blue Sky, Canaan, Deathbed and Breakfast (formerly known as Giganto) and Sylo. For indie rock and heavy music, Silver Dollar also hosts up-and-coming regional and national acts, including Fights from Shreveport or Pallbearer from Little Rock. Newer venues on the local map include Scottie’s Grill, Stages Texarkana and the Velvet Palace.
Ever been to Fat Jack’s Oyster and Sports Bar? Here’s one of the soul centers of Texarkana’s live music scene, to be sure. If you want to know what Texarkana is about, belly up to one of its tables and just listen.
Stride through a smoky, honkytonk haze, step through the chatter of late-afternoon beer bottles clinking on tables left and right. Above, sports memorabilia beckons all to imagine a nostalgic past, but not with the new fan paraphernalia: rather, weathered and worn-with-character red Razorback gear, Coors Light neon nearby, playing cards stuck on the ceiling, a big Chicago Cubs “C” on a bench table, festive lights strung up for an eternal Christmas, indecipherable and unmentionable scrawls in a bathroom stall, the smell of beer. Crawfish platters with corn. A Texans poster. “SHINER” in lights. Trivia teams, football fans, lawyers and big men in work boots, lone drinkers and a table full of friends— they all come to socialize and listen to music. Skimpy outfits, leather biker jackets, crisp new Wranglers and empty Marlboro packets are just some of the sights. “COWBOYS,” “LSU” and “HOGS” are inscribed on support beams. Mardi Gras beads and St. Patrick’s Day green. Boot scooters and rural punks, beauty queens and everyday Joes.
It’s no wonder bands here have names like Dead Snake Road and CrossRoads, Moonshine Mafia and Teazur. Band names here reveal the straight-ahead, unpretentious character of these acts that mirrors Texarkana’s music scene vibe. Red Dirt tunes are popular at Jack’s. Maybe it’s the proximity of that Oklahoma border and more Western spaces nearby. Country music, an appreciation for the outlaw variety of it, is favored at Jack’s. The stage is no stranger to up-and-coming, talented female singers who can belt it out with passion and good looks.
You might hear a real troubadour of country blues, Dave Almond, perform here. The first Tuesday of the month, it’s all jazz when the Texarkana Jazz Orchestra comes to town. This month, Pot Liquor performs at the club—a name that namedrops good times of the variety perhaps unfit to print. But it fits Jack’s, for sure.
Then there’s Hopkins Icehouse, which gave downtown Texarkana a flagship entertainment venue, in addition to a place for tasty pizza and sandwiches.
Picnic benches, wooden ships sailing in bottles, a bowl of queso on the table and the races, baseball or hoops on TV. Richard Nixon bowls are up on the wall, and a massive sailfish arcs over the music stage to the back, a burst of blue and silver below tin ceilings and against the brick backdrop.
Roy D. Hopkins Feed & Seed once made this building home, hence the Hopkins Icehouse moniker. There’s a sense of history here, too, just as there is with Fat Jack’s and the Perot. It’s not a stuffy sense of history, it’s cozy. Hopkins feels like an uncle’s cool game room, with an eclectic array of accoutrements on the walls for decoration— from the ages. And the venue’s energy is ultra-chill and hospitable, like that sort of place, though on a weekend night with bands blaring, it’s plenty loud, too. It’s become popular with touring acts and, like Jack’s, has bands that return again and again to please their fans.
A quick scan of their calender shows bands such as the Soultones (soul and R&B covers), Hydrogen Child (indie pop), Hellbilly Homicide (rockabilly) and Jawbone (dance covers) on the lineup. It’s the most eclectic venue for music here, most likely.
With Texarkana a true crossroads town, perhaps that eclectic nature points to one of our strengths here. It’s small and isolated enough that local acts have to work the music scene with a true DIY ethic, making creativity a necessity, and it’s big enough between bigger places that we can get a few top acts to play here. In some ways, that bends the best of different worlds.
The recently departed B.B. King, in fact, was an example of the kind of musician who can perform here, having played the Perot a little more than two years ago. Though he’s gone, the thrill of his music will never leave, nor will the thrill of any music here in Texarkana.