Nightflying: The Entertainment Guide

April 25 & 26, the Walton Arts Center parking lot in Fayetteville will be host to the first ever Dickson Street Music Festival, featuring Charlie Daniels, Sonic Youth and many more.

Artists performing on Friday: Charlie Daniels Band with special guests 38 Special & Shooter Jennings.

Artists performing on Saturday: Sonic Youth with special guests Little Feat and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Like the State of Texas, Charlie Daniels is partly Western and partly Southern. His signature "bullrider" hat and belt buckle, his lifestyle on the Twin Pines Ranch (a boyhood dream come true), his love of horses, cowboy lore and the heroes of championship rodeo, Western movies, and Louis L'Amour novels, identify him as a Westerner. The son of a lumberjack and a Southerner by birth, his music - rock, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel - is quintessentially Southern. In fact, even his bent for all things Western is Southern, because his attire, his lifestyle and his interests are historically emblematic of Southern working class solidarity with the "lone cowboy" individualism of the American West.

It hasn't been so much a style of music, but more the values consistently reflected in several styles that has connected Charlie Daniels with millions of fans. For decades, he has steadfastly refused to label his music as anything other than "CDB music", music that is now sung around the fire at 4-H Club and scout camps, helped elect an American President, and been popularized on a variety of radio formats.

“It's purely American music with something for everyone," he said. "At least that's what I've hoped for in my 40-plus years in music."
Sonic Youth is an alternative rock band, formed in New York City in 1981. Current personnel are founding members Thurston Moore (vocals and guitar), Lee Ranaldo (vocals and guitar), Kim Gordon (bass guitar, guitar and vocals), Mark Ibold (bass guitar), and Steve Shelley (drums).

In their early career, Sonic Youth were associated with the “No Wave” art and music scene in New York City. Part of the first wave of American noise rock groups, the band carried out their interpretation of the punk rock ethos throughout the evolving American indie underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound. They have found moderate mainstream success, and are generally seen as one of the leading alternative rock groups of their time.

After more than two decades together, 38 Special is still playing more than 100 shows per year. And at every one of them, thousands of audience members are completely blindsided by the power and muscle of the band's performance. "When we come out, people are like, 'Whoa! It's like a freight train rolling over them…'" says vocalist/guitarist Don Barnes. While most associate the group with its arena-rock '80s pop smashes, these days the band’s harder edge is what is immediately noticeable. Barnes says it’s all about maintaining the intensity that they deliver in their live shows.

Two years ago Michael Franti decided to "walk his talk" and traveled to the war zones of Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This wasn't a USO green zone sponsored visit - Franti and his team organized a trip that would take him to the core of the red-zoned, war torn neighborhoods of Baghdad, the West Bank and Gaza Strip with his guitar, video cameras and the intent to experience first hand the human cost of war.

Out of this journey, Franti has created a compelling documentary film titled “I Know I'm Not Alone” and a searing, reflective new album of original songs titled Yell Fire! recorded in Kingston, Jamaica and Franti's hometown of San Francisco, California.

In addition to his groundbreaking recordings and globally acclaimed live concerts, Franti is a renowned speaker for social justice and human rights. He has lectured at many of this country's top universities, including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford, and shared the stage with the likes of Mohammad Ali, Bill Clinton, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, and Gloria Steinem. In 2005, Franti became the first recording artist since Johnny Cash to perform at the maximum security, level 4 section of Folsom State Prison.

Shooter Jennings isthe son of singer-songwriters Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. The one thing I wanted to do was cut a country record that reflected the entire range of music that I love, that I listen to and that I’m inspired by,” says Shooter Jennings about his gripping third studio album, aptly titled The Wolf. His goal has been fully achieved. The Wolf’s thirteen tracks present a compelling portrait of a young man and his music. It’s full of fire and conviction – about what music can mean in people’s lives, about overcoming setbacks through sheer strength of will, and about how being tough means being willing to feel and acknowledge painful emotions.

Easily one of the hardest-working bands in show biz, today’s Little Feat is a seven-member powerhouse that ably carries on the group’s tradition in both the recording and touring arenas. In fact, they have a brand new studio album—their first since 2000’s Chinese Work Songs—titled Kickin’ It At The Barn, produced by Feat-ers Paul Barrere, Bill Payne and Fred Tackett. It’s named after the place it was recorded throughout 2003, Tackett’s barn-come-studio in Topanga Canyon, which Bill Payne has called ”Little Feat’s version of The Band’s ‘Big Pink’,“ and which lent an invaluable ambience to Feat’s latest undertaking. In his liner notes, faithful Feat scribe Paul Barrere writes, ”If music is a conversation between the players, then we are talking like never before…this has been truly one of the most memorable recording projects we’ve done. We started with an idea to write songs on acoustic guitar and piano, like the old days before computers and samples, and then let the band interpret the music.“
Time has loved these musical heroes for more than three decades now, as have legions of fans and countless fellow musicians, many of whom they’ve played with over the years. Feat’s fabled collaborators have included Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Beck, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Plant, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Lang, and Leftover Salmon (for whom Bill Payne recently produced an album). With the success of Hot Tomato Records, an endeavor powered by an inspired band of musicians continuing to create exciting new material both individually and as a group—including their latest, Kickin’ It At The Barn--Little Feat will no doubt be sailin’ into the future with no end in sight.

With both corporate sponsors and A&P support, tickets are priced well below similar concerts in major regional cities--$30 per night or $50 for both—over 4 hours of music at each. Tickets on sale now at George’s or on-line at www.majesticconcerts.com or www.ticketsage.com.

Additional national touring acts will perform at George’s & Jose’s on both nights—free admission to festival ticket buyers.

The concerts are open to all ages with family-friendly atmosphere.
The Tyson Track Center is reserved as an inclement weather venue so the festival will be held rain or shine.

A portion of all refreshment sales benefits Bikes, Blues & BBQ Inc. earmarked as the foundation of their 2008 charitable funding.

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