The Arkansas Country Blues and Stringband Festival will be held October 25th – October 27th, 2024 in downtown Springdale, at The Apollo on Emma. The festival seeks to bridge the traditions of Country Blues, which is predominantly from an African American heritage tradition, and Stringband music, which is predominantly from a European American heritage tradition, for local and visiting audiences in an effort to encourage cultural understanding as well as provide a top-notch artistic experience for all who attend.
We hope to use the commonalities of the musical traditions as a bridge of understanding across socioeconomic backgrounds of the artists, the local residents, and the visitors in a hope that we all can understand and appreciate each other a little better as people that are sharing a region and a country. We will do this not only through concerts, but also through workshops and presentations working with the artists as well as cultural scholars and organizations.
The majority of the festival, aside from a small grouping of ticketed events, will be free and open to the public.
The festival will include performances from Country Blues and Stringband traditions and a special Las Baladas concert beginning Friday evening and all day through the evening on Saturday, October 26th. Friday and Saturday evenings will end with late-night community square dances and jams. The 3rd Annual Ballad-Off competition will happen Saturday night. The festival will conclude on Sunday, October 27th with a wonderful and much anticipated, “Not Your Mama’s Gospel Brunch” and the 3rd Annual Ozarks Stringband Championship.
Rachel Reynolds received a B.A. in American studies from the University of Arkansas and M.A. degrees in public history and heritage studies from Arkansas State University. She has received fellowships from the Southern Foodways Alliance, The Arkansas Arts Council, and was in the first cohort of Creative Community Fellows through National Arts Strategies. Her arts and food-focused project, The Oregon County Food Producers and Artisans Co-Op has been featured in Mother Earth News, Rural Missouri, and Acres U.S.A. among other print and online publications.
She is Principal and Founder of Cultural Continuum Consulting, offering curatorial, presentation, and documentation services, strategies for sustainable growth including board trainings and strategic planning, fundraising for arts and humanities nonprofits (local to national sources), program development and management for folklife and arts projects for small to large scale organizations, and facilitation of conversations leading to community-based equitable and sustainable development with an emphasis on rural and micropolitan communities.
She was the Guest Curator for the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the topic of which was Ozarks culture and is a frequent presenter on topics of cultural sustainability and rural art and culture at conferences across the country. She is a member of the International Creative Placemaking Leadership Council.
Orson Weems is the co-founder and executive director of The Music Education Initiative. Prior to heading this diverse-led and founded nonprofit, Orson worked as the chief operating officer with the legendary music and entertainment icon, Al Bell, and his global music, entertainment, and artist development company, Al Bell Presents. Since 2006, Orson has been the president and majority shareholder of Land Improvement Company, a company founded in 1965 that specializes in construction management, civil construction/site preparation, small building demolition, and industrial services for federal, state, and local projects and government contracts.
Orson currently serves on the Advisory Board of The National Cold War Center and has served on numerous boards, including the Razorback Lettermen’s Club Board of Directors, the Arkansas Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Walton College of Business, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board, the University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Council on Diversity.
He is a graduate of The University of Arkansas, Fulbright College of Arts and Science, with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (Advertising and Public Relations), and a minor in English. He was also a Razorback offensive lineman and three-year letterman (‘81, ‘82, ‘83) under the legendary coach, Lou Holtz.