This notice from KASU station manager Mike Doyle:
KASU 91.9 FM radio station will present John T. Parks and Friends at the next Bluesday Tuesday concert in Newport, 7 p.m. Tuesday July 8 in a different location—the Larry N. Williams Student/Community Center on the ASU-Newport campus. Air conditioning problems at the regular Newport Country Club venue have made the location change necessary.
Parks is a singer-songwriter from Batesville whose CD of 14 original songs, “Sleeping in the Henhouse,” has received praise from reviewers, including one who described Parks’ music as “a crossroads of Delta Blues and mountain music with catchy melodies and intelligent storytelling lyrics – real honest, organic music with soul.”
As a member of Batesville’s Lockhouse Orchestra, Parks plays guitar, keyboards and mandolin while singing vocal covers of songs by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Levon Helm and others from the classic rock era. At a recent Levon Helm Tribute Concert, presented by KASU at The Forum in Jonesboro, Parks sang lead vocals on many songs made famous by Helm including “Cripple Creek,” “Ophelia” and “The Weight.” A self-taught musician, Parks also plays banjo, bass guitar, drums and harmonica.
Joining Parks will be Shannon Rounds, another multi-instrumentalist and songwriting collaborator, on bass, and Jason Moser, who also plays for the Lockhouse Orchestra, on drums. These three musicians have played together over the last couple of decades in various venues in the area. John T. Parks and Friends will play a mixture of original songs and covers of well-established blues oriented material.
Admission to the Bluesday Tuesday concert featuring Parks, Rounds and Moser is free with the help of underwriters Arkansas State University-Newport, C & C Distributors and Harris Ford. It’s a KASU tradition to pass the hat and audience members are encouraged to show voluntary appreciation for the band with tips.
KASU, 91.9 FM, is the 100,000-watt public broadcasting service of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro with an online stream of its signal available at www.kasu.org. For more information, contact KASU station manager Mike Doyle at 870-972-3486 or email mdoyle@astate.edu.
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