NWA Music Summit Brings Together Area Music Professionals

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Claudia Burson looks on as Randy Goodrum plays the piano at Guisinger Music House.

"Our secret weapon is that we are from Arkansas. We have the music juice." That was the message from Grammy-winning songwriter Randy Goodrum at the Northwest Arkansas Music Summit, hosted by the University of Arkansas Department of Music on Oct. 15.  Goodrum was one of 50 representatives from 27 area music organizations, businesses, and professionals who attended and spoke at the summit. 

The meeting was an opportunity to generate enthusiasm and collaborations, as well as to spark the imagination of what musical life in the area will be like in the near future. Several people agreed that the national music industry is currently at a crossroads, offering an opening for our area. Recording industry legend Al Bell, the former owner of Stax Records, former president of Motown Music Group, and this year's UA Department of Music McIllroy Family Visiting Professor in Performing and Visual Arts, stated that the music industry field is "wide open for entrepreneurs and for Northwest Arkansas to provide leadership." Andy Green, the former tour and production manager for REO Speedwagon, producer of Farm Aid, and current director of the Eureka Springs Auditorium and board member of the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society believed that "a proposal from this region could be the start for how to heal the industry."

Ronda Mains, chair of the Department of Music, discussed how the department has made connecting with communities a central part of its mission. Its Music75 project has a goal of UA students and faculty making music in all 75 Arkansas counties by 2020. So far, the department has gone to 44 counties. This summer, the Department of Music also launched a Wednesday night concert series in collaboration with the Walmart Museum and Downtown Bentonville Inc. called "Live at the Five & Dime." The free, weekly, outdoor series with performers connected to the department ran for five months outside of the Walmart Museum and will return in the spring. The department has also partnered recently with the Fayetteville Roots Festival and Haxton Road Studios in Bentonville.

Representatives from Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville all pointed to exciting downtown developments that will energize the Northwest Arkansas music scene. Jennifer Joiner, from the Downtown Springdale Alliance spoke about Springdale's downtown revitalization. Shey Bland, executive director of Main Street Rogers said she was excited to program more music, and discussed the redesign of Frisco Park. Kalene Griffith from Visit Bentonville, and also a member of the Arkansas State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission discussed how music events in the area are increasingly a tourism draw in the area and the state. David Johnson, the director of the Fayetteville Public Library discussed the library expansion, and that the new building will include an innovation center with audio/video recording studio and a 700-seat auditorium. He sees one mission of the library to introduce people to different types of music so they are more likely to go on and support people in the arts. Following the presentations, many participants expressed excitement for the arts corridor in downtown Fayetteville.

There was also discussion of the city of Fayetteville's development of a cultural arts corridor between Dickson and Prairie Streets that is made possible by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation's Design Excellence Program. According to the city, "When complete, the 50-acre corridor will serve as a vibrant and memorable civic space for entertainment, community, and expression that also showcases the unique character and culture of Fayetteville."

With its incorporation of music performance spaces and its proximity to the UA Department of Music, there are likely to be many new musical possibilities in Fayetteville.

The Northwest Arkansas Music Summit concentrated hopes and plans for this area's musical future into one historic room at the Guisinger Music House for two hours. This beautiful venue, on the Fayetteville square, itself represented the excitement for the centrality of music in the community, and the connection between current initiatives and the area's history. University of Arkansas jazz pianist Claudia Burson, who played at the beginning of the meeting, recounted how she took piano lessons starting at age eight in the basement of the same building that the summit was held. The building was a music store operated by the Guisingers from 1925 to 1981. The building's musical roots are evident again, with the Fayetteville Roots Festival having recently moved their offices and some activities to the building, including a live music partnership with the Department of Music. 

A second summit is being planned right now to continue the momentum of this first meeting and will be announced in the coming weeks. Those in attendance were enthusiastic and optimistic about the amazing musical spaces that are thriving in NWA and what could come of collaboration. Any music-related professionals in the region that were not a part of the first meeting are welcome to contact Justin Hunter to be added to the growing list participants.