CABOT — Cory Lamb will make a pit stop during a 17-state tour to play at CabotFest, along with several other central Arkansas musicians.
Arkansas is home to many talented musical artists, and Cabot’s annual festival is taking advantage of that talent this year. The CabotFest celebration will begin Friday in downtown Cabot. Saturday’s entertainment lineup will feature a slate of Arkansas-based musicians.
“We haven’t had a lot of local entertainment, and we are going to do more this year,” said Billye Everett, the Cabot Chamber of Commerce’s executive director. “We’ve gotten requests to have more local talent. People want to hear their friends and neighbors entertain.”
On Sept. 29, Lamb, of Little Rock, began a tour with six other bands on the Music with a Mission Tour, which is partnered with CURE to save lives of children in Uganda who have hydrocephalus, a deadly brain condition that affects 400,000 newborns each year worldwide.
“CURE is trying to raise money to help children around the world to get surgeries,” Lamb said from a Nashville hotel room.
The 27-year-old began his musical career at 17 as a member of the band About Last Night. He went solo eight years ago. After living in Los Angeles for two years, Lamb said he missed home and moved back to Arkansas to concentrate on writing music.
“Stephen Baldwin heard my song [”Breaking the Cycle”] through my publicist,” Lamb said. “He loved the song, but I didn’t know he loved the song until he called.”
Baldwin contacted Lamb and ultimately directed a video to accompany the song.
“I can’t wait to work with him again,” Lamb said. “Having Stephen Baldwin on board gave me some national notoriety for me as an artist.”
Lamb’s latest song, “Safe in Your Arms,” is now available on iTunes. The video may be accessed through corylamb.com.
CabotFest began in 1978 as a small gathering to lift the spirits of residents after a tornado blew through the town, killing several people and leaving severe damage in the storm’s wake.
In addition to Lamb, who will take the stage at 4 p.m. Saturday, KK Kennedy & Kampground Express, Crosspoint, Single Tree, Luke Williams, PriceCrew and Riverbilly will perform throughout the day.
There will also be vendor and food booths; a kids’ zone, featuring inflatables and a sand pit; bingo; a large carnival; a classic car show; a 5K run; a rock-climbing wall; and the annual cricket-spitting contest.
CabotFest will run from 6-10 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Friday will be armband night for the carnival. Armband tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. Armbands and tickets are available at the chamber office.
For more information, call the chamber at (501) 843-2136.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.