Just because he lives in Tulsa doesn’t mean Jesse Aycock hasn’t become tuned in to the central Arkansas music scene.
Aycock, a singer-songwriter-guitarist, has done lots of session recording at Fellowship Hall in Little Rock with Jason Weinheimer and Greg Spradlin.
For his appearance at South on Main on Wednesday, Aycock is planning to start with a solo set and ease into gathering a stage full of his Little Rock friends.
“I think I’ll be bringing along a drummer friend, and after I do a set of acoustic solo stuff, some Little Rock buddies may come up,” Aycock says. “I’ve played some at the White Water there, backing up Samantha Crain one time and once with the Boondogs, Jason’s band, as well as with Greg.”
He met Weinheimer while still too young to go to bars, when the Boondogs on occasion stopped in Tulsa and played at the now-closed Borders bookstore.
More recently, Aycock has been working on an album, Flowers & Wounds, with help from Weinheimer, at Leon Russell’s old Church Studio in Tulsa. The album features guest appearances by Indy Grotto of the Boondogs, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and JimmyKarstein, who has worked with Russell and J.J. Cale.
Aycock also has a couple of other irons in his musical fire: He tours with The Secret Sisters Band (which made a stop at the White Water in Little Rock on June 26) as that band prepares for the release of its T Bone Burnett-produced album, Put Your Needle Down. He also tours with his friends, the Paul Benjaman Band, whose new album was recorded in Little Rock at Fellowship Hall.
“I’ll also tour with The Hard-Working Americans, the brainchild of Todd Snider,” Aycock says. “Todd’s been collecting songs by his friends for years, and he finally put together this group so he can do those songs.”
Born and reared in Tulsa, Aycock grew up well aware of that city’s historic musical legacy. Russell, Cale and other Tulsa musicians became friends with Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and other rock’n’ roll forces when they hung around Tulsa recording and writing music.
“My dad is a singer-songwriter, so we did plenty of listening to all of those guys,” Aycock says. “Neil Young is one of my all-time favorites, whom I finally got to see here in Tulsa a year ago when he came here with his band, Crazy Horse.”
On one of Aycock’s YouTube videos, he performs a Blind Faith song, “Can’t Find My Way Home,” showcasing his gentle voice, which is much like that of Blind Faith singer Steve Winwood.
Aycock says he has had no vocal training: “I just learned to sing by making lots of mistakes. It’s the voice I was given, and I was always pretty shy and didn’t sing out much, so maybe that’s responsible for the tentative sound I have.”
On the same video, Aycock introduces one of the band members, Steve Pryor, another Tulsa legend who usedto play around Arkansas decades ago.
“I was talking to Greg Spradlin about that, and Greg said he used to go see Steve a lot,” Aycock says. “Steve has pushed lots of us guitar players to get better, and I know Steve goes to Fayetteville at times, and he has a new album out, so maybe he’ll return to Little Rock.”Jesse Aycock
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, South on Main, 13th and Main streets (former location of Juanita’s), Little Rock
Admission: Free
(501) 374-0000
Style, Pages 34 on 11/05/2013