Missouri-born singer-songwriter ventures into Arkansas

For Jeff Black, a Missouri born and raised singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tenn., Arkansas is a land of mystery, almost. At least, it's a place where he has never performed. But he'll change that this weekend, thanks to the Little Rock Folk Club.

"I don't know how I've been around for so long and never did a show in Arkansas before," Black says. "Especially since there was a family connection. My great-granddad lived in Weiner, near Jonesboro."

Black was born in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in a nearby suburb, Liberty (which he notes is famous as having been the site of the first successful daylight bank robbery). Growing up, he found his older brother's record collection to hold many unusual treasures; his brother was a U.S. Marine stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

"All they had to spend money on was records and fancy stereos, and it was through him I discovered Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Hearing those guys was quite an eye opener. And then I heard the New Riders of the Purple Sage and old Bob Wills records and all the singer-songwriters of the '70s. I heard Pete Seeger and that was a special discovery.

"I did a song, 'Sing Together,' on my album last year and put on the back of the CD that the song is in memory of Pete, who lived from 1919 to 2014. Pete made more of an impact on the music industry than anyone else I can think of. I'm a lot more comfortable in that vein, playing my 1926 Gibson banjo."

In 1989, Black moved to Nashville, thinking he would find a niche in the country music industry there.

"In 1994, the country group Blackhawk did a cover of my song, 'That's Just About Right,' and it made it to No. 2 on the country chart. That was an instructive moment, as it was just a folk song and those guys turned it into a country hit."

Black has since charted his own course, balancing a career and a family. He and his wife, Kissy Black, have 12- and 13-year-olds, so he figures the kids are old enough that he can start to tour to more far-flung areas -- such as Little Rock.

"I'm now working on my 11th album," he says. "That's about half-way done, so I'm still promoting the 2014 release, Folklore, a stripped-down, back-to-basics collection of songs that's just me on guitars, banjo and harmonica. I get help from fans through my own creation, The Blacklist, which goes way beyond Kickstarter, and doesn't involve a corporation, so all the help goes into making the record."

Black's songs have also been recorded by Waylon Jennings and Sam Bush, who became a close friend and collaborator. Black provided some backing vocals on Arkansas native Iris DeMent's debut album Infamous Angel, and when Black recorded his 1998 debut album Birmingham Road, he used the members of the band Wilco, without Jeff Tweedy, as his backing band. Kate Campbell, who performed her second Little Rock Folk Club show a week ago, has done backing vocals on some Black albums.

"I've got Sam Bush and some other guests on the [forthcoming] album," Black says. "It's great to collaborate at times, since being a singer-songwriter can be sort of a lonely profession. You need to cross paths with some of your contemporaries."

Always a solo artist, Black travels with his acoustic guitar, banjo and harmonica.

"And if there's a piano there, I'll probably play that, too."

Weekend on 04/02/2015