ROOTS RUN DEEP: Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley may be 87, but he's still performing and recording, most recently on his new all-star album, Ralph Stanley and Friends: Man of Constant Sorrow, featuring Robert Plant, Dierks Bentley, Elvis Costello and more. One of Stanley's tunes, "Man of Constant Sorrow," was popularized by the Soggy Bottom Boys band in the Coen brothers' 2000 film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fans can catch Stanley; his grandson, Nathan; his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys; and others April 18 at Juanita's Cafe and Bar in Little Rock's River Market District. Tickets are $40. Visit drralphstanleymusic.com or juanitas.com for tickets.
STAMP OF APPROVAL: The late Maya Angelou will be honored with a U.S. Postal Service commemorative forever stamp. The stamp will be released Tuesday, just a few days after what would have been her 84th birthday Saturday. Before she died in May, Angelou, a noted writer, poet and civil-rights activist, worked on the Caged Bird Songs album, featuring her performance of her lyrics set to modern hip-hop beats.
BAGGING AN AWARD: Associated Wholesale Grocers, the nation's second-largest retailer-owned grocery co-op with about 2,900 member stores, recently presented its inaugural Store Manager of the Year award. The recipient? Arkansan Steve Morrow, manager of Allen's Food Market in Bella Vista.
MUSIC NOTES: Little Rock Central High School's 1927 Steinway grand piano, now being restored, returns this summer when students are on vacation, reports Julie Keller of the Tiger Foundation, a private, nonprofit group that supports the school. Keller led efforts to raise more than $37,000 to restore the piano, believed to be original to the school.
"It will need to adjust to the atmosphere in the auditorium and will undergo several tunings before it is playable," Keller explains. A welcome-home concert for the piano is set for Sept. 27.
The icing on the cake? The foundation has raised enough money to also buy and install a sorely needed new stage curtain.
DEAD AIR: Former radio personalities gathered Friday night at The Oyster Bar in Little Rock to remember "The Mighty 1090," radio station KAAY-AM 1090. The event, organized by former disc jockey Barry McCorkindale, commemorated the 30th anniversary of KAAY's last day of broadcasting as an oldies rock station. On April 3, 1985, when the station's ownership transferred from Multimedia Inc. to Sudbrink Broadcasting, the format switched from rock to Christian programming.
The station has been owned by others since then, most recently by Cumulus. The station has been silent recently.
"The reason they're off the air is because of copper thieves, and it's not the first time they've had that problem," McCorkindale tells Paper Trails. "In fact, KARN's AM station has been off the air since mid-February for the same reason."
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday on 04/05/2015