Heath Sanders, with special guest Jon Bailey, will perform from 7:30-10:45 p.m. today at The Venue at Oakdale, 901 Kellogg Acres Road, Sherwood. Tickets are $25, through eventbrite.com.
Sanders, a former oil field worker from the Ozarks, is an up-and-coming country artist who recently released an EP titled "Common Ground." His big break came when Arkansas native and DJ Bobby Bones saw a video of him performing and invited him to play on his syndicated radio show broadcast from Nashville, Tenn.
◼️ A North Little Rock Jazz Festival will be held from 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday at Lakewood Village Amphitheater, 2800 Lakewood Village Drive, North Little Rock. Featured bands are the Parkview High School Jazz Band, Hall High Jazz Band, Cabot High School Jazz Band, Sylvan Hills High School Jazz Band, Southwest High School Jazz Band, Maumelle High School Jazz Band, North Little Rock High School Jazz Band and the Stardust Big Band.
Admission is free, open to all ages and lawn chairs are welcome; social distancing will be practiced.
◼️ We Few will perform from 5-9 p.m. Friday and The Salty Dogs will perform from 5-9 p.m. Saturday at the SoMa Outdoor Dining Room, 13th and Main streets, Little Rock. Admission is free.
◼️ British acoustic guitarist Richard Smith will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday for Music in the Wild at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. Tickets are $25 and available at wildwoodpark.org. Patrons should take lawn chairs or blankets.
Smith, who was born in Beckenham, England, picked up the guitar at age 5 after hearing Chet Atkins and Merle Travis' version of "Down South Blues." He soon became a child prodigy and at age 11, he shared a stage with Atkins in a performance for Queen Elizabeth in London.
He later moved to Nashville where he still lives. He has won numerous accolades, including the 2001 National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, the 2008 Thumbpicker of the Year award and induction into the National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame in 2009. He has played with Les Paul, Boots Randolph, Tommy Emmanuel, Tommy Tedesco, Joe Pass, Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Martin Taylor, Earl Klugh, Suzy Bogguss, Victor Wooten and John Cowan.
◼️ Bluesboy Jag is working on a record for shows canceled by weather-related scenarios, and is now at two, registered on the past two Friday evenings at the SoMa Outdoor Dining Room. No word yet on when he may try again.
He will, however, play with Grantster from 6- 9 p.m. Friday at The Railyard, 1215 E. Sixth St., Little Rock. Admission is free. (501) 372-9273.
◼️ Brian Nahlen will perform at 6:30 p.m. today at Walter's Coffee & Speakeasy, 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock. Admission is free. (501) 663-4152.
◼️ Ricki D will perform at 5:30 p.m. today at Town Pump, 1321 Rebsamen Park Road, Little Rock. Admission is free. (501) 663-9802.
◼️ Trey Hawkins Band will perform, along with opening act The Lazy Desperados, at 9 p.m. Saturday at Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock. (501) 372-7707; stickyz.com.
Tickets for the show are $5.01 in advance (as part of the city's 501 Fest), or $10 at the door if any remain.
◼️ Hellcamino will perform a sold-out show from 8-10 p.m. Saturday at Vino's, 923 W. Seventh St., Little Rock. (501) 375-8466; vinosbrewpub.com.
◼️ Funkin Gonuts will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday and DJ G-Force will perform at 10 p.m. Saturday at Cannibal & Craft, 307 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. (501) 414-8870; cannibalandcraftlr.com.
BENTON
Christine DeMeo will perform at 6:30 p.m. today at Valhalla Restaurant & Axe Throwing, 224 W. South St., Benton. (501) 316-4082. Admission is free.
CONWAY
Lane Long will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and DeFrance will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kings Live Music, 1020 Front St., Conway. Admission is $5. (501) 205-8512: kingslivemusic.com.
EL DORADO
The Allman Betts Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the First Financial Music Hall, 101 E. Locust St, El Dorado. Seating is by sections and tickets range from $55 to $85. (870) 444-3057; tix.eldomad.com.
The band takes its name from founders Devon Allman (vocals and keyboards) and Duane Betts (lead guitar and vocals), whose fathers were Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band. The other members of the band are Berry Oakley Jr. (whose father was also a member of the Allman Brothers Band), Johnny Stachela on slide guitar, John Ginty on keyboards and R. Scott Bryan and John Lum on percussion.
◼️ "May on Main," a free downtown street festival on the square in El Dorado, will feature music from 12:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday. Bands that will perform: the Karla Case Band, Blackstrap, Zack Abbott and Brody McKinney. (870) 862-4747; mainstreeteldorado.org. There will also be food, a kids' fun zone, a motorcycle poker run and a chili cook-off.
HOT SPRINGS
Dreams, a Fleetwood Mac tribute act, will perform at 7:30 p.m. today; Lady Legends of the '70s will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday and The Blues Brothers will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Legendary Vapors, 315 Park Ave., Hot Springs. Tickets are $45 to each show, available through Eventbrite.com/e/141536721143; (501) 463-4463.
◼️ Mother Hubbard and the Regulators will perform from 7:30-11:30 p.m. Saturday at The Blitzed Pig, 4330 Central Ave., Suite A, Hot Springs. (501) 525-1616.
◼️ Cliff & Susan will play in the infield at Oaklawn Racing & Gaming at 11 a.m. and between races Friday and Saturday as the live racing season winds down. Admission is free. (The duo suggests patrons dress up on May 1, which is also the date of the Kentucky Derby.) visit oaklawn.com.
STAY TUNED
Myanmar & the Punks, with 309er Sumaya Owens, will perform from 6-7:30 p.m. today in a free Zoom show on Facebook. The bands are from Burma, also known as Myanmar and now a military dictatorship.
◼️ Aubrey Shamel will perform at 8 p.m. today and Billy Droze & Kentucky Blue will perform at 8 p.m. Friday live at the Station Inn in Nashville. Tickets, $10, are available at stationinntv.com.
◼️ Morgan Wallen, a rising country music star sidelined by a recent racial slur caught on tape, and Luke Bryan ("The Voice") will perform at 6 p.m. Friday in "Live from Centerville" (Ohio), a free online event on Facebook.
◼️ Thomas Rhett will perform his album, "Country Again: Side A," with a full orchestra, at 7 p.m. Friday on thomasrhett.veeps.com. Tickets are $15, or $25 for the show and the VIP "hang" after the show.
Rhett has described his latest album as "... everything I wanted to say when I was 19 years old but hadn't lived long enough to know how yet. It's a coming home."
◼️ Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne will perform a streaming concert live from City Winery in New York, at 6 p.m. Saturday. Tickets, $20, are available at boxoffice.mandolin.com.
◼️ Singer-songwriter Max Gomez will perform "The Road Home" at 7 p.m. Saturday, as a livestream concert featuring Michael Hearne and Robert Mirabel, with live performances filmed in Gomez's home state at Taos, Tucumcari, Red River and Santa Fe, N.M. Donation is a suggested $25. See paypal.me/maxmusic or venmo @Max-Gomez-music.
◼️ Yo-Yo Ma will perform "Beginnings" in a free show at 1 p.m. Saturday on dreamstage.live.
◼️ Dan Navarro (of the duo, Lowen & Navarro) will perform live from Club Passim in Boston at 7 p.m. Monday; a donation of $20 is suggested at passim.org/stream. The livestream will be at facebook.com/clubpassim/live/ or youtube.com/clubpassim/.
◼️ "Beeswing: A Conversation with Richard Thompson" will be an online event at 6 p.m. Wednesday on newmediatouring.com. Tickets are $38, which includes access to the conversation on Zoom, a copy of Thompson's book, "Beeswing" and a signed bookplate.
◼️ Willie Nelson, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Marcus King, Jonathan Tyler and The Nude Party are among the musicians who are part of the first cannabis convention, "Luck Summit: Planting the Seed," which concludes today. Tickets, starting at $10, are available at hopin.com (just search for "Luck Summit." Singer-songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff will host the event from Luck, Texas, where Willie Nelson has a ranch.