Willie Nelson’s name and the Fourth of July have been linked together for years, thanks to a series of famous, or infamous, picnics, and now fans can return to those days of yore with a concert film experience and livestream at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Performers include Willie Nelson & Family, Asleep at the Wheel, Charley Crockett, Devon Gilfillian, John Doe, Johnny Bush, Kinky Friedman, Kurt Vile, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Lyle Lovett, Margo Price, Matthew Houck (of Nashville, Tenn.’s, Phosphorescent), The McCrary Sisters, Particle Kid, Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen, Shakey Graves, Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, The Peterson Brothers, Vincent Neil Emerson and Ziggy Marley.
Fans can see interviews with characters from the Picnic’s past and see new live performances from artists known for their participation in events in the hill country of Luck, Texas. The event will kick off with a “Prime Cuts” episode with chef Scott Roberts of Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, Texas, and special guest Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, followed by livestreamed performances from picnic artists, an all-star house band curated by The Texas Gentlemen’s Beau Bedford (featuring Charlie Sexton, John Michael Schoepf and Josh Blue) and interviews and Picnic memories throughout.
Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 the day of the show; watch it at www.luck.stream and williepicnic.com.
One dollar from each ticket sold will support the Luck Reunion Fund, managed by the Austin Community Foundation, benefiting five designated organizations: All Together ATX, Six Square, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, SIMS Foundation and Central Texas Foodbank.
Sirius-XM satellite radio’s Willie’s Roadhouse channel will broadcast the 90-minute stream to subscribers.
LIVE: LOCAL AND NWA
Singer-songwriter Dean Agus will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday for what’s being billed as a “mini grand opening” of the Belle of Hot Springs, a riverboat on Lake Hamilton anchored on Arkansas 7 (Central Avenue) in Hot Springs. Dinner and the cruise are $55. For more information, see belleriverboat.com or call (501) 525-4438.
• A Saturday cruise featuring a performance by Marybeth Byrd, who was a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” reality TV show, is sold-out.
• The Brent Frazier Band will perform Friday and Saturday nights at The Big Chill in Hot Springs.
• The Spaceberry Drive-In Music Festival will be held Friday and Saturday at The Farm Campground & Events near Eureka Springs. Organizers, who report they have been promoting music festivals in Arkansas for the past 11 years, add: “This event has been approved by the Arkansas Department of Health and will be a contactless event.”
The venue is at 1 Blue Heron Lane, Eureka Springs, off Arkansas 187, 3 miles west of the Beaver Bridge and 2 miles from the U.S. 62 turnoff.
Tickets range from $100 to $150 and include five tickets. The $100 ticket is for cars, SUVs and pickups; the $150 tickets are for RVs. Tickets are $140 for those wishing to stand or sit in lawn chairs or on blankets.
Forgotten Space, a Dallas Grateful Dead tribute band, will headline. Other acts are TryMore Mojo, another Dallas band, along with local acts Arkansauce, Opal Agafia, Friends of the Phamily, and Acit Katz and more.
Tickets will be sold per vehicle site, which will have a minimum of 6 feet of separation from the next, measure 20-feet by 10-feet and have a maximum occupancy of five patrons. Attendees will be required to wear masks for admittance but once they are guided to their site and parked they will be free to remove them and get out of their vehicles and set up within their space if they choose to. Patrons will be required to stay within their space for the duration of the concert, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., except to use the portable restroom at the end of their row. There will be roaming food vendors who will deliver food. No alcoholic beverages will be sold, but attendees of legal drinking age may bring their own beverages. No overnight camping will be permitted.
For more information, see spaceberryfestival.com.
GET IN THE CAR
It’s not really live music, but one of the movies features a lot of music and the other was a local production, so we’re including this as an event.
The North Little Rock Drive-In will again screen movies this weekend — a double-feature, even: “Footloose”, a 1983 film starring Kevin Bacon, and “Antiquities,” (an encore presentation) today and Friday.
“Antiquities” is an Arkansas-based film, written by Graham Gordy and David Campbell, directed by Campbell, produced by Kathryn Tucker, with cinematography by her husband, Gabe Mayhan.
Here are the links for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/footloose-antiquities-thursday-tickets-111532482658; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/footloose-antiquities-friday-tickets-111540288004.
Admission is $20. Gates open at 8 p.m. and “Footloose” starts at 8:40 p.m., with the second film starting 10 minutes after the end of the first film. The site is the parking area of the former Windsong Performing Arts Center, just off Crystal Hill Road near the junction of Interstates 40 and 430 in North Little Rock.
VIRTUAL GIGS
Meanwhile … in the virtual world: “Opry,” the Grand Ole Opry’s weekly live broadcast, hosted by Mountain Pine native Bobby Bones, will feature Mark Wills, Sara Evans and the Oak Ridge Boys at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Circle network and website, circleplus.com.
• The Patrice Pike Band will perform at 7 p.m. today at facebook.com/PatricePike Band.
Pike, formerly a member of the Dallas area band, Little Sister, has performed many shows in Arkansas under her name and that of her former band.
• Amy LaVere and her husband, Will Sexton, will perform a livestreaming show at noon today. The couple have both done several shows at White Water Tavern. See her site on Facebook and Instagram for details.
• John Fogerty will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday via livestream on his Facebook page or YouTube channel.
• And a real favorite around the Hill house, Todd Snider, as is his usual custom, will perform at 11 a.m. Sunday with his “What It Is,” from purple buildinglive.com or youtube.com.
• The Kennedys, a husband/wife duo who got their start in Nanci Griffith’s Blue Moon Orchestra, will do a birthday tribute to Griffith by performing her songs at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Watch the free show in several formats: KennedysMusic.com or on Twitter: twitter.com/KennedysThe; or Facebook: facebook.com/The.Kennedys.Fan; or Instagram: instagram.com/the_kennedys_Music.