Matt Stell, the up and coming country music singer who was born in Clinton and raised in Center Ridge, will host a free EP release livestream performance of his new one, "Better Than That," at 5:30 p.m. Friday at mattstell.com.
The 6-foot-7 Stell is best known for his 2019 No. 1 single, "Prayed for You" and his follow-up single "Everywhere But On." His country music career usurped his one-time goal of becoming a doctor, which he had chosen over a career in basketball after becoming a collegiate standout at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. He also attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
"Prayed for You" was a love song that catapulted Stell to the top of the charts, but he doesn't want that song to define his career, as he points out on his website.
"If you cut a groove too deep, it's hard to get out of it. I've never wanted to be some one-dimensional artist, and with this new EP, I think I'm determined to show that there is much more to me than just a guy who can sing a love song."
For more about Stell, visit his website or follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
◼️ Joey Fanstar will host Open-Mic Night from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the SoMa Outdoor Dining Room, in the parking lot at 13th and Main streets, Little Rock. The Risky Whiskey Boys will perform at 7:30 Friday. Admission is free for both nights.
◼️ Hayefield will perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock. Tickets are $10 per person, plus fees, sold in pairs as table reservations; tables for four are $40, plus fees.
◼️ Jerrod Mounce will perform at 7 p.m. Friday and Bree Ogden will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the WXYZ bar in the Aloft Little Rock West boutique hotel, 716 Rahling Road, Little Rock. Admission is free.
◼️ Black River Pearl will perform at 7 p.m. Friday and Jessie Cotton Stone will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Laman Library, 2801 Orange St, North Little Rock.
◼️ Percussionists of all levels and skills are invited to a Drum Circle that continues Saturdays through Nov. 21, at Bernice Garden, 1401 Main St., in Little Rock. Searcy Ewell will facilitate. Donations are encouraged, masks are required and physical distancing will be practiced. Drums, chairs and hand sanitizer will be supplied. No musical experience is needed.
LIVE IN HOT SPRINGS
Ethan "Lil' Skinny" will perform at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday at The Big Chill, 910 Higdon Ferry Road, Hot Springs. Admission is $5.
◼️ Kyndryd Spyryts will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Trough Bar and Grill, 833 Central Ave., Hot Springs. Admission is free.
◼️ The Spa City Youngbloods will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the 420eats Food Truck Court, 420 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs. Admission is free.
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE
Joey Barrett will perform at 7 p.m. Friday and Code Blue will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Beehive Neighborhood Bar & Grill, 220 Minorca Road, Hot Springs Village. Admission is free.
BALD KNOB
The Newsboys, along with opening act Adam Agee, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the North Central Arkansas (also known as Grayson Farms) Amphitheater, 241 Prince Cemetery Road in Bald Knob. Admission is $100 for a five-person "pod," $175 for a five-person "gold pod" and $225 for a five-person "photo pod."
The Newsboys, a six-man Christian rock group, are on their "Love One Another" tour. Patrons must supply their own chairs or blankets for seating.
CONWAY
Lane Long will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Darren Barry will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kings Live Music, 1020 Front St., Conway. Admission is free.
STAY TUNED
Mike Block has released a new single, "Hills of Arkansas," which has a video that can be seen on YouTube. The song is on his album, "The Edge of the Atmosphere," to be released Oct. 23. Block is a jazz cello player who has worked with Bon Iver, St. Vincent, The National, Will.I.am, Allison Krauss, Rhiannon Giddens and Sierra Hull.
◼️ Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit will livestream a performance at 7 p.m. Friday of the band's sold-out Atlanta show at Ameris Bank Amphitheater. Cost to view the show is $19.95, with tickets available through Ticketmaster.
◼️ Brian Nahlen will perform a virtual show at the "Riffs at Stifft" from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Stone's Throw Stifft Station, 3015 W. Markham St., Little Rock. Admission is free. Nahlen will livestream his show from his living room to the Stone's Throw taproom.
◼️ Elizabeth Cook will perform live at 6:30 p.m. and Bill Anderson, Mandy Barnett, Brandy Clark, Chris Janson and Don Schlitz will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Ole Opry on the Circle network, available on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook channels or on the DISH network and, with an antenna, on Channel 11.5 in Central Arkansas. Arkansas native Bobby Bones hosts the show.
◼️ Arkansas native Ashley McBryde is tied with Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett for the most nominations for the 2020 CMT Music Awards, which will air at 7 p.m. Wednesday on a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land.
The CMT Awards are country music's only entirely fan-voted awards show, and voting ended at 11 a.m. Monday. McBryde was nominated for video of the year, female video of the year and CMT performance of the year for "One Night Standards."
◼️ Trey Anastasio of Phish is hosting "The Beacon Jams," an eight-week virtual residency, live from New York City's historic Beacon Theatre, every Friday at 8 p.m. through Nov. 27. The events will be streamed free exclusively on Twitch.
◼️ Eddie Van Halen fans will want to check out the pastemagazine.com piece, "Watch Van Halen Tear Up the Stage at Their Famed Oakland Coliseum Show in 1981," and there are 14 minutes of the June 12, 1981, concert. And, there's a 15-minute interview from Jan. 23, 1984, where he tells noted rock journalist Lisa Robinson: "If I kick the bucket tomorrow, the only thing I want people to think of me as or respect me or whatever, is that I have done things on guitar that no one else has done."
◼️ Stageit.com has announced some new concerts that will be available for virtual viewing: The Iguanas at 2 p.m. today, 50 notes; "Casbah Live: Little Hurricane live from The Casbah in San Diego!" 150 notes; David Haydn-Jones, 11:45 a.m. Saturday, pay what you can; Dave Hause, 2 p.m. Saturday, 150 notes; Morgan James, 4 p.m. Saturday, pay what you can; The Immediate Family (Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel and Steve Postell, 5 p.m. Saturday, 100 notes; Samantha Smith, 5:45 p.m. Saturday, pay what you can; Damian McGinty, 6 p.m. Saturday, 100 notes; Alicia Witt, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, pay what you can; Striking Matches and Adam Hambrick, 7 p.m. Saturday, pay what you can; "Progstock" presents Alan Hewitt & One Nation, 7 p.m. Saturday, 80 notes; Big Freedia live at Preservation Hall, 7 p.m. Saturday, 150 notes; Earthless live from The Casbah in San Diego, 9 p.m. Saturday, 150 notes; Keith Harkin's "all Irish show" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 150 notes; Emmet Cahill, 5 p.m. Sunday, 150 notes; and Divas for Democracy: United We Slay (when the Divas of Broadway join forces with the Divas of Drag), 7 p.m. Sunday, pay what you can. ("notes" means that 100 "notes" = $10).
◼️ The Lecture-Concert Series at Arkansas State University will present the Boston Brass in a virtual concert at 7 p.m. Sunday on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DNqOYQJu4a4.