Rock Candy

“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," "Babe" and "Jurassic Park" are also among the June lineup.

Like last year, all of the concerts will take place in AMFA’s 350-seat Performing Arts Theater, starting on Sept. 11 with Booker T. Jones, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient whose iconic organ and piano work with Booker T. & the M.G.’s left an indelible mark on the trajectory of soul music.

Now in its 21st year, the Six Bridges Book Festival is returning to Little Rock on Sept. 23-29. Ann Patchett, Garrard Conley, Eli Cranor and more are among the festival's first round of author announcements.

“Mind Burns Alive,” the fifth album from Pallbearer, deviates from what many have come to expect from Arkansas’s foremost purveyors of doom metal. To celebrate the release, singer/guitarist Brett Campbell spoke with us about sonic contrast, the record’s composition and confronting personal writing challenges. 

“This near-total abortion ban is a very bad and a very dangerous thing. It puts a lot of people at risk. And if you agree with me, you can go sign up to get on the ballot in November to repeal the ban,” Isbell said between songs to a very receptive audience.

Starting with Kate Hamill’s “Pride and Prejudice” — which runs from June 18-30 — at least 10 “pay what you can” (even zero dollars, if you so wish) tickets will be set aside for every performance of the season’s five shows.

The showings, held on the fourth Thursday of each month from May through October, are free and start at “dusk.”

Subtle and devastating, Roger Ebert described Yasujirō Ozu’s “Late Spring” as a film about two people who are “undone by their tact, their concern for each other, and their need to make others comfortable by seeming to agree with them.”

The retreat will center on discussions of Hemingway’s posthumously published novel “The Garden of Eden,” which explores the somewhat fluid gender and sexuality of two newlyweds. The work was supposedly inspired by Hemingway's honeymoon with Pauline Pfeiffer, who grew up in Piggott.

From Thursday through Saturday, over 25 bands — almost all of which are very heavy — will make their way through North Little Rock. We spoke with festival organizer Christopher "C.T." Terry about what to expect from the expansive lineup, which includes John Garcia of cult stoner rock band Kyuss.

The two-day plunge into all things roots and bluegrass has a few repeat names from 2023, but the lineup is mostly new, with the unblinking Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and the occasionally frenzied Trampled by Turtles leading the way as headliners.

When “There There,” Orange's Pulitzer Prize-nominated debut novel, was published in 2018, it earned a spot on countless year-end lists, including the New York Times’. They called it “an ambitious meditation on identity and its broken alternatives, on myth filtered through the lens of time and poverty and urban life.”

Artist Kait Culbertson, of Posse Paper Goods, has been selected for the project, which will cover the intersection of South Main and 13th streets.

For being one of the moment’s biggest country stars, Oklahoma native Zach Bryan is pretty rough around the edges. He's also remarkably comfortable with discontent.

In a letter to readers, Jen Fawkes shares how her debut novel came together after multiple tries.

Among the 39 artists chosen for the exhibition, 19 have a connection to Arkansas and six either currently live in or were born in Little Rock.

It’s easy to slot PETT and Zilla — two of Little Rock’s most engaging rock outfits — into opposing categories, but put them on the same stage and suddenly the middle of their Venn diagram begins blurring and expanding.

“Lucky Five,” the first single from Carper's forthcoming LP, is spry and approachably jazzy, splattered with muted trumpet and old-fashioned strings.

Ranging in age from 13-52, only six contestants remain: Rachel Kamphausen, Marcus Murphy and Mya Little, who will compete on Saturday night; and Yni Bernalte, Kyndal Collins and Kim Qualls, who will compete on Sunday afternoon.

What do writing and swimming have in common? Bestselling author Eli Cranor has your answer.