Arkansas Acoustic Festival

Reviews

A terrific band has been found

By Jim Harris
June 6, 2003

The consensus among the judges, the organizers and many of the audience at the Arkansas Acoustic Festival and Showdown last weekend in Conway was that the group Lost and Found could and should trade "villes" - from Russellville to Nashville. We're not sure if they were ever lost, but the feeling was that we'd found something special in the Showdown group winner, which got to open along with solo winner Garry Bryant, another special performer, for the angelic-voiced Judy Collins on Sunday at Reynolds Performance Hall.

The perfect mix of great songs, solid harmonies, an adorable front-and-center lead singer in 16-year-old Hannah Blaylock and a genuine wholesomeness, if not folksiness, of the sound convinced the five Showdown judges easily on Saturday, and the band followed it up with an impressive six-song set leading into Collins' show.

Watching her on stage, you wouldn't have known Hannah was just 16, but talking with her backstage between Collins' sets was convincing - and that's meant in a good way. There is still that innocence, the feeling that Hannah Blaylock hasn't got stars in her eyes yet.

Credit her parents, Shannon and Mel, who make up half of Lost and Found. Shannon plays the mandolin, Mel plays the bass. Family friend Steve Smith plays guitar and writes all those likeable songs like "Another Heartbreakin' " and "Lost Between Love and Lonely."

One could easily see the pride in Shannon's face as she watched her daughter deliver a vast range and emotion.

"We had never played these songs as a group in front of people before this weekend," Hannah said, though she did say she's gained some performing experience in her high school choir follies and at church with her family and Smith. Shannon noted that the family had attended last year's festival showdown "and we thought, 'We can do this.' "

Boy, could they ever.

They seem a natural for another project of Nashville bluegrass star Alison Krauss, who brought Nickel Creek to national acclaim by producing their first two adult albums (Nickel Creek also put out a record in their early teens in California).

Garry Bryant is another artist whose lyrics indicate a strong faith in family and his religion. He also possesses an amazing finger-style guitar ability that wowed the judges and the audience at Saturday's showdown, drawing a standing ovation.

Here's hoping we see Bryant land a spot on the Acoustic Sounds Cafe lineup soon. He's a natural for a show there, and his work also should draw the attention of the Nashville talent scouts.

Saturday's Acoustic Showdown brought together 15 solo acts and five groups. Each act played two songs; with the length of the show, that's the best the organizers can do, and it doesn't necessarily indicate an artists' depth. But as we saw Sunday, both Bryant and Lost and Found had enough strong material to make for a nice concert with Collins.

Susan Tucker, who has performed well in past Arkansas Times Musicians Showcases, was runner-up to Bryant in the solo division. Donning a tie-dye dress, Tucker sang and looked like she just left a Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and her lyrics stood out.

Justin Morgan, whose acoustic stylings impressed in this year's Arkansas Times Showcase but was overshadowed by the power groups, brought along classical guitar whiz Ben Harris and took the runner-up spot in the group division.

When an artist is described as a living legend, that often means the best stuff he or she did was decades ago and they're a shadow of their old self. It's true that Judy Collins' best songs were many years ago - if she turned out a gold record now it would likely still pale in comparison to "Both Sides Now," which is probably part of most people's soundtracks of theirs lives - but her voice remains awe-inspiring.

She offered a couple of seven-song sets around a 30-minute meet-and-greet backstage to a good crowd at the acoustically wonderfully Reynolds Performance Hall.

Somewhere in my musical past that I thought was complete and diverse, I missed "Chelsea Morning," the song the Clintons credited for the name of their daughter. I'm so glad to have been on hand Sunday night to hear Collins masterfully deliver "Chelsea Morning," and it had me searching out Judy Collins downloads later to hear it again and again. It was such a spectacular closing number to her first set. Naturally, "Amazing Grace" finished the night, right after "Send in the Clowns." "Both Sides Now," which opened the show, seemed a little out of syncopation with her backing pianist, and Collins apparently couldn't hear her monitor for her new Martin 12-string Judy Collins signature model (if you splurge for one, the proceeds go to a couple of her major causes).

She looked great at 64, she was vibrant, her flowing hair a white-gray, her choice of outfits for each set striking. She played piano fabulously on a couple of moving songs, she warmed quickly to the crowd, she encouraged singalongs a lot, including to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle." She brought tears to some eyes with her new song about 9-11, one she said she didn't think she could write for the longest, "Kingdom Come" (that song can be downloaded from www.judycollins.com ).

From Garry Bryant to Lost and Found to Judy Collins, it was a splendid night of great music.