What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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Upcoming Events Asleep at the Wheel Dec. 8 The 10-time Grammy ® Award winning national touring phenomenon led by legendary front man Ray Benson and called "one of the best live acts in the business" (Reuters) is Comin' Right At Ya! with holiday favorites and 1970's Americana tunes, including "On Route 66," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," "The Letter that Johnny Walker Read" and more! WAC + SoNA present The Snowman: A Family Concert Dec. 10 | Tickets $10! The tradition continues! Join us for a special screening of The Snowman, with the original score performed live by SoNA. Following the screening, acclaimed Music Director Paul Haas will lead the audience in a sing-a-long of other holiday favorites. Joins us for a merry and bright afternoon of family- friendly symphonic music! The Polar Express Dec. 23 | 2 Screenings! All aboard! Next stop… The North Pole. Put your PJs on and bring your whole family together to see this heartwarming holiday film on the big screen. Pop in for a family-friendly festive beverage and sweet treats at Holidaze before or after the screening! Opens daily at 5pm. An Officer and a Gentleman Jan. 4-9, 2022 | 8 shows! Based on the Oscar-winning film, this new musical features an iconic score including the Grammy and Oscar-winning #1 hit "Up Where We Belong" (Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes), and your favorite 80's hits including "Higher Love" (Steve Winwood), "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (Yes), "Love is a Battlefield" (Pat Benetar) and many more! Perfect for a date night or girls night out. Tickets make great gifts! A Conversation with Fran Lebowitz Feb. 4, 2022 Straight from her hit Netflix special "Pretend It's a City," directed by Martin Scorsese, get ready for a night of no- holds-barred conversation with the queen of "tell it like it is!" Known for her sardonic social commentary, the cultural satirist and purveyor of urban cool offers her acerbic view on- stage moderated by KUAF's Kyle Kellams. Media support: Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | KNWA | Citiscapes 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville, AR 72701 waltonartscenter.org | 479.443.5600 Asleep at the Wheel NO FEE WEEKEND No ticketing fees on purchases made thru Monday, Nov. 29 Buy online at waltonartscenter.org Series Sponsors: The Snowman: A Family Concert Additional support provided by Cece Box | Tom & Jill King | Eric & Elda Scott | Bill & LeAnn Underwood Broadway Supporters: Bob & Becky Alexander | Friends of Broadway Show Sponsors: The Polar Express Fran Lebowitz An Officer and Gentleman NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 4, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 11 the radio, he says, played in square dance bands played in the orchestra, played tuba in the marching band — and "had a great, wide open musical youth." In 1969, he dropped out of college and moved to a farm near Paw Paw, W.Va. — 30 miles from the middle of nowhere — to put a band together with two friends, Lucky Oceans and LeRoy Preston. "Lucky had met these guys, and they said, 'Hey, you can stay in this 180-year-old log cabin and help us with the farm work while you try to start a band,'" he remembers. "Well, who wouldn't want to do that? You gotta remember, this was in 1969, and the country was divided — the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, cities were burning, there were riots — and everybody wanted to move to the country." Playing in West Virginia, Benson and his bandmates were labeled "hippies playing country music." When they went in to Washington, D.C., to play, they were considered rednecks because they weren't playing rock 'n' roll. "But it wasn't about politics or the length of your hair," Benson says. "It was and is about the music." The band moved to Berkeley, Calif., in 1971 and, after an endorsement from Van Morrison in an interview with Rolling Stone, "the L.A record companies came running," Benson says. The rest is history: One of the band's compositions, "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read," became a national Top 10 country hit in 1975; the Academy of Country Music named Asleep at the Wheel the top touring band for 1977; and they won the first of 10 career Grammys in 1979. Then there was a lull, during which they went without a record deal for six years. "The one reason that I kept going," Benson says on the band's website, "is that every week a fan would come up and be so appreciative, saying, 'Don't ever stop.' We weren't drawing a lot of people, but they'd say, 'You're the only band that goes out on the road and does this old, cool music.' That's when I knew it was more than just a living — that I was blessed with caretaking a form of music. "I'm the reason it's still together, but the reason it's popular is because we've had the greatest singers and players," Benson adds of Asleep at the Wheel. "When someone joins the band, I say, 'Learn everything that's ever been done, then put your own stamp on it.' I love to hear how they interpret what we do. I'm just a singer and a songwriter, and a pretty good guitar player, but my best talent is convincing people to jump on board and play this music."