What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1442943
JANUARY 16-22, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 37 EUREKA SPRINGS Q. I'm so excited that this is an mother and daughter show! Can you tell me a little about how music has been part of your relationship? Can you tell us a little about the songs that you've written together or how you think that your family relationship (being a mother and daughter) shows up in your music? A. Through our songs, we are able to convey and connect our experiences — both experiences we've had together and apart. We are so familiar with one another, and it allows us to express ourselves freely with an understanding of where the other is coming from. It's family. My mom is mostly a lyricist. Often she will send me completed lyrics or (poems) and I will add the music to them. Our song, "Strangers in the Backyard," is one that she sent to me as a gift. It is her song to me. It took me a few years before I was able to sing it amongst others, because it was personal to me. The songs are real, and in many ways only the two of us can know the meaning behind them. I just do my best to share and sing the song with others. I want to let them build their own relationship with the songs. Q. Can I have a little background information on DeAnna? A. My mom and I started writing together when I was about 17. She always had a natural ability in poetry, so when I told her I was starting to write songs, she became very interested. In her lifetime, she has studied and received degrees in both history and political science with an emphasis on the struggle for civil rights in America. Her lyrical themes often include such topics along with her own personal experiences in life. She has worked as a waitress, teacher, personal care assistant and hair dresser. She previously has published a number of poems and short stories, but found her voice in writing songs. Find more information about Opal Agafia on https://opalagafia.com. Country Jesus Country Jesus will close out the Jan. 20 night slot at OzMoMu. Michael Brinson, guitairst and singer, speaks here for the band. Q. Country Jesus is quite a band name! Can you tell our readers a little about how that moniker came about and who is in your current lineup? A. I play in country bands as my day job, and I used to play with a guy that would call me Jesus (because of my hair and beard). A good woman that sang with us said one day, "you're not Jesus, you're country Jesus." After some other people heard it, it just kind of stuck. The band consists of my oldest son Elijah Brinson on bass guitar, and two of my greatest friends, Don Martin on drums, and Rick Endel on keys — all of whom are phenomenal musicians. Q. What are your hopes for 2022 if (fingers crossed) we get past this pandemic? A. I hope in 2022 we all get to play more live music. There's nothing like it, the interaction of people in a room together. I am just as inspired by the dancing people as I am by anything else. It's a collective experience. The people that come to events like Ozark Mountain Music Festival, and events at The Farm are the greatest crowds of people to play for. They go with you as far out as you can get. Q. Can you direct our readers to more information about your band and where they can hear some more of your music if they don't get enough? A. We're just getting this started really. People have been very kind and responsive to the shows, but we haven't had a chance to get a whole lot out there. We have a Facebook page and some live stuff out on YouTube. I'm also the sound company for this event, BrinSon's Sound, and for a lot of the events we've played. So we stay pretty busy with music year round. But this is the music that comes from my heart and soul, and I hope that people that come to listen and interact will find another piece of the beauty inside themselves that they lost, and maybe lose some of the negative perceptions of themselves. OzMoMu Continued From Page 9 A jam session followed a previous Ozark Mountain Music Festival at Chelsea's in downtown Eureka Springs. Pictured are members of The Damn Neighbors, Grass Fed and Elijiah Benson. (Courtesy Photo) The band Damn Neighbors plays an outdoors set at a previous Ozark Mountain Music Festival. (Courtesy Photo)