Our friends at Magic 105, Starr's Guitars and Juanita's have stepped up again to show their support for the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, as have my cohorts here at the newspaper. In a perfect world, the chance to present their music would be enough for bands and the chance to experience it would be enough for fans. But any of us who have invested much emotional energy in the local music scene know that this is anything but a perfect world. 3, with the finals Friday, Feb. 11. And that is a true double-edged sword.
Younger bands are more willing to risk disappointment.
Veteran bands have tasted it, in various permutations, too many times already. And that's why the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase undoubtedly will more often introduce lesser-known bands rather than feature the regular pliers of the local trade. A photo shoot with Arkansas Times photographer Dero Sanford, including processing and prints for publicity purposes. We also want to reward the nightly winners and randomly selected members of the audience, so we're lining up a variety of restaurant meals, free CDs, movie tickets and other goodies for those purposes. But this is America, and competition has been the thing around here for 200-plus years.