Beginning this year, the Oxford American’s annual music issue will focus on the music of one Southern state each year, in addition to its typical coverage of Southern music broadly. Naturally, the OA’s starting in Arkansas.
They’ll be two companion CDs, one filled with only Arkansas music.
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is sponsoring the Arkansas CD and special editorial section. The OA and Parks and Tourism plan to host Arkansas music events around the state after the release of the issue, on Dec. 1.
I met with some OA folks a couple weeks back about the project. I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but I’ll say that a lot of the stuff they’re targeting is pretty exciting. They’ve definitely done some digging.
Keeping in mind that they’re taking great strides to avoid the obvious, who do you think should be included?