- DAVID DONOVAN EVANS
- THE AVETT BROTHERS
In Searcy, Harding University brings in a slate of bands—a few killer ones, too—for their inaugural First Thaw Festival, which benefits Heifer International. (Could the week in Live Music to Benefit Non-Profits be any more packed?)
Friday opens with a 6 p.m. screening of “Food, Inc.” before starting the night’s music at 8 p.m. with the folk sounds of Cheyenne & Priscilla Medders, followed by M.O.R. from Nashville’s Andy Davis.
Saturday afternoon starts at 1 p.m with The Kernal, bluesy Memphis rockers The Sheriffs of Nottingham, the eight-piece pop experimentalists The Non-Commissioned Officers and a dollop of sincerebro pop by Green River Ordinance.
The night features a couple of big-time headliners from one of my long-time personal favorites, the melodic throwback folkie Langhorne Slim joins omnipresent Southerners (and Robbie Dylan’s backing band for a night) The Avett Brothers, who are, in a word, getting huge really fast. Doors open at 7:15.
And Saturday night at 7 p.m., the Designers Choice Fashion Preview returns to the Clear Channel Metroplex for another year. model and “Shol Food” cast member Boris Kodjoe and Arkansas’s favorite fashion designer, Korto Momolu, host the night, which features special celebrity guest Reco Chapple from Bravo TV. Tickets start at $30. V.I.P. passes, which will get you in to a 5:30 p.m. meet and greet with Kodjoe, Momolu and Chapple, go for $50.