Music lovers are in for a treat this week as Friday Night Live at Hickory Park in Mountain Home spills over to Saturday evening.The 9N Band is the headliner for this week’s Friday Night Live. Saturday night’s headliner is The Legendary Pacers.Music and activities will begin at 7 each evening on the new Farmers & Merchants stage.The Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event is free to the public and kid friendly.
Friday’s nights event is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Mountain Home.
The 9N Band performs solid southern rock music and a little bit country, mixed with a smattering of soulful blues on the side.
Eric Watson, on five-string bass, and Mike Gregg, song-writer, lead vocalist and rhythm guitar, long had the vision of such a group, and when Chad Wood, drums, and Jim Gossau, lead guitar and backup vocals, joined them, the 9N vision came to fruition.
Seven years after their 2013 album “Rubber Meets the Road,” Gossau left the group to pursue other interests. In mid-2020, Curt Dixon joined 9N, bringing his 25 years of musical experience, playing in various groups in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Now, 9N is again fully prepared to bring their edgy mosaic of music to the people of Northern Arkansas.
On Saturday night, The Legendary Pacers will take the stage for a make-up date, since their first show was rained out. Saturday’s event is sponsored by Elmcroft of Mountain Home.
The Legendary Pacers started with Sonny Burgess on vocals and guitar, Kern K. Kennedy on piano, Johnny Ray Hubbard on slap bass, Russ Smith on drums, Joe Lewis on guitar and Jack Nance on trumpet.
In early 1957 Lewis and Smith left the band; Smith going to work with Jerry Lee Lewis and Lewis to further his own career. In August of 1957, Nance joined Lewis working with Conway Twitty and Bobby Crafford joined the Pacers as drummer.
The band was formed in 1955 at Newport. They had five singles on SUN Records: “Red Headed Woman,” “We Wanna Boogie.” “Thunderbird.” “Ain’t Got a Thing,” “Buckets Got a Hole In It,” and “Sadies Back In Town.” They also had a hit in 1965 on Razorback Records with “The Short Squashed Texan.” They were one of the pioneers of rock and roll and traveled with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, Narvel Felts, and many more.
Current members of the band are:
· Bobby Crafford on drums, who joined in 1957,
· Fred Douglas on bass, who joined in 1961,
· Jim Aldridge on sax, who joined in 1961,
· Tony Kennedy on piano, who replaced his dad, Kern, who passed away in 2018
· Earl Cole on guitar, who joined in 2019. Crafford, Douglas, Aldridge and Kennedy do the vocals.
In 2016, The Pacers won the Governor’s Award for Folklore with the Arkansas Arts Council, marking 61 years for the Pacers in the music business.
Sonny Burgess died in 2017, with the band performing a tribute to him in every show.
Before the event, 13-year-old Raquel Houk will be singing the National Anthem.
The Arkansas Department of Health has reviewed and accepted the plan for implementation of these events. Those attending are advised to bring their own masks or face coverings for use when physical distancing is not possible. Physical distancing of 6 feet is still required from person to person or family group to family group. Any lines at food services and entrances will be clearly marked as a visual cue for physical distancing. Hand sanitizer will be available around the venue.
A number of food vendors will be on hand selling their specialties.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs when they come out to enjoy what has become a summer tradition.
For more information about Friday Night Live, or being a vendor, call the chamber office at 870-425-5111, go to www.enjoymountainhome.com or Facebook.
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