KASU to Present “Reunion Concert” at The Arts@311
JONESBORO — Four local and regional musicians will reunite after two decades to perform at the KASU Coffeehouse Concert, Thursday, June 16, at The Arts@311, 311 S. Church St., Suite E.
Sarah Jo Roark and John T. Parks have performed as a vocal duo in restaurants and at private functions throughout the Melbourne-Batesville-Hardy area. The duo of Vikki McGee and Sonny Campbell are familiar players at Jonesboro area venues. Members of these separate duos played in a couple of different bands in the 1990s and are looking forward to being on stage together again.
Born in Port Barré, La., McGee is a descendant of a Louisiana musical family that included her great-grandfather, the legendary Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee, and her great-uncle Gerry McGee, who played lead guitar with the instrumental surf rock group The Ventures, well known for the hits “Walk Don’t Run” and “Pipeline.”
As a rhythm guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, she has led many bands that performed at events for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe. She often performs at Jonesboro nightspots with Sonny Campbell of Jonesboro, who plays the bass guitar and sings background vocals.
McGee and Campbell co-wrote all the songs on a CD collection titled, “One Last Song.” She has recorded several other CDs, including the collection, “Never Knowing.” Over the last decade, her complete ensemble, the Vikki McGee Band, has performed at KASU music events in Jonesboro, Paragould and Newport.
Roark and Parks are members of The Lockhouse Orchestra, a rock-and-roll/rhythm-and-blues cover band founded by Danny Dozier in 2006 at a Batesville restaurant to perform tribute shows to music legends. In 2014, KASU brought the Lockhouse Orchestra to The Forum in downtown Jonesboro for a memorable Levon Helm tribute concert that drew fans from as far away as Marvell, the hometown of the legendary musician.
Roark of Melbourne was hired in 1992 to join Louisiana Fire, a band formed by McGee and Ronnie Brumley. She said, “Having kids and other aspects of life took Vikki and me to different places, and after a few years hiatus, I started my own band, Double Shot. In looking for a bass player it was suggested I take a listen to this tall, skinny 17-year-old-kid from Sulphur Rock. He more than made the cut! John Parks and I have been performing together, with a few years off in between, since. “
Roark said after working in Double Shot for a few years, she and Parks asked McGee to join their band. “She'd been out of the business for a little while and I wanted her back. Then a couple years later, it was hiatus time for me as I was having my third child, and Vikki and John began working together.”
A multi-instrumentalist on guitar, mandolin, bass guitar and keyboards, Parks joined McGee’s band as a bass guitarist while he was a student at Arkansas State University in the late 1990s.
Parks, who now lives near Batesville, has recorded two CDs of original songs – “Sleeping in the Henhouse” and “The Devil’s Road.” His own songs reflect the influence of blues, folk, Tin Pan Alley, country and pop/rock. Roark has recorded a CD of modern country songs written by some of Nashville’s emerging songwriters. Her vocal talents appear on many recordings made in this area and onstage with various bands. Roark plays rhythm guitar and percussion.
The two duos will perform separate set lists that include their original material and nostalgic covers of various pop/rock hits before reuniting onstage. “This is how it all comes back around, and we appreciate the opportunity to get back together and play to the same audience,” McGee said.
Admission is $10 when doors open at 6:30 p.m. the night of the performance, or may be purchased in advance at the office of Dr. Carl Abraham of Jonesboro Infectious Disease and Control Consultants (IDCC), 311 S. Church Street, Suite C, between 1-4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
KASU Coffeehouse Concerts at The Arts at 311 are underwritten by Dr. Richard Stevenson, cardiac, vascular and thoracic surgeon; Dr. Carl Abraham of Jonesboro Infectious Disease and Control Consultants (IDCC); and Gregg-Langford-Bookout Funeral Homes.
