After a 15-month dry spell, Old Time Music finally returned to Hot Springs Wednesday when the Arkansas Highlands String Band performed a show at Crystal Ridge Distillery.
Old Time Music is a genre of music dating back to before bluegrass, country and rock.
"It's the kind of music people played years ago, sitting out on their front porches after supper," band member Jenny Sartain said.
In 2019, band member Charlie Moore began a mission to bring awareness of the music to Hot Springs when he launched the Arkansas Highlands Folk Project. In January 2020, the project's first concert played to a packed house, and then COVID-19 put a stop to live shows.
To keep interest in the project alive over the last year, Moore held several virtual shows. Wednesday's show was the first live event in a year, and was held to entertain a group of tourists.
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"Visit Hot Springs contacted me and said that a tour group was coming in and that they wanted some Old Time Music, some mountain music, and the Arkansas Highlands Folk Project has been emphasizing that for the last few years with programs at the library," Moore said.
The tourists had no idea what they were about to experience.
"They call it a mystery tour," Moore said. "They fly into Little Rock, not knowing what the agenda is."
The tour had around 25 members, and Moore said it was made up of people from all over the country ranging from Texas to California and New York.
Prior to the concert, the group had spent two days in Little Rock, and visited the Gangster Museum of America. Moore said after the concert was finished, the tour went to Garvan Woodland Gardens and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
To entertain the visitors, Moore said, "we put together a band, and the band's name is the Arkansas Highlands String Band." Joining Moore, who was playing both U-Bass and banjo, were Judy Warner on fiddle, Jenny Sartain on banjo and Tom Sartain on guitar.
Tom Sartain said this was his first performance in front of a live crowd of people in a year and a half. His wife, Jenny Sartain, noted the two have had live crowds during the pandemic, but their audience were not people.
"Tom and I, we're an old married couple, so we play together every night for our dogs and cats," she said.
All four of the band members said prior to Wednesday's show they were looking forward to it.
"It's going to be really fun. I think this last year, not being with people has got me thinking about how important it is to be face to face with another person," Warner said.
These three musicians were selected to help with the show because of how talented and friendly they are, Moore said, noting when he first learned of this music, "Tom and Jenny are about the first people I met ... they took me under their wing. Jenny would coach me along."
Moore said Jenny Sartain and Warner are friends and "we kept hyping up that we needed a fiddler."
Moore said this was the "first time I've ever played in front of a crowd other than a jam session" and that the show was a "thrill for me."
Moore said the band is also scheduled to perform at the 1st Annual Arkansas Heritage Festival in Hot Springs Village on Aug. 27. He said several Old Time bands are going to play that day.
Moore said there will likely be some other live performances by the band in the months before the festival.