Arkansauce is a genre-hopping, four piece string band from northwest Arkansas, bending the rules and blurring the lines between bluegrass, newgrass, folk, americana, country, blues, and funk. With a loyal following growing every day in the Natural State and along their tour routes, the band is proud to be stepping into a hard-driving sound unique to the Arkansas quartet.

The third album (If I Were You, released April 2017) of all original material finds the palate expanded with more complex melodies, intriguing rhythms, and hard-hitting hooks that leave the songs whirling around your head long a er the listening experience.

The hard-working musicians are filling the calendar with upcoming appearances at premiere music festivals and venues in and around Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Colorado, New Mexico, and Missouri.

The band’s roots go back to 2011 when founding members Ethan Bush, Zac Archuleta, and Stephen Jolly began writing together a er becoming acquainted through mutual connections in the close-knit Fayetteville music scene. A er a couple of years building a repertoire of original music and releasing their first album (Hambone) as a trio, they were joined by Tom Andersen on the upright bass and Adams Collins on the five-string banjo. The road-tested chops Andersen and Collins brought to the table helped to cultivate the mature, well-rounded sound needed to accommodate their sophomore release “All Day Long.”

An Arkansauce show is riddled with improvisational guitar, banjo, and mandolin leads, paired with powerful harmonies and heart-felt songwriting, all held together by deep foot-stompin' bass grooves. There’s an undeniably intimate connection between the band and their fans that's contagious and leaves everyone in front of, and on the stage wanting more. Arkansauce holds their head high, as they look forward to enjoying everything life and music has in store for them and their fans.

LINKS

Website : www.arkansaucemusic.com

Instagram : www.instagram.com/arkansaucemusic

Facebook : www.facebook.com/arkansauce.music

Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD5p0v77QXPgtkjntRFQOHg
 

Winners of the 2021 MerleFest Band Competition, Into The Fog is a genre-jumping string band based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. With its members having various backgrounds ranging from bluegrass, country, rock, to funk, Into The Fog creates a musical melting pot of sounds in an acoustic/newgrass setting. The band is made up of Brian Stephenson(Acoustic guitar, Vocals), Winston Mitchell(Mandolin, Vocals), Derek Lane(Bass, Vocals) and Connor Kozlosky (Electric guitar, Vocals). 

Originally formed in Wilmington, NC, Into The Fog immediately hit the ground running as a band by heading across the country to compete at the 2018 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition only a few months after coming together. That cross country trip was recorded by friend of the band and videographer Mason Godwin in his documentary Band #7:The Ride to Telluride.

After the Telluride trip, the band got to work playing as much as they could around North Carolina. Becoming a mainstay at over 30 different breweries around the state Into The Fog started to quickly make a name for themselves. Then in November of 2018 the band went to a cabin outside of Waynesville, NC and spent a week recording their debut album Wishin’ It Would Rain, which was released on February 22, 2019.

“The trio crafts a dynamic mix of songs and sounds, from the gypsy feel of “Caawphonation” to the running-from-Johnny-Law feel of instrumental “Cedar Island Rendezvous.”- Brian Tucker(Star News)

With their debut album under their belt Into The Fog started to pick up momentum exchanging brewery gigs for music venues and festivals with opportunities like playing Shakori Hills, Rooster Walk, FloydFest, MerleFest, NC Homegrown Music Festival, IBMA, and Front Porch Fest along with opening slots for national touring acts Sam Bush, Ghost of Paul Revere, Jon Stickley Trio, Keller & The Keels and Town Mountain. Into The Fog solidified their sound further with their 14 track sophomore album Runnin’ Blind and Chasin’ Time which was released in May of 2021.  

“While purists might label label their sound as Newgrass, those in attendance respond to the gospel they are preaching and seem perfectly content with the foggy genre, since the sound is so clear”- Donna Davis(The Daily Reflector)