Bolstered by the independent release in April, 2023 of their fifth album, “OK to Wonder,” Arkansauce have continued to bring nightly the vibrant melodies of the Ozark Mountains’ rolling hills and raging rivers that can be heard in this progressive string quartet’s distinct blend of newgrass. The band rolled through Wilmington, North Carolina on a Thursday evening where they played to a half-full but enthusiastic crowd at Bowstring Burgers & Brewery, making the venue feel like a vintage dancehall, complete with all the sights, sounds, and smells you’d expect. They filled a 75 minute set with songs of revelry, wonder, insight, and whimsy, inspired not only from their home state of Arkansas, but also throughout their travels.
Arkansauce opened with the sizzling ‘Next Time Around’ from their “All Day Long” album, featuring a ripping mandolin break that served as an appetizer for the tasty entrée to come. A mid-tempo song warning that ‘Love Is A Dangerous Game’ when you’re involved with a girl “with a ten-mile stare” followed from the “If I Were You” album, and those nursing beers at the bar began to sit up and take notice.
The first of four instrumentals, ‘Big City Chicken’ set a pulsing pace, building until it reached a breaking point mid-song, and the four players furiously traded instrumental breaks that whetted the crowd’s appetite for more from Tom Andersen (bass), Zac Archuleta (guitar), Ethan Bush (mandolin) and Adams Collins (banjo). ‘Hey Love’ from their debut album, “Hambone” set the stage for a jam on Bruce Hornsby’s ‘The Way It Is,’ then Collins took the lead on the title song from “My Home in Arkansas,” which also had Andersen taking a pleasing turn on stand-up bass.
The band experienced its highest points when the most recognizable or danceable songs were the focus. ‘‘Peephole,’ ‘Battlefield’ and ‘Funky Chicken,’ which leans into Stanton Moore’s New Orleans funk approach, were the perfect moments for frenzied and passionate outbursts while ‘Could Be Worse’ was handy for slower bouts of introspection. “You could be riding in the back of hearse or working 9 to 5.” they sang.
Throughout the evening the band was a complete joy to watch. Arkansauce have perfected the art of capitalizing on their chemistry, and can give your more well-known newgrass bands a run for their money. One of the more interesting sights of the show was watching a seventy-ish couple having a blast on the floor, coming up with different dance moves for each song with only two or three breaks to quench their thirst.
The crowd was taken on a surprising trip down memory lane with a long rendition of Billy Idol’s ‘White Wedding’ which segued into one of Arkansauce’s best tunes, the tumultuous ‘Paralyzed.’ Here, the lack of luck and finances causes the narrator to muse, “I’ve got time but I ain’t got time to waste / I’ve been sitting here for hours watching / Sunlight turn to shade.”
It’s the fury of these last two songs that kept the audience constantly wanting more, and they got their wish with an extended jam on the old blues number ‘Know You Rider.’ Arkansauce is an unpretentious band that puts forth everything good about nightlife. Just regular guys with sweat beading up, eyes screwed shut in concentration during solos as they regale you with solid yet inventive musicianship. “Gonna miss me when I’m gone” is one of the signature lines to the closing song. Ordinarily, a line like that would barely raise an eyebrow but in this context, they may as well have been offering that sentiment to those who didn’t come out to hear some fine music as well as those who will likely sign up for email notifications to catch them again next time around.
