The 10th annual Peacemaker Festival in Fort Smith, Ark. featured two days of fantastic country and Americana music over the October 11-12 weekend.
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Peacemaker Festival is billed on its website as a “music festival by music lovers, for music lovers” and is held annually at the Riverfront Amphitheatre next to the Arkansas River. The Peacemaker Festival is a non-profit event held by a volunteer board committed to directly providing a portion of the proceeds to the community through local charities for children. This year’s event likely pushed the total donations over the $1 million mark in the 10 years of the festival.

The Peacemaker Festival seemed to go big for its 10th anniversary, having 12 artists perform over two afternoons/evenings, all within the country music and Americana genres. The artists over the two days were 49 Winchester, Morgan Wade, Reckless Kelly, Josh Meloy, American Aquarium, Tanner Usrey, Jason Boland & the Stragglers, Taylor Hunnicutt, Stephen Wilson Jr., The Castellows, Joe Stamm Band, and Casper McWade.

Among the groups performing was a couple I’ve seen nearly annually at various venues, usually in the Little Rock area, like American Aquarium and Jason Boland & the Stragglers. I also saw Reckless Kelly in Little Rock a couple of years ago. The other nine acts were all first-time viewings for me, including some that have released some of my favorite music of 2024.

The festival featured over 12 hours of live music, so to review each set individually would make this the longest concert review known to mankind, so I’ll focus on the highlights and my favorite moments from the weekend.

When the concert lineup was announced I knew that I couldn’t pass up on an evening of music that featured 49 Winchester, Reckless Kelly and American Aquarium consecutively as the first day of the festival did. American Aquarium is one of my favorite modern bands, Reckless Kelly puts on a fantastic show and 49 Winchester has been an up-and-coming band I’ve kept my ears on.

I planned to see the fest on its first day when I bought the tickets. If my work schedule allowed for both days, my wife and I would make a weekend of it. Thankfully, that was the case.

When American Aquarium finished its set of raucous Americana-country-rock on Friday night, I didn’t see how Reckless Kelly and 49 Winchester could follow – it was that good. Any American Aquarium show will be one of the best live shows you’ve ever seen. The band, led by frontman and songwriter B.J. Barham, gives every ounce of energy they have on that stage.

On Friday, A.A. mixed classics like “Losing Side of Twenty-Five,” “Casualties,” “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart,” and “The Long Haul” with terrific selections from its new album, The Fear of Standing Still, released in late July. These included “Crier,” “Messy as a Magnolia,” and my personal favorite, “Cherokee Purples,” which is high on my list of the best songs of 2024.

The band finished its hour-or-so-long set with a roaring performance of “Burn.Flicker.Die,” which almost certainly gained them new fans among the festivalgoers who were not previously in tune with their music.

It was a bit weird seeing American Aquarium, a band whose passionate fanbase will typically scream all of the lyrics aloud, at a festival show where only a portion of the audience knew their music, but that’s just the way of festivals, I suppose. 
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When Reckless Kelly took the stage, something immediately was out of place. Frontman Willy Braun took to the stage with a hand/wrist brace on his right hand that kept him unable to play guitar. He told the audience he had a mishap with a table saw. Jeff Crosby filled in on guitar for the set, and the talented singer-songwriter in his own right was rewarded with a performance of his “City of Roses, Trees & Angels.”

Willy’s injury didn’t cause any issues with the group’s performance, but seeing how awkward he seemed on stage without his tool of the trade was somewhat comical.

One of the reasons I wanted to see Reckless Kelly live again is that this is supposedly their final tour before retiring from the road after three decades, with the final dates set to occur sometime next year. The band recently released their 11th studio album, The Last Frontier. The band would mix a couple of songs off the new album, “Keep Lookin’ Down the Road” and “Miserable City,” in the set with their greatest hits.

Among my favorite performances from Reckless Kelly’s set were “I Still Do,” “Wicked Twisted Road,” “Nobody’s Girl,” “Seven Nights in Eire” and “Vancouver.”

The band also celebrated Kris Kristofferson, who died two weeks prior, with a performance of The Highwaymen’s “Highwayman” (though it should be noted that Kristofferson didn’t write that song; Jimmy Webb did).  
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The final set on Friday night was 49 Winchester, who nearly blew everyone away from the start of their performance with the loudest sound, by far, of the night – which was a bit of a detriment to their performance. It was uncomfortably and unnecessarily loud. Maybe they saw the American Aquarium set and felt they had to turn it up a bit.
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Despite the set's over-loudness, it was terrific. The band showcased many tracks from its most recent album, Leavin’ This Holler, released in early August. Among my favorites from the new album performed Friday were “Yearnin’ For You,” “Tulsa,” “Make It Count,” and the title track.

My favorite 49 Winchester songs of the evening came from the band’s previous album, Fortune Favors the Bold, from 2022. My favorite song of theirs is “Russell County Line,” a tune about longing to be home with the ones you love while making a career as a touring musician. The title track and “Damn Darlin’” were also terrific performances.

49 Winchester is an incredibly tight and talented band with frontman and guitarist Isaac Gibson, featuring a great stage presence and fantastic songwriting. 

The early sets on Friday by Taylor Hunnicutt, whom the festival chose as its Emerging Artist of the Year, The Castellows and Casper McWade were all good.

Hunnicutt, from Alabama, has this tremendous bluesy, Southern rock aspect to her music. The Castellows is an incredibly talented trio of sisters from Southern Georgia who are just starting in the business. McWade looks like he’s the type of performer who belongs on stage in a biker bar and gets to and from the bar on a Harley of his own. His music matches that vibe. 
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The three artists I was most looking forward to seeing on Saturday, day two of the festival, were Jason Boland & the Stragglers, the artist I’m pretty sure I’ve seen more than any other, Morgan Wade, the evening’s headliner, and Joe Stamm Band, the first act on the stage on Saturday.
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Joe Stamm has written and recorded two of my favorite songs of 2024, “Flower of the Everglades” and “When the Lilacs Bloom,” both of which appear on his EP Allegheny. Both are incredibly written story songs that showcase Stamm as a songwriter who you must check out. When he performed “Flower of the Everglades,” a song about an orphan who grows up to have a mansion in the Florida Keys and refuses to leave it during a hurricane, it made me teary-eyed, which rarely happens during live shows. Stamm took time to meet with the fans at his merch table after his set, and I was thrilled to tell him how much I loved those songs. 

​Jason Boland & the Stragglers are the perfect definition of a red dirt country music band. I’ve never understood why they aren’t as spoken about or beloved as Cross Canadian Ragweed, who recently announced some reunion shows with the Stragglers. Boland is one of the best songwriters in the business. The band always sounds terrific (despite many personnel changes over the years), and they play the kind of music that could speak to bar bums and the type of folks who enjoy Americana-esque storytelling.

I was a bit perplexed as to why they had such an early set time on day two of the festival, and when much of the crowd didn’t quite seem to know the band’s stuff, I was even more perplexed.

As always, Boland and the Boys put on a terrific show mixing their red dirt classics with some newer stuff that has yet to be recorded and should be out on an album early next year. Among the classics were “Comal County Blue,” which was nice to hear again after being left off of many shows I’ve seen the band perform recently, “Somewhere Down in Texas,” “Blowing Through the Hills,” “Pearl Snaps” and “Gallo Del Cielo.”

Hopefully, those who may not have been familiar with Boland and the Stragglers before the show left as new fans. 

I enjoyed Stephen Wilson Jr. and Tanner Usrey’s sets despite knowing only a song or two from each. Wilson’s ode to his dad, “Father’s Son,” is incredible, and I dig Usrey’s “Take Me Home.”
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Usrey may have had the biggest reception from the crowd of any artist during the two days, as it was his fourth appearance at the fest (I believe the most of any artist). He has obviously built a relationship with the show's yearly attendees.

I can’t say I really dug Josh Meloy’s penultimate set on Saturday night. It was approaching the end of two long days in the hot sun, despite the event moving to October after being in the summer and being unaware of his work. It doesn’t help that his performance style is a bit of a mumble. The reception from the crowd was undoubtedly warm for him, though.

One of the things that was so great about seeing Morgan Wade headline the second night of the Peacemaker Festival is that country music festivals, particularly, have a horrible recent history of ignoring female performers and certainly don’t have an excellent track record of female headliners.
Wade’s music might fall within the same genre as the other festival performers, but her emotional songwriting makes it slightly different. It’s not that I don’t believe the other performers aren’t living the songs they write - Barham of American Aquarium certainly does - but you can tell nearly every song is a diary-like moment or reflection from Wade’s life.

It’s her honesty and personal truth-telling in her music, mixed with her expressive vocals, that bring songs like “2AM in London,” “Reality,” “Mend,” and “Take Me Away” to life right in front of you.

Among my favorites were “2AM in London,” from her most recent album Obsessed, “Take Me Away” and her show-ender “Wilder Days.” 
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It was nice to return to the Peacemaker Festival, a true highlight of Fort Smith’s music culture. I attended the very first Peacemaker event, which was, I believe, just one day of music featuring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Lucero as the primary acts, and I haven’t been able to get back since.

It’s terrific to see what it’s developed into, but I believe some improvements could be made in the non-music aspect of the festival. The two-day event had limited food options with only three food vendors showing up, though there were plenty of bar stations for those wanting alcohol, water and soda. I also believe the festival should do away with its no re-entry policy. I understand they want to keep the money inside the festival, especially as all of the money earned at the bars went to charity. Still, it would be terrific for festivalgoers (and local downtown Fort Smith businesses) to have the option of leaving for dinner and checking out nearby shops.  

In the early 2010s, Katy Perry was one of the biggest names in pop music. In 2008, the release of her sophomore album, One of the Boys, saw lots of success with hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot and Cold.” Overall, the album showed so much promise for a new artist. This made anticipation for her next record extremely high. Fans, critics and the world could not wait to see what Perry had to offer. Perry did not fail to deliver.

In 2010, Katy Perry released Teenage Dream, which is right next to Taylor Swift’s 1989 as an example of pop music perfection. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, received almost universal acclaim and tied Michael Jackson’s record for most No. 1 hits from an album. Those five No. 1s were “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” and “Last Friday Night.” Teenage Dream was pop music done right. 

That’s what makes the rest of Katy Perry’s career so puzzling. Perry has not matched the success of Teenage Dream and hasn’t even come close. Her third album after finding stardom, Prism, was a solid attempt, Witness received mixed reviews and Smile was considered a flop. After Smile, Perry settled into her role as an “American Idol” judge for seven seasons. Upon announcing her exit from the reality competition show earlier this year, Perry announced she was recording new music.  

Anticipation started to grow for Perry fans. Could she recapture the magic of Teenage Dream? The magic of an album that perfectly gave us bops to dance to (“Last Friday Night”), songs to cry to (“The One That Got Away”), songs that questioned our purpose (“Who Am I Living For?”) and songs that make us realize that the world isn’t always the dream we want it to be (“Wide Awake”). Could Perry recapture that magic with this new album?

That album, 143, was released on September 20th and I can tell you with such sadness that the answer is no. Sadly, it’s Perry’s worst album to date. 

The premise of 143 is “I love you.” For the older generation that remembers when we used numbers on cell phones to get letters to type into text messages, you will know precisely what that means. Perry told critics that this album should not be taken seriously; it should just be a fun dance record. The problem is that the album isn’t fun at all. The album is only 33 minutes long and feels 25 minutes too long. Almost every song on the record is instantaneously forgettable. It is so confusing because Teenage Dream knew what it was doing, and it was a no-skip album.  

The problem, I feel, is that the pop landscape has changed so much in recent years. In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter is topping the charts with songs full of personality, cheeky fun and witty lyricism. Chappell Roan gives us authenticity and a sense of not holding back with her storytelling. Taylor Swift has perfectly matched personality, storytelling, catchy beats and is a master at writing lyrics. It would be a success if Perry were releasing Teenage Dream in 2024. But 143 has no catchy beats, exciting hooks or personality. The worst part is the album feels like it is something A.I. might have created. 

This is difficult for me to write because this is coming from someone who has been a Katy Perry fan for years. I went to see her on her “Witness” tour in 2018 and had an absolute blast. I was someone who was singing a little-known song called “Russian Roulette” and grooving to it while no one else around me seemed even to know what the song was. I always try to find something I like about every piece of art; it is tough to find with this album.

However, the best song on the album is “ALL THE LOVE.” It tells a beautiful story of how Perry had finally settled that love wasn’t for her and that she wasn’t meant to be happy. However, “ALL THE LOVE” comes back to her. The other song that stood out to me was called “WONDER.” Her daughter, Daisy, sings this song with her. The song makes us question when we get older: will we still have that same sense of wonder we had when we were kids? These two songs are the only two I feel are worthwhile on the album.  

This album has had some controversy surrounding it as well. Perry worked with Dr. Luke as a producer on this album. Perry has been an advocate for women and women’s rights and Dr. Luke was sued in 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination by pop singer Kesha. In June 2023, Kesha and Dr. Luke released a joint statement saying they settled. Perry has claimed that she was contractually obligated to complete another album with Dr. Luke, but there have been reports that she was only contractually obligated to do three albums with him, and that obligation had been fulfilled. So, it appears this was a choice for her, and it doesn’t make her look good.
 
I hope that Katy Perry’s next album is the BIGGEST COMEBACK in pop history. I hope she uses this time to figure out what didn’t work with 143 and use it to fuel an album that will be remembered for generations and generations to come. I’m rooting for her.