WORDS / KODY FORD

Arkansas pride comes to life as seven musicians battle it out to have their tune chosen as the Song of Arkansas. The finalists are Barrett Baber, Candy Lee, Blane Howard, Chana Caylor, Jeremy Huddleston, Matt Knoble and Pamela K. Ward. Rock pioneer Sonny Burgess heads up a team of celebrity judges that includes Broadway performer Lawrence Hamilton, Jimmy Buffett Coral Reefer Band member Mike Utley, award-winning director Jason Moore and The Wolf 105.1-FM morning show team Bob Robbins and Jennifer Trafford.

The songs can be heard and ballots can be cast here. Voting lasts until Feb. 24 with one vote per email address. The Arkansas Department of Tourism will announce the winner on Monday, March 3. The winner will perform at 40th Annual Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Rogers on Monday, March 10. The winner also receives a recording session, $2,000 and a video of their entry.

The Idle Class caught up with finalist Candy Lee, the Fayetteville-based singer/songwriter known for her catchy tunes with her band The Sweets. She came across the competitions while searching for grants and contests for songwriters. She considered entering her song “Ozark Hills” but it did not mention Arkansas specifically, one of the main requirements. So she sat down and wrote a new song. The result was “Here in Arkansas.”

“I wanted to capture how being in Arkansas makes me feel, and I thought back to how I first felt when I drove into Arkansas 6 years ago,” she says. “I moved to Fayetteville on a whim after I graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University. I had always wanted to live in the mountains since I was a little girl, and after some coaxing from a friend of mine who is a native of Arkansas, I decided to move here, without even so much as visiting first. I actually went to the Arkansas State website and saw how beautiful it was in the pictures and knew I could spend some time here.”

The first line of the song is “When I first came here, I had never seen so many trees, so tall and so green…” Despite moving to the Natural State in the unrelenting heat of the summer, Candy still found herself in awe of the beauty of the Ozarks. That’s what she decided to focus her song on.

“I wanted to write a song that met all of the requirements of the Song of Arkansas Contest, but was still heart felt and sincere,” she says. “My friends and family always ask me why I would want to live in Arkansas, and after listening to this song, I know they understand why. People just don’t know how great it is here. I wanted to write a song that truly could make people want to visit Arkansas, because it is such a beautiful place, and I’m thankful everyday that I decided to give it a try.”

Another Fayetteville resident, Barrett Baber, wrote the song “A.R.K.A.N.S.A.S (Get There from Here)” only a few weeks before winning the recent contest that allowed him to play at the 2014 Grammy Awards pre-party. He developed the chorus while his co-writer Kenny Lamb, of Bentonville, had the title “Get There from Here.” Within half an hour, Barrett felt they had something special.

IMG_5400“I’m really honored to be a finalist,” Barrett says. “I love Arkansas and am so proud to call it my home.  So representing the state as the songwriter of the Arkansas Song would be a really amazing thing.”

Regarding his recent Grammy experience, Barrett described it as “a whirlwind of press, performance, red carpet and more,” although the opportunity to expose the public to his music was the definite highlight of the trip.

“It’s been a real game changer,” he says. “I certainly have a long way to go and by no means have I reached the pinnacle of success, but I definitely have felt the momentum shift towards great things.  The challenge now will be continuing the process of writing great songs, and producing great music for people to consume and tell their friends about.”

He added, “[The crowd] really responded so graciously and I think we made some fans that night. That’s the beautiful thing about music is that it’s the great connector. It can take a guy from a small community in Arkansas, put him in front of 2000 strangers in L.A. and make them feel like they’ve known each other for years.  It’s what I love about writing songs—those shared experiences that connect with the listener. I believe it is what makes what I do not just music, but art.”

To listen to the songs by Candy, Barrett and the other finalists along with casting your vote, click here.

VISIT: CandyLeeMusic.com

               BarrettBaber.com

Photos appear courtesy of Candy Lee & Barrett Baber.

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