Thursday, March 3 @ 7:30 PM
Doors: 6:30 PM
Ticket Prices: $75, $50 & $35
*Plus Applicable Service Fees*
Jonesboro, AR- For one night only, country music legend, Merle Haggard will be in Jonesboro, Arkansas, joined by Marty Stuart on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Legend is almost an understatement to describe Haggard who has been in the music industry for over five decades. Known for writing revolutionary and prolific lyrics, he blended elements of jazz, rock, blues and folk music into his arrangements, while staying true to the traditions of country. He has released 47 albums, found his songs at the top of the charts with 40 #1 hits, he has won just about every music award imaginable as a performer and a songwriter, and in 1994 was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Merle Ronald Haggard was born in 1937, outside Bakersfield, California. His parents, Jim and Flossie, moved the family there after their farm in Oklahoma burned down, with Jim finding work as a carpenter for the Santa Fe Railroad. The family lived in an old boxcar that they converted into a home. Though struggling to make a meager living, they had a sturdy shelter and food was always on the table.
Things changed dramatically after Jim died of a stroke when Merle was nine years old. It was a devastating event for the young boy, who was very close to his father. His mother went to work as a bookkeeper to make ends meet, often leaving Merle in the care of a great aunt and uncle. With his world turned upside down, Haggard turned rebellious. He hopped a freight train when he was just ten years old, making it to Fresno before being picked up by the authorities. It was the first step toward a youth of truancy from school and petty crime. For the next few years, Haggard would find himself in reform schools, sometimes making an escape, only to get thrown back in again. Later he would find himself in and out of prison as well.
Haggard's music was his way out of a dead-end life of small crimes and intermittent jail time. Released from San Quentin in 1960, he joined the then thriving Bakersfield country scene, which eschewed the smooth country-politan sound coming out of Nashville for a harder-hitting honky-tonk groove.
After making an impression working in local clubs, Haggard joined Las Vegas star Wynn Stewart's band in 1962 as a bassist. When he got a chance to record his own single, Haggard chose the Stewart composition, "Sing A Sad Song." It came out on the small Tally Records label in 1964, and made it into the Top Twenty. His follow up singles didn't do quite as well, until "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" went into the Top Ten and brought him to the attention of Capitol Records. He proved himself a hit maker with three Top Ten singles in 1967, including his first#1, "The Fugitive." The rest, as they say, is history.
For over forty years, the five-time Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, photographer, and historian Marty Stuart has been building a rich legacy. Native of Mississippi, Stuart got his start in Johnny Cash's back-up band. In 1986 he started his solo career and released album Marty Stuart scoring his first hit with the song "Arlene."
“I've always thought that country music had a really unique relationship with gospel music,” Stuart says. “It is interesting to me that country stars can sing drinking and cheating songs authentically, then at some point during the evening or the broadcast, take their hats off and say, 'Friends, here's our gospel song.' If it’s the right messenger it seamlessly flows. That's a time-honored tradition, from Jimmie Rodgers to Hank Williams to Johnny Cash. Rogue prophets and rogue preachers. That is my world!”
Both artists bring their magical talents to Jonesboro on March 3. Tickets for this outstanding night of entertainment will go on-sale Friday, January 15 at 10:00 a.m. To purchase tickets in person to go the Convocation Center Central Box Office, order by phone at 870-972-2781 or 800-745-3000, or on-line at Ticketmaster.com. For more information regarding this show go to AStateConvo.com
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Tickets are available at the Convocation Center Central Box Office,
charge by phone at 870-972-2781 or 800-745-3000, and online at
