A couple of years ago, the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism seemed to be putting more efforts into promoting Arkansas music and musicians, as noted by the tourism video produced in 2014, shown just below.
Since then, the tourism department has drastically stepped up its emphasis on Arkansas-made music even more, and this year it has produced several commercials – which are airing in other states, obviously – encouraging travelers to visit The Natural State, and several of the new commercials feature Arkansas musicians, including Ho-Hum, Dazz & Brie, Amy Garland Band, American Lions, Brian Nahlen Band, deFrance, Runaway Planet, Greg Spradlin Outfit, and Adam Faucett.
Many of the tracks used in the commercials are featured in different versions of the commercial, ie each one focusing on a different aspect of Arkansas tourism possibilities such as outdoors activities, popular motorcycling treks, bicycling adventures, lakes and camping, etc.
We love these efforts, and we think Arkansas music fans should, too. It’s about time the talented independent music-makers of The Natural State get some “official” recognition for their efforts. #arkansounds
Note: Arkansounds’ You Tube channel has all of these and more on our Arkansounds Favorite Tourism Videos Playlist. Other artists featured include The Coasts, The Good Fear, Amasa Hines, and Bonnie Montgomery.
One of the more recent commercials by Arkansas Tourism is the one below featuring Little Rock-based Ho-Hum‘s song “Come See Me” from their 2010 album Massacre.
A second recent commercial promoting tourism in Arkansas features Little Rock R&B duo Dazz & Brie‘s song “To The Danger.”
Another 2017 Arkansas Tourism commercial features rock band deFrance, based in Little Rock.
The ad soundtrack is deFrance’s “Home,” the title track from their 2015 album.
And here’s one featuring Conway-based American Lions:
And another featuring “Better Than I Thought It Could Be” from North Little Rock-based Brian Nahlen Band:
And here’s one featuring Little Rock’s Amy Garland Band:
From earlier in 2017, here’s one featuring “Used To Live By the River” by Little Rock bluegrass standard-bearer Runaway Planet:
And a great one featuring “Saturday” by Adam Faucett:
And, finally, one from the spring featuring “Out of Blue” by Greg Spradlin Outfit:
