First Autumn Fest held at Arbyrd

ARBYRD, Mo. -- Autumn means more than harvest season in this small town in southern Dunklin County.

"This is our first year for Autumn Fest," says Mayor Lonnie Gibson, Jr., of the event planned for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12-14. "We want everybody to know that Arbyrd -- The Neatest, Cleanest, Friendliest Little Town in the Bootheel that produces the world's sweetest watermelons -- has a full-blown carnival scheduled all three days, Gospel music singing Thursday, karaoke Friday and a very special reunion concert that features two area boys who made real, real good."

Those boys are Doug and Ricky Lee Phelps, both founding members of well-known insurgent country band and four-time Country Music Association and Grammy Award-winners The Kentucky Headhunters.

"We grew up in Cardwell," Doug Phelps tells The Daily Dunklin Democrat Thursday from his Hendersonville, Tenn., home. "But we went to high school at Arbyrd."

The Kentucky Headhunters create a hybrid of honky tonk, blues, and Southern rock that appeals to fans of both rock and country music, says writer Johnny Loftus of All Music Guide.

The origins of the Heads begin in 1968, one year after The Summer of Love, when Fred and Richard Young begin playing together with their cousins, Greg Martin and Anthony Kenney, at the Youngs' grandmother's home, Loftus says.

Mark Orr joins them later and the first incarnation of the band was born. The Itchy Brothers performs informally for more than a decade, Loftus says.

After about 13 years, the band members begin launching separate careers -- Richard Young writes songs for Acuff-Rose, while Fred Young begins touring with country beauty Sylvia, Loftus writes.

Martin becomes a member of Ronnie McDowell's band, while Kenney drops out of music, Loftus explains.

In 1985, Martin decides to reassemble the Itchy Brothers. When Kenney declines to rejoin the group, Martin remembers Doug Phelps, who he meets while on tour with McDowell, Loftus writes.

Doug Phelps joins the new project, The Kentucky Headhunters, Loftus says. Besides Martin and Phelps, the band also includes the Young brothers and Doug's brother, Ricky Lee Phelps, Loftus says.

The Heads play twice monthly on The Chitlin' Show, a radio program broadcast from WLOC in Munfordville, Ky., Loftus explains.

From these 90-minute performances, the Heads build a following and send an eight-song demo to Mercury Records, Loftus writes.

The Heads are signed by Mercury, an original demo tape is re-mixed and becomes the basis of the band's initial offering, 1989's Pickin' On Nashville, which receives rave reviews and becomes a hit, Loftus says.

The Heads' song "Dumas Walker" reaches No. 15 in the spring of 1990, followed by the group's most well-known tune, "Oh, Lonesome Me," which reaches No. 6 on the charts, Loftus says.

In 1991, the Heads release a follow-up effort, Electric Barnyard. The album receives mixed reviews, can't muster a single, and sells weakly, Loftus says.

In summer 1992, the Phelps brothers leave the group to form Brother Phelps, a more traditional country group, Loftus writes.

Brother Phelps lands a deal quickly with Asylum Records and in 1993, Doug and Ricky issue their debut album, Let Go, an "unassuming record with a more traditional country bent than their often rock-flavored work with the Heads," music pundit Steve Huey says.

The title track makes the country Top 10, and several other singles reach the lower end of the charts, Huey notes.

Brother Phelps' sophomore album, Any Way the Wind Blows, appears in 1995 to positive reviews, but the band calls it quits in following years, Huey explains.

The remaining Heads bring former Itchy Brothers Anthony Kenney and Mark Orr to The Headhunters, and the rehashed lineup releases Rave On! in 1993, Huey says.

Doug Phelps returns on lead vocals three years later, and a year after The Heads issue Stompin' Grounds. The LP, Songs From the Grass String Ranch, follows in 2000, and the recording, Soul, appears in spring 2003.

The Heads release Big Boss Man in 2005, which Doug explains is a compilation disc recorded originally for release by Sony, and most recently, Flying Under the Radar in 2006, both from CBUJ Entertainment, Loftus says.

"It's the first time in 10 years Ricky and I have performed together, except for a couple of times when he went on tour with the Headhunters and performed a few numbers with us," says Doug of the upcoming Homecoming Concert at Arbyrd. "Ricky lives in Phoenix, Ariz., now, and pursues solo projects in Christian music.

"We co-wrote some songs and worked together in that sense," Doug continues. "But this will be the first time in a decade we've sat down with our guitars and played music for people."

However, Doug performs duets with a number of music icons, including one big-time cowboy who crosses over from radio's heyday to the silver screen to television screens during his illustrious career, Doug says.

"I've asked for one autograph in my life," Doug reminisces. "Roy Rogers.

"He signed an old Silvertone guitar that I still have," the musician gushes. "It was one of the most exciting times of my life to perform a duet with Roy Rogers."

Doug also shares vocals with Billy Joe Shaver, and the grandpappy of Bluegrass music, he says.

"I sang 'Pig in a Pen' with Ralph Stanley," Doug says. "Both Ricky and I have been blessed to do so many neat things."

Which includes the Phelps Brothers unplugged Homecoming Concert Saturday at Arbyrd, Doug says.

Gibson touts Autumn Fest as "a good-humored, good-willed, real country, red-neck experience" and says the event will be ringed partially with a makeshift pen.

"We're making the fence out of cotton trailers and semi-trailers," Gibson quips. "Autumn Fest is at our city park, where we'll have the bands on the pavilion and we'll use a 20-foot by 12-foot flat-bed for a stage for the performers."

In addition to the Phelps' reunion show Saturday, country recording artist Angie Penny is on tap to perform, along with local outfit Iron Mountain.

The Homecoming Concert festivities begin at approximately 5 p.m. Saturday, and continue until the cows come home, the mayor adds.

"Get here early," Gibson advises. "This will be a real down-home event for real down-home people."

The list of sponsors is nearly as long as a row of Missouri cotton, Gibson says.

In addition to City of Arbyrd employees, Clerk Erma Branum and water department Superintendent Mitch Skelton; James Scott; the city council and aldermen's respective spouses; Gibson says red-level sponsors include the City of Arbyrd, 7Up-RC Bottling Co., David Kellums and Big Moon Promotions, Senath State Bank, Glen Sain Motors, Kirk John Deere, Kennett Irrigation, Gibson and Sons Farms and Produce; gray-level sponsors Agriliance, Baker Implement Co., Faulkner's Grocery, Arbyrd Cotton Co-op, Black Gold Farms, Burton's Quick Stop, Sandy Ridge Gin, Mr. T's Riverside, Graphics Express, Farmers Union Gin; and white-level sponsors Truss Specialists, Inc., Dalton Gin, Unico Bank, Liberty Bank, First National Bank of Paragould and Bazzell and Wilder John Deere.

"I know it's impossible to list everybody who deserves thanks," Gibson admits. "They know who they are.

"We're just glad God allows them to be here for us, and that God has blessed this community with these kind-hearted people, especially David Kellums from Arbyrd, without whom this event could not have come to fruition."

Ticket prices for the Homecoming Concert range from $5 for general admission armbands to $7 for reserved seating to a $20 package that includes a meet and greet with the performers, Gibson says.

For further information about Autumn Fest, call Arbyrd City Hall at (573) 654-3834.