To Purchase Tickets Online: CLICK HERE! or locally at Harrison’s Christian Bookstore (104 East Elm St.) or by calling MSE at (870) 862-4747. For Group seating call the MSE office (870) 862-4747.

Tickets for the event are $40 (Golden Circle), $20 (Orchestra), $15 (Parquet and Balcony).

Main Street El Dorado, El Dorado Chemical Company and First Christian Church of El Dorado are proud to present An Evening of Compassion featuring GRAMMY Award nominee Point of Grace and Dove Award winner Bebo Norman on Friday, March 2nd at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium. The show begins at 7:30 pm with doors opening at 6:30 pm. The tour is sponsored by Compassion International and will feature both acts doing full sets.

Recognized as one of the top Contemporary Christian music bands in the United States The Point Of Grace Trio Consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group formed at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and quickly caught the attention of Word Records executives. The readily identifiable sound has fueled one of the most successful careers in gospel music. Point of Grace has sold more than five million albums, won eight Dove Awards and received two Grammy nods. They’ve earned two platinum and five gold albums and have scored more than two dozen No. 1 hits at Christian radio, among them “Steady On,” “The Great Divide,” “Circle of Friends,” “How You Live (Turn Up The Music),” “I Wish” and “There is nothing Greater than Grace.”

Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Bebo Norman built up a grass-roots following through several years of touring in the mid-’90s with his group Caedmon’s Call, which helped launch his self-released album The Fabric of Verse. Norman then released his official debut album, Ten Thousand Days, which landed him on the cover of CCM–a rare honor for a new artist. The follow-up, Big Blue Sky, was voted No. 1 Christian album of 2001 by the editors at Amazon.com. Myself When I Am Real earned seven Dove Award nods and charted the defining hit, “Great Light of the World.” Projects such as Try and Between the Dreaming and the Coming True continued the steady climb, the latter gaining a near-perfect score at ChristianMusicToday.com, which called it “his best.” Bebo Norman is rooted in the tuneful sensibilities of comparable artists like James Taylor and John Mayer; all the while, he is confidently stretching the musical arrangements to his worshipful melodies.

“Point of Grace performed at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium in May of 2008 and was the first SOLD-OUT performance through Main Street El Dorado’s partnership with the El Dorado Advertising & Promotion Commission,” according to Mark Givens, Executive Director of Main Street El Dorado. “This has been a great partnership and has brought many acts to our community that would not have performed here without this unique public/private partnership.”

Sponsors for this year’s performances include Title Sponsors; El Dorado Chemical Company and First Christian Church of El Dorado. Other sponsors include First Baptist Church of El Dorado, Murphy Oil Corporation, KDMS Southern Gospel Radio, Southern Bancorp, Westside Baptist Church, KTVE NBC 10, Bank & Business Solutions, Immanuel Baptist Church, Westside Christian School, Noalmark Broadcasting and the City of El Dorado and the El Dorado Advertising & Promotions Commission.

Tickets can be purchased at Harrison’s Christian Bookstore at 104 East Elm Street or by calling Main Street El Dorado at (870) 862-4747 or online at www.mainstreeteldorado.org. Group seating for churches and other groups are encouraged to call the MSE office.

For more information, contact:
Mark Givens, Executive Director of Main Street El Dorado 870-862-4747 mainstreeteldorado@suddenlinkmail.com or www.mainstreeteldorado.org
* For press: contact info@jcproductions.tv

Orchestra – $35 | Parquet – $25 | Loge – $20 | Upper Balcony – $15

Theirs is one of the most distinctive and recognizable sounds in the music industry. The four-part harmonies and upbeat songs of The Oak Ridge Boys have spawned dozens of Country hits and a Number One Pop smash, earned them Grammy, Dove, CMA, and ACM awards and garnered a host of other industry and fan accolades. Every time they step before an audience, the Oaks bring three decades of charted singles, and 50 years of tradition, to bear on a stage show widely acknowledged as among the most exciting anywhere. And each remains as enthusiastic about the process as they have ever been.

“When I go on stage, I get the same feeling I had the first time I sang with The Oak Ridge Boys,” says lead singer Duane Allen. “This is the only job I’ve ever wanted to have.”

“Like everyone else in the group,” adds bass singer extraordinaire Richard Sterban, “I was a fan of the Oaks before I became a member. I’m still a fan of the group today. Being in The Oak Ridge Boys is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”

The two, along with tenor Joe Bonsall and baritone William Lee Golden, comprise one of Country’s truly legendary acts. Their string of hits includes the Pop chart-topper Elvira, as well as Bobbie Sue, Dream On, Thank God For Kids, American Made, I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes, Fancy Free, Gonna Take A Lot Of River and many others. They recently covered a White Stripes song, receiving accolades from Rock reviewers. They’ve scored 12 gold, three platinum, and one double platinum album—plus one double platinum single—and had more than a dozen national Number One singles and over 30 Top Ten hits.

Gospel Music Roots

The Oaks represent a tradition that extends back to World War II. The original group, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, began performing Country and Gospel music in nearby Oak Ridge where the atomic bomb was being developed. They called themselves the Oak Ridge Quartet, and they began regular Grand Ole Opry appearances in the fall of ‘45. In the mid-fifties, they were featured in Time magazine as one of the top drawing Gospel groups in the nation.

By the late ‘60s, with more than 30 members having come and gone, they had a lineup that included Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Noel Fox, and Willie Wynn. Among the Oaks’ many acquaintances in the Gospel field were Bonsall, a streetwise Philadelphia kid who embraced Gospel music; and Sterban, who was singing in quartets and holding down a job as a men’s clothing salesman. Both admired the distinctive, highly popular Oaks.

“They were the most innovative quartet in Gospel music,” says Bonsall. “They performed Gospel with a Rock approach, had a full band, wore bell-bottom pants and grew their hair long… things unheard of at the time.”

The four became friends, and when the Oaks needed a bass and tenor in ‘72 and ’73, respectively, Sterban and Bonsall got the calls. For a while, the group remained at the pinnacle of the Gospel music circuit. It was there they refined the strengths that would soon make them an across-the-board attraction.

“We did a lot of package shows,” says Bonsall. “There was an incredible amount of competition. You had to blow people away to sell records and get invited back.”

Their Gospel sound had a distinct Pop edge to it and, although it made for excitement and crowd appeal, it also ruffled purist feathers and left promoters unsure about the Oaks’ direction. Then in 1975, the Oaks were asked to open a number of dates for Roy Clark. Clark’s manager, Jim Halsey, was impressed by their abilities.

“He came backstage and told us we were three-and-a-half minutes (meaning one hit record) away from being a major act,” says Bonsall. “He said we had one of the most dynamic stage shows he’d ever seen but that we had to start singing Country songs.”

They took his advice and the result was a breakthrough.

“Those who came to Country music with or after the New Traditionalists of the mid-eighties cannot possibly imagine the impact the Oaks had in 1977, when they lit up the sky from horizon to horizon with Y’All Come Back Saloon,” wrote Billboard’s Ed Morris. He added “… the vocal intensity the group brought to it instantly enriched and enlivened the perilously staid Country format. These guys were exciting.”

The Oaks branch out

Their career has spanned not only decades, but also formats. In 1977, Paul Simon tapped the Oaks to sing backup for his hitSlip Slidin’ Away, and they went on to record with George Jones, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bill Monroe, Ray Charles and even Shooter Jennings, the son of their old friend Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.

They produced one of the first Country music videos. In 1977, Easy, although not released in the U.S., reached the #3 slot in Australia. They participated in the first American popular music headline tour in the USSR.

The Oak Ridge Boys have appeared before five presidents. And they have become one of the most enduringly successful touring groups anywhere, still performing some 150 dates each year at major theaters, fairs and festivals across the U.S. and Canada.

They did it with a consistently upbeat musical approach and terrific business savvy.

“We always look for songs that have lasting value and that are uplifting,” says Allen, who co-produced seven of the Oaks’ last eight studio albums. “You don’t hear us singing ‘cheating’ or ‘drinking’ songs, but ‘loving’ songs, because we think that will last. We also don‘t put music in categories, except for ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ When we get through with it, it’s probably going to sound like an Oak Ridge Boys song no matter what it is.”

They proved their business acumen in any number of ways, including such steps as declining the chance to sit on the couch during their many appearances on the Tonight Show.

“We said, ‘If you‘re going to give us four minutes on the couch with Johnny, we’d rather have four minutes to give you another song that lets people know what got us here,’” says Allen. “We didn’t get here talking; we got here singing.”

They also proved themselves to be capable and tireless advocates of charitable and civic causes, serving as spokesmen and/or board members of fundraisers for the Boy Scouts of America, the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse (now, Prevent Child Abuse America), Feed The Children, the National Anthem Project and many more.

The group’s first personnel change in many years occurred in 1987 when Steve Sanders, who had been playing guitar in the Oaks Band, replaced William Lee as the baritone singer. Late in ‘95, Steve resigned from the Oaks and exactly one minute after midnight on New Year’s Eve, Duane, Joe and Richard surprised a packed house at the Holiday Star Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana, by welcoming William Lee on stage and back into the group. The hit makers were finally together again!

The Oaks’ high-energy stage show remains the heart and soul of what they do, and they refine it several times a year, striving to keep it fresh well into the future.

“We‘re not willing to rest on our laurels,” Golden says. “That gets boring. As a group, we do things constantly to challenge ourselves, to try to do something different or better than the last time we did it.”

“I feel like I can do what I do on stage just as good now as I could 20 years ago,” says Bonsall. “I plan to be rockin’ my tail off out there as long as I’m healthy. The people who come out, who bring their families to see us, deserve everything I’ve got.”

“We’ve experienced a lot of longevity,” adds Sterban. “I think the reason is the love we have for what we do—the desire, the longing to actually get up there and do it. We love to sing together… to harmonize together. It’s what our lives are all about.”

“Back” to the future

The group recently recorded a new CD, The Boys Are Back, with 34-year-old, Pop-Rock producer Dave Cobb. Cobb encouraged them to stretch musically.

“Seven Nation Army was Dave’s first idea out of the shoot. He said he envisioned us singing where The White Stripes and Jack White do the instrumental parts. It turned out incredibly well,” Bonsall says. “The project is diverse and includes an old spiritual from the Smithsonian archives, God’s Gonna Ease Your Troublin’ Mind, as well as a new Jamey Johnson-penned, soon-to-be-classic called Mama’s Table.”

“And Shooter Jennings’ song, The Boys Are Back, has given our show a whole new opening. It gets the show off to a great start,” Sterban adds.

The Oaks’ new music has attracted the attention of a younger audience, while reminding dedicated fans that their favorite group is ever-evolving.

“We have a selection of the new songs in our show,” Bonsall continues. “Live With Jesus, which has a long instrumental jam at the end, is followed by Beautiful Bluebird, which is followed by Hold You In My Arms, and that is followed by Seven Nation Army.

“When we throw those songs at the audience, it’s fun to watch their reaction. The cool thing is they’re loving it. We don’t give it any introduction; we just go straight into each song. We did Seven Nation Army in Minnesota a few weeks ago and got a standing ovation. The younger kids in the audience were freaking out.”

Duane Allen, who is Executive Producer for the project, adds, “We went to California to get a Rock and Roll producer who brought us back home to the very roots of our music, which is Gospel mixed with Country, Blues and Rock and Roll.”

Golden describes the new project as a “musical journey.”

Sterban agrees. “I think David took us down some roads we might not have traveled on our own. The music may be different but he did not try to change us, he challenged us.”

Many have labeled the Oaks’ recent path as one similar to what Johnny Cash traveled with producer Rick Rubin. The Oak Ridge Boys find that analogy appropriate, almost sentimental, because Cash was one of their earliest supporters and a longtime friend.

“Back when we were struggling in the early 1970’s, Johnny Cash encouraged us. He booked us on his show in Las Vegas, and he paid us too much money. But his belief in us was the most important thing. He sat us down and told us, ‘Boys, you think it’s rough right now, but there’s magic in the four of you. I can feel that magic. I know there is magic there. Don’t break up.’”

And the rest is history.

The American Business Association named MainStreet El Dorado’s Showdown at Sunset one of the Top-100 Events in North America. The last Saturday night in June, July and August, local actors re-enact the historic 1902 gunfight between Marshal Guy Tucker and the Parnell Brothers.

Characters include: City Marshal Guy Tucker, grandfather to former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker; store owner Tom Parnell; brother Matt Parnell; photographer Bob Mullens; Sheriff Norris and others.  This historic portrayal of life in El Dorado in the early 1900s includes live music prior to the re-enactment.  Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. with the re-enactment starting at 6:30 pm.

Showdown at Sunset is open to the public and there is no admission fee. Group seating is also available and each person attending receives a free Showdown at Sunset souvenir program and trading card.

For more information, contact:Mark Givens, Executive Director of Main Street El Dorado at 870-862-4747 or   mainstreeteldorado@suddenlinkmail.com . More details can be found at www.mainstreeteldorado.org

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Sports Alley is El Dorado’s exclusive supplier of several popular brands including Patagonia, The North Face, Oakley, Ray Ban, Speedo, Capezio, FLAX, TOMS, ASICS, New Balance, Reef, Sanuk, Chaco, Keen, PRANA, Sperry, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Wilson, Mizuno, Under Armour, and Mountain Khaki.

Hours of Operation

Monday – Saturday, 9:30 – 6:00
Sunday, 1-5

The Sports Alley
107 E. Cedar Street
El Dorado, AR 71730
(870) 862-8151

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Fellow El Dorado native Elizabeth Long became a partner in the business in the early 2000s, bringing two generations of El Dorado designers together to become Murphy Long Design.  With an ever-changing inventory, there’s always something new to find in the store.  Murphy Long Design offers a wide range of products and services from home furnishings to wedding registries, and maintains their unique dedication to personalized home decorating and design.

While the MLD logo is a hallmark of beautiful and distinctive home furnishings and high caliber home design, both Murphy and Long believe the true strength of their business is not just their retail or design work. “This is a ministry, and something we both feel called to do,” says Sydney Murphy.  ”This allows us to bring beauty and joy into people’s lives as well as their homes.”

Hours of Operation

Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Murphy-Long Design
111 E Main St.
El Dorado, AR 71730

870-863-6625

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Currently the group is a trio signed to Decca Records, with members Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman. The group won four Grammy Awards in the 1990s, and the trio was nominated for two Grammies in 2009. Boyz II Men are the only artists that has stayed at the number one spot cumulatively 50 times, just fourth behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey. They also hold the numbers one, three and four spots for 3 of the longest running singles in music history with One Sweet Day, I’ll Make Love To You and End of the Road. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard Magazine’s most successful musical group of the 1990s.

Hours of Operation

Monday through Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm
Saturday 10:00am to 4:00pm.

House of Wylie Coffee Bar & Cafe
232 E Main
El Dorado, AR 71730

870-863-8756.

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Through our membership in the International Jewelers Organization, we are able to offer the same competitive pricing and extensive inventory of any large jewelry chain.  We also have the amazing opportunity to travel to Antwerp, Belgium twice a year.  By purchasing diamonds in the dimaond cutting capital of the world we are able to pass on the incrediable savings to you, our valued customer.

Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday 9:30 to 5:30
Saturday 10:00 to 4:30

Murphy-Pitard Jewelers
201 N. Jefferson Ave.
El Dorado, AR 71730
870-863-8818

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Hours of operation

Tuesday – Friday: 9 – 5
Later by appointment

The Wright Place Salon
209 East Main St., Suite E
El Dorado, AR 71730
870-863-3251

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Our shoe selection is the best in South Arkansas, ranging from brands you know and love such as, Born, Clarks, Steve Madden, Nicole, J. Renee, Yellow Box etc. We have some of the latest trends in wedges, hidden platforms, and comfort sandals. Some styles available 5-12.
Missy jeans from “Jag” and “Not Your Daughter’s Jeans”, for a fashionable look with the comfort you are looking for. And for the basic items already in your closet, add one of our tops or tunics.

Fun and funky to classic, best describes our jewelry and handbags, available in a variety of price points and styles. Brands such as Brighton, Hobo, Big Buddha, fossil, and other seasonal items are available.
We offer friendly customer service, free gift wrap, gift certificates, and we except all major credit cards.

Hours of Operation

10-6 Monday-Saturday

Shelly’s Shoes Etc.
115 N. Jefferson
El Dorado, AR 71730
870-875-1233

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