On the Front Row with Bonnie Montgomery

Arkansas native Bonnie Montgomery is a formally trained musician who mixes country, folk and opera. Montgomery Trucking blends guitar, kazoo and mandolin for an eclectic mix of music that has been described as a cross between country, hillbilly and folk.

Montgomery Trucking features Iowa native Cade Shera on mandolin, Australia native Justin McGoldrick on guitar, Little Rock native Jimmy Young on upright bass, and Aaron Baker and Holly Montgomery on back-up vocals.

Montgomery will sing excerpts from her highly anticipated project “Billy Blythe,” a short-length opera set in 1950’s Hot Springs about the culture and landscape of southern Arkansas that shaped the adolescence of former president Bill Clinton. The work’s name comes from Clinton’s birth name, which he changed at age 16.

Accompanying Montgomery Trucking for the “Billy Blythe” excerpts will be John Willis on piano.