Hempstead County Melody Boys Appear On KZHE Gospel Show

The entire active membership of the Hempstead County Melody Boys were on hand to perform the closing segment of the KZHE Gospel Show Saturday night at Union Street Station in Magnolia.  Because the group is fairly large and the members have active lives, the whole group is not often together at once.  The group has not had a regular banjo picker since Charlie Webb passed away and drafted Martin Sanders of Magnolia to perform on their Gospel Show debut.  Sanders will also join the group at the Jonquil Festival March 18th from noon to 5pm at Historic Washington State Park.

The Hempstead County Melody Boys sprang from the 1988 “Hee Haw” show staged at the Fair Park Coliseum.  Founding members Mark Keith and Scott Townsend played Buck Owens and Roy Clark in the show for the “picking & grinning” segment.  They were soon joined by the late Joe Don Webb.  Webb was active with the group for 31 years and played his last program with them just a few days before his death in early 2020.

The group has performed for many years at events in Hope.  They play regularly at Heather Manor and Hope Haven.  They serve as the “house” band on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of most months at the 67 Gas & Grill in downtown Emmet.

The group took the name “Hempstead County Melody Boys” in honor of a previous group who used that name in the 1940’s and 50’s.  The original Melody Boys were very active on KXAR radio and in engagements around the area.  The “new” Melody Boys adopted the name on December 12th, 1995 during a live broadcast on KXAR commemorating the radio station’s 48th anniversary.

The Melody Boys were quite honored to get to play at the KZHE Gospel Show at Union Street Station.

The next program at Union Street Station will be the 52nd anniversary show of the “Columbia County Hayride”.  The show is Arkansas’s longest-running live country music show and is set for March 18th at 7pm.  The public is invited.  Several performers from our area are slated to be on the program.