At the Meteor Guitar Gallery, an up-and-coming music venue in Northwest Arkansas, I was hoping to see a Lou Reed tribute act. The act, a local band audaciously named Blew Reed, was opening a show there recently.
I was mistaken, but not disappointed.
Blew Reed is the stage name of Clint Reaser, a retired machinist from Rogers, Arkansas. He’s the harmonica (reed) player and singer of the four-piece blues-rock group Blew Reed & the Flatheads. And flathead refers not to a punk haircut but an old Ford or Harley motor.
The Meteor is a large music hall in a repurposed movie theater in downtown Bentonville. It includes the Guitar Gallery where you can view a few hundred vintage guitars and even buy them.
Lou Reed is gone, but Meteor owner Leslie Key is dedicated to music with the old-school rock spirit, along with an appreciation for vintage guitars and the gritty bands that play them.
I had reason to anticipate seeing a Lou Reed tribute there: The Meteor has recently presented the Amy Winehouse Experience; Ode to the Police; and Eras of Taylor.
Blew Reed took the stage on the evening of Aug. 18 with long white hair flowing and the honking of his harmonica echoing through the hall. The Flatheads played a lively set with some original tunes and covers of Muddy Waters and Charlie Musselwhite. The band’s infectious energy brought half the audience to the dance floor.
Following Blew Reed, headliner Oreo Blue shook the building for more than an hour. That’s saying something, because the Meteor is a sturdy brick structure. The blazing guitar of Gary Hutchison and hard-hitting drumming of Stephen Boudreaux drive the band’s self-described “monster” sound, coming down hard on the rock side of blues-rock.
Bassist John Seaberg and keyboardist Rick Endel complete the band. A regional favorite, Oreo Blue has been gigging with various lineups since 1990. Along with original songs, the set included satisfying covers of songs by Roy Buchanan and Tulsa’s Steve Pryor.
Hutchison confirmed that the name Oreo Blue does not refer to the urban legend that dunking Oreos turns milk blue. However, the band won a trademark infringement claim from bakery conglomerate Nabisco years ago.
The climax of Oreo Blue’s set was a wild, crowd-pleasing cover of “Voodoo Chile,” replete with behind-the-back guitar solo by Hutchison, who also leads a local Jimi Hendrix tribute band.
The building that houses the Meteor Guitar Gallery was constructed in the first decade of the 1900s. It housed an early Ford dealership, then was converted to a movie theater in 1927. The Meteor Theater entertained the region for decades, until it failed in the 1990s.
Leslie Key, who grew up going to movies there, took over the building in 2013. With knowledge from his prior career in civil engineering and help from family, he converted it into a music showcase with a powerful sound system, two bars, and the added attraction of the guitar gallery.
Covid came at precisely the wrong time for a new concert hall, but business is improving. Beyond the tribute-band antics, the Meteor is fast becoming a regional venue for rock, blues, and country artists. Past shows include Joe Walsh, Jewel, Roy Clark, LA Guns and Rev. Horton Heat. The club also hosts songwriter circles, something every town should have,
One wall displays an autographed placard of local legend Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, leader of southern-rock band Black Oak Arkansas. An Alvarez acoustic guitar with which Jim Dandy reportedly wrote hits and toured rests nearby. His band has existed in some form since 1963 and charted as many as 10 albums and singles.
The Meteor’s Guitar Gallery is more like a museum of working-class guitars than one of those precious shops that sells pricey vintage instruments to rock stars and investors. Some of the Meteor’s collection shows the typical dents and scratches of performance guitars – bumped against amps and stage doors, dropped, passed around, and eventually signed by various parties with thick felt markers.
The Guitar Gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The typical price range is $300 to $3,000, with a few pieces selling for much more. Collector items at the Meteor include a 1934 Rickenbacker Spanish Electro with Horseshoe Pickup, one of the very first instances of an electrified guitar, Key said. There’s also a 1913 Gibson Style U double-necked harp guitar.
On a sweltering day in Bentonville, you can still duck into the chilled lobby of an old picture-show, lift a well-worn Stratocaster off the wall, and strum a few bars of “Walk on the Wild Side.”
UPCOMING SHOWS AT METEOR GUITAR GALLERY: Sonic Guild, Sept. 8; Taj Farrant and NBLD, Sept. 15; Bellwether Sirens, Sept. 16; Metal Night with Grand Inquisitor, Sept. 22. Songwriters in the Round, every third Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
WRITER’S NOTE: While reporting this article, I ran into photographer Annie Leibovitz in the alley beside the Meteor Guitar Gallery. We were having lunch at Yeyo’s Taco Truck (an NYT and WSJ pick). She was in town preparing a show of her work at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, opening Sept. 16.
