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We're having a foot stompin', hip shakin', and high kickin' blues party on January 18th with Fonky Donkey and Friends! The Fonky Donkey band supplies the Blues you can use and fun for everyone!
Fonky Donkey plays foot stompin', hip shakin', slide-guitar driven blues and roots music featuring the songs of Ben (Swamp Donkey) Brenner & Gil Franklin. This is music will take you from Dylan to the Delta, via Memphis & the Mississippi hill country. Fonky Donkey’s music feels both familiar and new and will captivate your audience.
Formed in the spring of 2019 and based out of Little Rock, Arkansas, Fonky Donkey is a veteran of stages & festivals throughout the mid-South. Their performance resume includes the King Biscuit Blues Festival (Helena, AR), the Juke Joint Festival (Clarksdale, MS), the Main Street Food Truck Festival (Little Rock, AR), the Spa City Blues Festival (Hot Springs, AR), the Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival (Fordyce, AR), the Delta Roots Festival (Helena, AR), the Newport Delta Arts Festival (Newport, AR), the Lum & Abner Music & Arts Festival (Mena, AR), the Arkadelphia Festival of the Arts (Arkadelphia, AR), and the Blues by Budweiser Concert Series (Pine Bluff, AR). Fonky Donkey won the Sonny Boy Blues Society's (Helena, AR) Blues Challenge in 2019 and competed in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, in 2020.
Fonky Donkey is currently preparing to release their third record, “The Snake & The Apple.” Supported by a generous grant for delta blues songwriting from the Arkansas Arts Council, The Snake & The Apple includes 11 new original songs and features guest appearances from Rachel Fields (Brick Fields), Nick Devlin (The Salty Dogs; Amy Garland Band), DJ Lady Fingaz, Jerry McCoy, Jason Wilmon, Susan Prowse (Cliff & Susan), Brian Nahlen, Barry “Big B” Brenner, and Barlow Brenner. The first single, “Down in the Bluff,” released on December 7, 2024, in Pine Bluff, AR, was accompanied by a limited-edition commemorative poster by award-winning Arkansas artist Robert Bean and is now available on all streaming platforms.
Fonky Donkey’s last record, Donkeyland, featured eight new original blues & roots songs. Released in March 2022, Donkeyland included guest appearances from Joe Krown on Hammond B3 (Kenny Wayne Shepherd touring band) and Anna "Boss Lady" Brazeal on vocals (Moonshine Mafia). Critics described Donkeyland, as a "brilliant roots and blues excursion through the heartland" and as a record "full of cool surprises." Donkeyland is available on all streaming platforms, including Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes, and received airplay on blues & roots radio throughout the US and internationally. Take a trip to Donkeyland and support the record by listening, sharing, and adding to your playlists!
Fonky Donkey is Ben "Swamp Donkey" Brenner (guitar/slide guitar/harp/vocals), Gil Franklin (lead guitar/slide guitar), Lynn Fitzgerald (bass), Lance "Bug Tussle Slim" Womack (drums/percussion/vocals), Kevin Lewis (sax), Curtis “JJ” Adams (piano/organ).
Today's hours
We're open 9:00AM to 5:30PM
The Ron Robinson Theater is a 315-seat multi-purpose event venue. Part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library campus, it is designed to provide programs for all ages including films, music performances, plays, readings, lectures, speakers, and children’s activities. The theater is equipped with a state-of-the-art DCI-compliant Barco digital cinema projection system and 32′ wide retractable screen; and, a versatile sound system capable of Dolby 5.1 surround audio for movies, with a CL3 digital mixing console with ample inputs for traditional music concerts.
