Bar-Kays to perform at EACC Fine Art Center

East Arkansas Community College will present the BarKays featuring a Soul2Soul Revue Tribute to Stax on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the EACC Fine Arts Center. Tickets are on sale.

With a career total of 29 albums including five gold and one platinum, 40 single releases and 20 top ten singles and albums, the Bar-Kays continue to expand their legendary status. Today, the funk and soul pioneers have reloaded their high-energy act and they are guiding new generations onto the dance floor.

The Bar-Kays started as a ragtag group of teenagers growing up in the shadow of Memphis' Stax Records. In 1967, the teens signed on as Stax's newest band, and their potent, dynamic sound carried them to the top of the charts with their party smash "Soul Finger." The Bar-Kays backed label superstar Otis Redding on his final worldwide tour.

Following the tour tragedy, surviving members of the BarKays reformed the band and they became the premier house band at Stax playing for artists such as Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and, most notably, Isaac Hayes.

By the 1970s, the Bar-Kays had reinvented themselves as one of the premier acts in the funk genre that they helped invent. After the fall of Stax in the mid-70s, the group signed with Mercury Records and recorded a string of hits including "Shake Your Rump to the Funk," "Attitude," "Move Yo u r Boogie Body," "Anticipation," "Too Hot to Stop," and many others that remain dance floor staples to this day.

With their first half century under their belts, the Bar-Kays remain one of the hardest working and most honored groups around. The band has been featured in a nationally televised White House tribute to Memphis soul. They were also inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Beale Street Walk of Fame, and have been featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Bar-Kays’ upcoming performance will feature a Soul2Soul Revue Tribute to Stax.

Tickets for the Bar-Kays are $44 and will be available online at www.eacc.edu, by calling 870-633-4480, ext. 352, or in person at the Fine Arts Center Ticket Office. Group discounts are available and save 20%.

The EACC Fine Arts Center is located at 1700 Newcastle Road in Forrest City, just off Interstate 40.