JULY 11-14, 2024
LOST HILL LAKE
Saint Clair, MO

By Derrick Weisbrod ~

Several of the Pickin’ on Music Festival’s team members went to catch the Armchair Boogie, Arkansauce and One Way Traffic show at Off Broadway in St. Louis on Friday January 28th . We started off by having a quick hangout at the business office with some of our friends and then walked across the street to Off Broadway to catch the show just as One Way Traffic went on. One Way Traffic is a local St. Louis band that brings a diverse amount of original music and a variety of covers to their concerts. This night featured a more electric sound then some previous shows they have played. Whichever style they present, it is always energetic and makes the body move and groove. They have great vocalists taking turns to entertain us. Friday night was quite the enthusiastic presentation from the very start through the end of the 45 minute set.

During the set break, Augie Daughtery and Ben Majeskic of Armchair Boogie walked across the street to the business office and graciously let me interview them using questions from the team members who really wanted to dig into their perception of Upper Midwest foods and concluded with a little more serious content. The interview was a lot of fun, as all the interactions with everyone in Armchair Boogie have been in the years that we have known each other.

The interview was fairly quick in order to ensure timely arrival for the Arkansauce set. To our surprise, there were at least a dozen police officers at the venue. Apparently one of the attendees and a bouncer had a confrontation which led to the bouncer being ‘karate kicked in the chest’ as one of the attendees shared with me. Glad I was doing an interview and not there for that negative energy to be floating around. Having avoided that mess we were ready to watch the Arkansauce set!

Arkansauce is a band out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Pickin’ team as well as many of my friends have all come to know and love the music Arkansauce makes in their Bluegrass/Americana/Folk/Blues sound that features very identifiable and singable lyrics that stick with you for days after a show. The set featured many of their hit songs and kept our focus which led to less talking amongst the patrons. Like One Way Traffic, Arkansauce is a Pickin’ On Music Festivals alumni band from our Pickin’ On Picknic Festival. The crowd roared as they finished their set leaving everyone wanting more.

Armchair Boogie closed out the night. They are a Madison, Wisconsin-based 4-piece groove/grass band that live up to the “boogie” in Armchair Boogie. While the audience is a lot less familiar with Armchair Boogie then with One Way Traffic and Arkansauce, it didn’t take long for everyone to start moving and grooving to the sounds of Armchair Boogie and their upbeat stage presence. In 2019 the Pickin’ On Music Festivals team came to a consensus that this was our
favorite band of the year. They are picking up a lot of fans and selling out shows in the northern markets closer to Wisconsin and surely priming the pump to expand that popularity out as the years of touring keep acquiring more fans.

This was a show that reminded me of pre-pandemic touring featuring great bands who are doing well in
their respective markets. The show finished with a “Boogie Sauce” presentation for the encore and it excelled at sending us all out with a smile on our faces, warmed hearts and enthusiasm for what is to come as the year warms up allowing us to get out to bigger shows.