Sonny Kay
Zac Smith
KUHS DIRECTOR
Bobby Missile
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/TALENT BUYER
Cheryl Roorda
Clayton Blackstock
Erin Baber
Annie Gerber
Leslie Gibson
Brook Olsen
Giovanna Splawn
Marisa Rodgers
Rob Cox
Josh McFarland
Low Key Arts provides opportunities for all ages to experience performances and workshops by musical, cinematic and artistic innovators from around the world.
Newly-transplanted from the west coast, Sonny Kay is a working artist, part-time musician, and founder of the cult record label, Gold Standard Laboratories. After promoting concerts and managing a nightclub in college, he turned his attention to releasing music and creating album cover art. He has worked hands-on with literally hundreds of groups including Fugazi, The Offspring, The Mars Volta, The Locust, and Chelsea Wolfe, to name a few. First passing through Hot Springs on tour with his own band in 2006, Kay was eventually lured back in 2017 to helm Low Key Arts and help guide it into its next phase.
Cheryl Roorda has been a fan of Low Key Arts since before its conception. If she wasn't at a Low Key event, she was probably watching all the kids. She is known locally as an accordion player for the "Itinerant Locals", and has recently opened SQZBX pizza joint and brewery with her husband Zac. Zac is the station manager for KUHS-LP, and Cheryl does her best to make sure the details are attended to. She also hosts a radio show on KUHS, "Your Permanent Record", every Thursday afternoon from 3-5. She is not a native of Hot Springs, but she got here as soon as she could.
Clayton Blackstock, a graduate of Baylor University School of Law, joined
the Low Key Arts Board in 2014. He's practiced law in Little Rock since
1983 with the firm Mitchell, Blackstock, Ivers and Sneddon, representing
nonprofits, teachers and medical professionals. Clayton represents many
clients in need on a pro-bono basis. A member of the ACLU legal panel,
Clayton is also a member of, and has served on the board of, Preserve
Arkansas, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people to save and
rehabilitate historic places. Originally from New Jersey, Kentucky and then
Texas, Clayton spends much of his time in Hot Springs at the former 1947
Romer Hotel Court (converted into condominiums in the 1990's). He is
dedicated to Low Key Arts' mission to provide Hot Springs with musical,
cinematic and artistic workshops and shows by innovators from around the
world. As rough carpentry is a hobby, he helped design and construct the
KUHS 102.5 FM Solar Powered Community Radio studio on Ouachita Avenue,
which broadcasts a variety of music and other programming you won't hear on
any other station, staffed by over 50 volunteer DJ's. Clayton completed Low
Key Arts' Inception to Projection Filmmaking Program (a partnership between
LKA, ASMSA, and the University of Central Arkansas), where he and the other
participants each wrote, directed and edited their own short film, and then
screened them at the annual Arkansas Shorts: A Night of Short Film. In
2019, in addition to his extensive volunteer work at the Valley of the
Vapors and Hot Water Hills music festivals, Clayton began taking piano
and guitar lessons via Low Key Labs, the newest addition to the organization's
ever-expanding programming. Low Key Arts depends for its survival on its
donors, volunteers and patrons. Clayton encourages everyone he meets to
become a FOLK member (Friends of Low Key Arts) in support of Low Key Arts'
Erin was born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Immediately following high school, she headed out to the great Midwest where she lived in St. Louis and Springfield, Illinois for many years before deciding to return home to Hot Springs. Erin has worked at the Garland County Library in many different positions for nearly 10 total years, currently doing bookkeeping and public relations. Someday she'll finish the college degree that she's been working on for years, but in the meantime, she chases around a daughter named Scout, a husband named Chris, dogs, cats, and many many chickens.
Bobby Missile grew up in the South and has been organizing live events since the year 2000. He's toured the world in his many bands including his most recent musical project Ghost Bones. In January of 2006, Bobby moved to Hot Springs to open a diy music venue called The Exchange. After years of touring and booking shows he decided to create his own booking agency called Ballistic Missile Booking, and quickly his roster grew to over 40 artists from across the globe. In September of 2013 he was hired by the Mercury Prize winning band Alt-J as their touring stage manager/guitar tech. Bobby became the Artistic Director of Low Key Arts in 2016. If you have a question about the history of Hot Springs, he's the guy to ask.
Rob Cox is a recent addition to Hot Springs. In a past life, he was a videographer/production manager in the corporate and broadcasting world for over 25 years. After purchasing and remodeling The Happy Hollow, Rob left the television world and moved his family to Hot Springs in July of 2017. He is a lifelong music fan/collector and hopes to help forward the vision of Low Key Arts.
Giovanna Splawn (aka Gio), is a longtime Hot Springs native. She moved to Colorado in 2006, where she began a career in dog grooming, met her husband Jeffrey Don, and gave birth to her daughter, Ila. After that, she returned home to Hot Springs where she became a working artist for the Little Rock and Hot Springs farmers' markets. Six years ago, she opened her own dog and cat grooming salon, Gio's Paw Spa. Gio enjoys her longtime hobby of tie-dying, as well as traveling, music, festivals and spending time with her family. She's excited to be active and help our community thrive to be the best it can be!
Josh has lived in Arkansas since shortly after his first birthday. He has mostly self trained in various aspects of many types of computer systems since 1993 and is orchestrating the operation of various systems of Low Key Arts. He has written several programs for KUHS radio to automate weekly tasks. Josh has had a pull toward art as long as he can remember; he has done work in painting, poetry, videography, and crafts. He and his wife reside on a small farm and are working toward creating a sustainable food forest.