Wakarusa gets a little taste of a Fort Smith-based band

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis, food and entertainment writer for The City Wire, has interviewed several of the bands expected to play at the Wakarusa music festival north of Ozark. He is also providing reviews of some of the bands to play Wakarusa. The festival is set to be held on Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, June 4-7.

review by Peter Lewis

For those heading to Wakarusa on Saturday, you’ll have a chance to see one of Fort Smith’s finest bands, Copesetic, play in front of a record breaking crowd on the Backwoods Stage at 10:45 p.m. While the band name itself has been around the Fort Smith since the mid to late nineties, the current manifestation of Copesetic has been around for about two years. And, it should be noted, those two years have been both busy and productive for the boys in Copesetic.

The current group of musicians sprang up around vocalist and guitarist, Michael Huff,  drummer Sean Brinkman and percussionist Greg Palmer. Bassist Ben Whorton joined the band in the spring of 2007, while the multi-faceted lead guitarist, Hunter Smith and keyboard aficionado/vocalist Adam Robertson joined the fold in 2008.

Most recently, Copesetic beat out dozens of other bands battling for a spot to play at Wakarusa. Bassist Ben Whorton was both surprised and ecstatic at the somewhat unexpected opportunity to play at such a great festival.

“This was going to be a vacation for most of us and then we earned a spot to play and it made it the vacation of a lifetime,” he said.

Though quite excited, Ben also admits he has been affected by a bout of nervousness.

“I haven’t been able to sleep,” he admitted recently.

He went on to say that Sean Brinkman, Copesetic’s talented drummer, has been suffering from weird dreams in the build up towards the biggest show to date of their career.

Whorton admits that their goal, at least for the average listener, is to keep the crowd’s “feet moving.” For those unfamiliar with Copesetic, their wide-ranging musical influences are evident in their electrifying eclectic sets. With spine-tingling original jams and rampaging cover tunes of seminal artists like The Band, Copesetic is methodically raising their profile. 

One positive step forward was the 2008 release of Copesetic’s debut album, “Welcome to the Circus.” While it is often difficult to harness and filter a band’s diverse influences and tastes into a coherent whole, Copesetic has accomplished the feat with skillful brio.

Though there is certainly a wealth of possibilities for Copesetic, they have already run into one snag: another band with the same name. This particular group has a completely different sound and resides in New Jersey. When asked about a possible invasion to stake their long-standing claim to the name, Copesetic, the band takes a mostly sanguine, live-and-let-live approach to the matter. Until things become difficult for either outfit, no action will be taken. At the moment it seems a northern invasion is unnecessary, but, if their luck continues to match their talent, the moment to wrest sole control over the name “Copesetic” may be fast approaching.

Peter can be reached at [email protected]