Rison In The Fall Festival

06/15/2026

06/10/2026

Rison’s premier event, the Rison in the Fall Festival will celebrate its 36th year Saturday, Oct. 10 with a headlining show from one of the most unforgettable voices of 90s country music - Grammy, ACM and CMA award winner Bryan White.

Rison Shine Community Development, Inc. is excited to welcome White to Rison. With more than 5 million albums sold worldwide, 21 charted singles, and six #1 hits — including “So Much for Pretending,” “Rebecca Lynn,” “Someone Else’s Star,” “I’m Not Supposed To Love You Anymore,” and “Sittin’ On Go” — White carved out a place as one of the decade’s true hitmakers. His soaring duet with Shania Twain, “From This Moment On,” anchored the biggest-selling female album of all time.

White will be joined on the Rise Up Rison stage by special guest Americana singer-songwriter Ward Davis. Additional acts on the lineup include country outlaw Wyatt Putman, viral star of “The Voice” Cori Kennedy, and the rebel spirit of Whoa Dakota.

In addition to the music, this year’s event will also be known as the Fall Into Fitness Festival in partnership with Absolute Health. The festival will kick off with a Run/Walk 5K and 12-Mile Bike Ride! Fitness stations and more will be set up around the festival to encourage physical activity and help you meet your step goals throughout the day.

“We’ve got one of our biggest lineups to date,” said Douglas Boultinghouse, festival director. “We are looking forward to having Bryan White deliver a spectacular show in our town alongside some very special guests, all with Arkansas ties to country music.”

The 36th Annual Rison in the Fall Festival is sponsored by Donnie and Charlotte King, Rison Pharmacy, FBT Bank, Stella-Jones, Gateway Bank, Absolute Health, Green House Cottages of Southern Hills, Edward Jones Advisor Jacob Wilson, Cycle & Marine Supercenter, Rison Serenity Wellness Spa, RENEO Chiropractic, Roy Phillips, James and Karla Wilson, Entergy Arkansas, Connect Bank, ShopWise Grocery, My Berry Patch, Douglas B Design, Cleveland County Herald, Jefferson Regional, Holt Builder’s Supply, State Representative Sonia Barker, C&L Electric, C&L Broadband Connect, Gentiva Hospice, Remax Platinum Team Jaggers, Rally Networks, Double M Fi****ms, Pizza Pro and Melhorn Bros. Feed.

Additional activities for the 2026 Rison in the Fall Festival and Fall into Fitness Festival are expected to be announced over the summer.

Vendor registration and more details can be found online at www.clevelandcountyarkansas.com/risoninthefall

05/08/2026

This Friday, we're giving a huge shout out to our gold sponsor FBT Bank!

Thank you FBT for sponsoring the festival and our official shirts! We've got some fun things in the works for this fall!

05/01/2026

We're excited to kick off the first Friday in May with some news! Every Friday, we'll be highlighting our sponsors of the 2026 Rison in the Fall Festival!

We're leading up to some fun MOMENTS you won't want to miss as we make a very big announcement in the coming weeks! 🎶 🍂

Kicking it off with this year's DIAMOND sponsor, Rison Pharmacy! Thank you Lynn and the pharmacy for your support! ❤️

Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 10!

03/04/2026

Voting is now open for the 2026 Arkansas Country Music Awards.

The Cleveland County Herald is nominated for the Publication/Podcast of the Year award for its promotion of country music and the Rison In The Fall Festival.

Voting closes March 14. Only one vote is allowed per person. Vote online at the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Arkansas2026

Douglas Boultinghouse will represent the Herald at the June 1 ceremony in Conway.

03/01/2026

Voting is now open for the Arkansas Country Music Awards!

We would appreciate your vote for the Cleveland County Herald in the Publication of the Year category!

Vote here now: ArkansasMusic.org
Voting ends March 14th.

02/03/2026

Thank you to the Arkansas Country Music Awards for nominating the Cleveland County Herald for the Publication/Podcast of the Year Award for the promotion of country music and the Rison In The Fall Festival!

Voting opens in March, so we will share more information as it is given to us! We look forward to attending the ceremony in June!

*** OFFICIAL 2026 NOMINEES ***

Lance Carpenter, Jeremy Huddleston, and Waylon Wyatt lead with five nominations for 2026 Arkansas Country Music Awards, while Cliff & Susan and Kelsey Lamb each received four nominations.

David Adam Byrnes, Blane Howard, Tyler Kinch, and Luke Williams each received three nominations.

Here is the complete list of 2026 nominees:

ENTERTAINER of the Year
Cliff & Susan
David Adam Byrnes
Sylamore Special
Tyler Kinch
Waylon Wyatt

AMERICANA ARTIST of the Year
Ashtyn Barbaree
Common Roots
Jesse Welles
Mark Currey
Waylon Wyatt

BLUEGRASS ARTIST of the Year
Arkansauce
Front Porch
Harmony Hollow
Mountain Heirs
Sylamore Special

COUNTRY ARTIST of the Year
Blane Howard
David Adam Byrnes
Kelsey Lamb
Kish Moody
Ward Davis

FEMALE VOCALIST of the Year
Abbey Pierce
Kelsey Lamb
Mallory Everett
Mary Heather Hickman
Marybeth Byrd

MALE VOCALIST of the Year
Blane Howard
David Adam Byrnes
Ryan Harmon
Tyler Kinch
Waylon Wyatt

VOCAL DUO / GROUP of the Year
Cliff & Susan
Copper Flats
Midnight South
7 South
TRIPPP

ACOUSTIC ACT of the Year
Batterton & Edwards
Cam Shelton
The Creek Rocks
Robert Taylor Smith
Trey Johnson

MUSIC COLLABORATION of the Year
"Are You a Real Cowboy" by Amanda Kate Ferris featuring Jenee Fleenor. Produced by Jimmy Ritchey.
"Human Together" by Lance Carpenter featuring Jess Antonette. Produced by Lance Carpenter.
"Just Wait (Mom's Version)" by Kelsey Lamb featuring Sharon Lamb. Produced by Matt McVaney.
"Sunday Supper" by Waylon Wyatt & Bayker Blakenship. Produced by Brett Truitt.
"Why You Been Gone So Long" by Molly Clair featuring Maddie Dalton and Tim Crouch. Produced by Clay Hess and Darrell Turnbull.

YOUNG ARTIST of the Year
Addyson Kennedy
The Armer Sisters
Grace Wells
Noah Gattis
Presley Shipp

ALBUM of the Year
“Don’t Call Me Darlin’” by Abbey Pierce. Produced by Jeremy Huddleston
“Echoes from the Open Road” by Kish Moody. Produced by Kish Moody
“Now I Know” by Blane Howard. Produced by Blane Howard and Derek George.
“Songs & Time” by Kenny Drain. Produced by Jeremy Huddleston.
“Til the Sun Goes Down” by Waylon Wyatt. Produced by Waylon Wyatt and Tommy Trautwein.

SONG of the Year
"Dancing with a Cowboy" Written by Darren Barry. Performed by Tyler Kinch.
"Human Together" Written by Lance Carpenter. Performed by Lance Carpenter featuring Jess Antonette.
"Introduce Myself" Written and performed by Luke Williams.
"Me Being Me" Written by Jim Femino, D. Vincent Williams and Vickie McGehee. Performed by Pamela Hopkins.
"West Virginia" Written by Cliff Prowse and Susan Prowse. Performed by Cliff & Susan.

SONGWRITER of the Year
Barrett Baber
Brittany Moore
Jason Lee Campbell
Lance Carpenter
Trey Stevens

MUSIC PRODUCER of the Year
Andy Wallis
Darren Crisp
Eric Spahn/Josh Noren
Jeremy Huddleston
Jon Raney

SOUND ENGINEER of the Year
Bob Breazeal
Bryce Roberts
Darren Crisp
Jeremy Huddleston
Sam Duncan

PROMOTER of the Year
Erica Holthus
Jenna Friday
Rickey Crawford
Trent Goins
Tyler Parsley

VIDEO of the Year
"All American" by Lance Carpenter. Directed by Steve Batres.
"Clueless" by Brittany Moore. Directed by Oceanna Colgan.
"Introduce Myself" by Luke Williams. Directed by Sharpe Dunaway.
"Spitfire" by Cliff & Susan. Directed by Trenton Johnson.
"Tease" by Kelsey Lamb. Directed by Ben Oaks.

INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING of the Year
“Give It to Jesus” by Anna Brinker. Produced by Don DeMumbrum.
“I’m Going Up” by Boone & Company featuring Jake Stogdill, Sam Cobb, Gary Cook, Roger Adams, Robbie Boone and Andrew Thompson. Produced by Jake Stogdill.
“Revival” by Woodshed Revival featuring Justin Keith, Big Shane Thornton and Andy Wallis. Produced by Andy Wallis.
“Shape of a Cross” by Lance Carpenter. Produced by Nick Schwarz.
“When I Think about Home” by The Villines Trio. Produced by Landon Villines.

RADIO STATION of the Year
KDXY, "The Fox 104.9," Jonesboro
KHPQ, "Hot Country 92.1," Clinton
KKYR, "Kicker 102.5," Texarkana
KTCS, “KTCS 99.9,” Fort Smith
KWCK, "Continuous Country 99.9," Searcy

RADIO DJ of the Year
Beemer, KHOZ, Harrison
Billy Coble, KTPB, Pine Bluff
Greg Geary, KWCK, Searcy
Jess Jennings, KSSN, Little Rock
Marty Scarbrough, KASU, Jonesboro

PUBLICATION / BLOG / PODCAST of the Year
AY Magazine
Cleveland County Herald
The Pam Setser Show
Stuttgart Daily Leader
The TeleTime Show

VENUE of the Year
The Collins Theatre (Paragould)
The Farm (Eureka Springs)
The Hall (Little Rock)
King's Live Music (Conway)
The Woodlands Auditorium (Hot Springs Village)

BASS PLAYER of the Year
Aaron Mashburn
Dennis Crouch
Doug DeForest
Garrett Jones
Michael Rinne

DRUMMER of the Year
Adam Parker
David O'Neal
Evan Hutchings
Quinn Hill
Ryan Cotroneo

FIDDLE PLAYER of the Year
George Mason
Jenee Fleenor
Mary Parker
Nathan Agdeppa
Tim Crouch

GUITAR PLAYER of the Year
Billy Lowe III
Jon Conley
Kyle Bruich
Luke Williams
Randall George

SPECIALTY / UTILITY MUSICIAN of the Year
DeWayne Rice
Jeremy Huddleston
Josh Matheny
Michael Heavner
Walker Robinson

10/24/2025

More 📸 from the 35th Annual Rison in the Fall Festival! 🍂

How awesome was Laura Caroline Music kicking off the day with her first full band show, and debuting new music?!?

10/23/2025

We still have a some of this year's festival shirts available at the Cleveland County Herald office!

If you're interested in purchasing one, we'll keep them here in the office through Oct. 31.

10/23/2025

We've had a handful of lost and found items (a chair, tumbler, key card, etc) turned in at the Cleveland County Herald office. If you're missing anything, please come by the office to check.