DECATUR — Up-and-coming country recording artist and songwriter James Wesley will be the featured entertainer for the 59th Annual Decatur Barbecue Festival. Wesley is known for his top 40 singles “Real,” “Jackson Hole,” “Walking Contradiction” and “Didn’t I,” as well as his recently released album also titled“Real.” “I’ve always been a big believer in tradition,” Wesley said. “A lot of the old ways are the best ways: family, God, treating people right, doing what you’re supposed to do. I think it’s time to come back to what’s real. That’s what country music is about.”

“James Wesley puts those core values into his music with a whiskey-smoothvoice and a timelessly winning way with a great country song. Wesley sings directly to real people about real things that profoundly affect real lives - and from his small-town upbringing to his blue-collar work ethic, he has a deep understanding of what those folks are longing to hear,” the biography on Wesley’s web site, www.jameswesleymusic.com, states.

Wesley grew up in the small town of Mound Valley in southeastern Kansas. He discovered country music through his grandmother’s record collection and enjoyed listening to classic songs by Marty Robbins, George Jones and Ray Price, according to his biography. Wesley began singing in church and taught himself to play the guitar. By his late teens, he was singing at local nightclubs and beginning to think about a career in music, his biography states.

He began to perform at a variety show in Eureka Springs, where he met his wife, Mindee, with whom he now has two young children.

“I could have stayed in Eureka Springs for the rest of my life, but I just had to chase that dream,” he said. “I had to follow my gut.”

Wesley and his wife sold their house and everything in it, rented a moving truck and headed for Music City. Once there, Wesley took a construction job to make ends meet and began learning the ropes of the Nashville music business, his biography states.

He met with hit songwriter Rodney Clawson and producer Dan Fritzel; and in 2009 Wesley signed with Broken Bow Records and released his single, “Jackson Hole,” soon after.

Wesley’s success validated the risk he took when he uprooted his family from Eureka Springs for an uncertain future in Nashville, according to his biography.

“My family has seen all the ups and downs,” he said. “There’s been a lot of hard work. There’s been times it wasn’t easy and they’ve been there the whole time. They’re great.

Wesley will give a free concert on the stage in Veterans Park at 9:30 p.m.

Parking will be $3 per vehicle. The community is invited to bring lawn chairs or a blanket, sit on the grass and enjoy Wesley’s music under the summer stars.

Community, Pages 22 on 08/01/2012