Arkansauce brings a 'Mistletoe Meltdown' to Alluvial Brewing on Dec. 12

The Ozark newgrass band, fresh off its Nashville-made sixth album, plays a Saturday-night holiday show at the brewery west of Ames.

Arkansauce usually headlines rooms that hold close to 500 people. On Saturday, Dec. 12, the Arkansas band is playing a brewery taproom on the west edge of Ames instead, and calling it a holiday party.

Arkansauce plays Alluvial Brewing Company on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. The Humanitix listing bills it as "Arkansauce - Mistletoe Meltdown @ Alluvial," running 7–10 p.m. at 3715 W. 190th St. Tickets are on Humanitix now; the show was announced Oct. 23. That leaves about seven weeks to make plans, and in a room smaller than the band's usual headline stops, that's not much.

This is a return, too. Alluvial's event archive shows Arkansauce played the brewery in November 2023, so the band knows the room and the room knows the band. Since then, a lot has changed.

The big news is *Horizon Never Dies*, the band's sixth album, released Aug. 28. After cutting five records close to home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the four-piece went to Southern Ground studio in Nashville to make this one with producer Dan Davis, as Grateful Web reported. Nashville fiddler John Mailander sits in. The lead single was "Soda Pop," followed by "Rearview" on July 31. It's their first full-length since 2023's *OK to Wonder*, and Ames will be among the first Iowa crowds to hear the new songs live in a small room.

After cutting five records close to home, the four-piece went to Nashville to make this one.

The lineup hasn't changed: Ethan Bush on mandolin, Zac Archuleta on guitar, Adams Collins on banjo and marimba, and Tom Andersen on bass. That marimba is the tell. Arkansauce plays bluegrass instruments, but the band leans toward jams that stretch and wander, which is why it gets called jamgrass. The band's own site has the full tour calendar if you want to see how this date fits.

Alluvial is a natural home for it. The brewery books string bands, with Humanitix listings for Baberhood Bluegrass and Black Dirt Ramblers, Airshow and 65 North Pickers, and Kelley Smith & Kelly Hunt. An Arkansauce show is a headline night by those standards: the band that draws from out of town.

December in Ames means cold walks from the car, so plan for that and get there before 7 to grab a beer and a spot. If the band leans into the "Mistletoe Meltdown" theme, expect a seasonal surprise or two in the set.

Sources: Arkansauce - Mistletoe Meltdown @ Alluvial – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Arkansauce @ Alluvial (2023) – Alluvial Brewing (alluvialbrewing.com); Alluvial Brewing – Ames, IA (alluvialbrewing.com); Arkansauce Shares New Single 'Rearview' From Upcoming Album Horizon Never Dies – Grateful Web (gratefulweb.com); Arkansauce – official site (arkansauce.com); Baberhood Bluegrass / Black Dirt Ramblers @ Alluvial – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Airshow / 65 North Pickers @ Alluvial – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Kelley Smith & Kelly Hunt w/ Wally Neal @ Alluvial – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); JamBase listing (jambase.com); Alluvial Brewing Company achieves gold level Iowa Green Brewery Certification (iwrc.uni.edu)