'Nashville Rebel' Brian Parton — who hails from Tulsa — will play Fort Smith on June 15

Some call him the Nashville Rebel, like the title of the movie Waylon Jennings starred in, but Brian Parton is really from Tulsa. His band of regional rockabilly dissolved by the early 2000s, and he set off on a solo career.

Last time Parton played Fort Smith was at Rooster’s almost two decades ago. He spent the years 2011 to 2022 living in Denver and working at Rocky Mountain venues. Traveling too, as far as Rapid City, South Dakota some nights without even staying in a motel. He has been a music man. And he covers the song “Nashville Rebel” from the 1966 movie.

His songwriting continues.

He’s coming back with his acoustic guitar for a return to Fort Smith with a show at Hero’s Bar, 1002 Garrison Ave., on Saturday, June 15. The doors open at 8 p.m.

What will Parton sound like in 2024? His voice is still rich with echoes of Jerry Lee Lewis, and classic country crooners. He said it was an easy decision to name his band after the movie Waylon Jennings starred in, “Nashville Rebel.”

Parton has a sound that is quite similar to Jennings, harkening back to the era of outlaw country vocalists. Brian Parton and The Nashville Rebels toured the country from 1993 to 2002 before disbanding. Parton remembers playing in Norman, Oklahoma in the late 1980s with another band of Tulsa musicians called The Ushers. He would pass out black and white photographs of himself with his mutton-chop sideburns and long pompadour style of hair. He would autograph those photographs passed out at such bygone clubs as Liberty D’s. The Ushers were musicians he found hanging out at the Crystal Pistol in Tulsa.

“Fun,” Parton said when asked what to expect from his show in a recent telephone interview from his home in Tulsa. “Light-hearted, poppy, rockabilly, and Hank Williams. It will still be honky-tonk.”

His recent songwriting has leaned toward what he called rom-com, or romantic comedy.

Those who have seen him certainly identify Parton with his cover song from Echo and The Bunnymen’s “Lips Like Sugar.” He played his rendition live on Tulsa’s “Good Day Tulsa” KTUL-TV ABC affiliate since moving back home from Colorado for family. Other songs he's written that have stuck with him include “Rockin’ M-M-Mutha.”

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Singer Brian Parton is headed to Fort Smith for June 15 show