Bonding beyond the music

RUSSELLVILLE—For most people, the opportunity to meet their favorite musician is one that will most likely never come. However, 11-yearold Keifer Bonds has not only met his favorite artist, Russellville’s own Austin Bohannon, but has also developed a special relationship both on and off the stage.

Since first meeting at a Super Bowl watch party earlier this year, Bonds and Bohannon have grown closer — so much so that Bonds got the opportunity to join his idol on stage at the Jam on Sloss Lake in front of a couple thousand people. He even sang a song with Bohannon.

“Getting to sing on stage was cool,” Bonds said. “Since it was my first time, I was scared but I really liked it.”

During their performance, Bonds kept up with Bohannon, singing each lyric flawlessly, while also keeping his favorite singer in check.

“I messed up two or three times during my own song, but he didn’t skip a beat,” Bohannon said. “He knew all the words and killed it.”

At the time the two first met, Bonds, who is an avid music fan, was unaware of Bohannon’s music career.

On the way home from the Super Bowl watch party, Bonds’ mother, Mindy Woodard, informed her son of Bohannon’s music and played one of his songs, “Let Me Be That Man.”

From there, Woodard said her son kept Bohannon’s music on repeat and his fandom grew deeper with each passing day.

“He was stuck on that song for the longest,” Woodard said. “He just thought it was so cool that he had watched the Super Bowl with this singer and he’s just loved Austin ever since.”

Keifer Bonds, 11, got to sing with Austin Bohannon at the Jam on Sloss Lake in Russellville on July 4.
CONTRIBUTED/MINDY WOODARD

While Bonds listened to Bohannon’s music whenever he got the chance, months went by before he got the opportunity to see him perform live. Then, one day in June, Woodard surprised Bonds by taking him to his first Bohannon concert — a move that resulted in literal tears of joy from the 11-year-old.

An aspiring football player or musician, Bonds said his favorite Bohannon song is, “If That Truck Could Talk.”

His mother said Bonds plays Bohannon’s music all hours of the day and night.

She recalled one instance where she and Bonds were putting together a piece of furniture late at night. When they both took a break at around 2 a.m., she went to sit down, while Bonds went into his room and immediately fired up Bohannon’s music.

“He’s never been much of a singer, but he knows every lyric to every Bohannon song,” Woodard said of her son. “I don’t know what it is, but he just loves it so much.”

Woodard said since Bonds began following Bohannon’s music career, she has noticed a change in his personality as well. She said he has developed a better work ethic along the way — so much so that the 11-year-old has spent a good portion of his summer vacation helping his 94-year-old grandmother remodel her home.

Woodard attributes the changes to Bohannon.

Knowing the impact his music has on the local younger generation like Bonds is something that drives Bohannon and pushes him to continue making personal connections with the young people he meets.

“The most rewarding thing is when that next generation looks up to you and sees what you’re doing,” Bohannon said. “It holds you accountable and puts everything into perspective.”

Performing with his favorite musician will undoubtedly be a core memory for a lifetime, but the connection Bonds and Bohannon have cultivated goes much deeper than music.

Bonds’ father is currently in prison and won’t be released until 2034 when Bonds will be 19. While Bonds and his father are in contact and have a good relationship, growing up without having a father figure in the household presents some challenges.

Woodard said since Bohannon entered Bonds’ life earlier this year, the singer has served as an important role model for him.

“Keifer looks up to Austin in such a positive way,” Woodard said. “Austin is following his dreams and working hard to get where he wants to be, and Keifer sees that. That has had such a big impact on him.”

For Bohannon, the moment with Bonds at the Jam on Sloss Lake represented somewhat of a full-circle moment for the musician. Seeing a child from Russellville with big dreams on stage reminded him of his youth, along with the reason for pursuing his career in music.

“It means something special because I was that youth like Keifer at one point,” Bohannon said. “Seeing someone that’s younger and passionate about the same thing as me, and a little bit fearless too, that’s a pretty cool thing.”

With summer ending and a new school year right around the corner, Bonds will have to put his own music career on hold, at least for the time being. However, his relationship with Bohannon is something that will continue to strengthen through music and friendship.

“I hope Austin is happy and can be as big a singer as he can,” Bonds said.