Ozark Highlands Radio

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OHR Presents: Caleb Ryan Martin Jun 26, 2021

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This week, Ozark original singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Ryan Martin recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with Caleb. “Caleb Ryan Martin has, according to one reviewer, ‘a lonesome voice and rhythm that can at times invoke a lonesome ramblin' man sound, a voice that will haunt you with some type of mysterious mountain holler sound, like a banshee singing in the nether woods.’ Caleb Ryan Martin, an acoustic bluegrass, folk and roots musician hailing from the hills of Fayetteville, AR. Looking like a man from leaner and meaner times, Caleb has traveled and played music all across the Midwest and Gulf Coast region, singing with expressive vocals, playing guitar, and picking the banjo providing people with melodic medicine. Caleb currently averages between 150 - 200 shows a year, with no sign of slowing down.” https://www.reverbnation.com/calebryanmartin1 In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1975 archival recording of Ozark original Dave Leatherman performing the Louvin Brothers classic “From Mother’s Arms to Korea,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley speaks with Ozark Folk Center Craft Director Jeanette Larson about the magic of fiber arts.

OHR Presents: Internet Sensations Mar 27, 2021

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This week, a pair of fascinating internet born musical celebrities, Hillary Klug & Abby the Spoon Lady recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these online auteurs. The internet and its many social media outlets have created a space where regular folks can showcase their talents to the entire world. This vast endless digital showcase is mentoring a renaissance in folk music, culture, and expression. Occasionally, these online expressions take on a life of their own and go “viral.” It’s happened over and again, turning regular people living relatively quiet lives into international superstars quite literally overnight. In this episode of Ozark Highlands Radio, we feature two of these celebrious viral VIP’s. Hillary Klug is a buck dancer, award winning fiddle player and street performer from Nashville, Tennessee. She began as a dance & fiddle teacher but became a street performer after realizing that she could make a good living fiddling and dancing for tourists in Nashville’s art district. Quite by accident, Hillary became an internet sensation when in 2018 she posted a video to Facebook of herself performing that went viral. Now, with over one million Facebook followers and over one hundred thousand YouTube subscribers, Hillary is an international celebrity. For her performance recorded here at Ozark Folk Center State Park, Hillary is accompanied by her teacher and mentor, five time Tennessee fiddle champion and multi-instrumentalist Jim Wood. Also accompanying Hillary is multi-instrumentalist Ben Ayers. Together, they present an eclectic mix of traditional old-time music and original tunes, along with Hillary’s fancy percussive foot work. - https://hillaryklug.com Abby the Spoon Lady, born Abby Roach, is an American musician, radio personality, and free speech activist. Her music focuses on the American roots genre. In 2017, she posted a hastily made YouTube video for her friends for an event called Play Music on the Front Porch Day. The video went viral with over 44 million views and Abby became an international celebrity overnight. She now has almost a half million followers on Facebook and almost 400 thousand subscribers to her YouTube channel. Abby first started street performing and busking as a means to make money traveling across the United States, primarily hopping freight trains. She taught herself to play the spoons and traveled all over the United States by hitchhiking and railroad. She states that landing in Asheville, North Carolina, was completely an accident and that she took the wrong train. Today she hosts storytelling events where she discusses the lifestyle of the American hobo. She spent a good amount of her time traveling, recording the stories, interviews and songs of other American travelers. Abby is an advocate for street performance and free speech. In 2014 she was instrumental in developing a group called the Asheville Buskers Collective which advocates for street performance within the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Today she records buskers through a project called Busker Broadcast, and records interviews and songs of travelers passing through Asheville. Abby is accompanied on her Ozark Folk Center performance by singer-songwriter and one many band, Chris Rodrigues. - https://spoonlady.com/about/ In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a recording from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives of harmonica virtuoso Lonnie Glosson making his harmonica literally talk. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley speaks with Ozark Folk Center broom maker Shawn Hoefer about the history and process of traditional broom making.

OHR Presents: Bluegrass! Mar 13, 2021

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This week, a boisterous bounty of Bluegrass bands both regional and international recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these peppy pickers. In the 1940’s, Kentucky mandolinist Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys band coined a brand new sound onto the American popular music landscape. Named after Monroe’s band, this new “bluegrass” music was an evolution of the traditional old-time music of Appalachia. Drawing its roots from the same English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dances as early Appalachian folk music, bluegrass also utilizes the same type of acoustic stringed instruments. Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, dobro, and upright acoustic bass are the standard tools for bluegrass. Add to those a ferocious driving tempo, brilliant virtuosity, and a style of singing that Bill Monroe described as a “high lonesome sound” and you’ve got bluegrass! Featured in this episode of Ozark Highlands Radio are: Nashville based multiple IBMA award winners the Becky Buller Band; Grammy nominated Austin, Texas progressive bluegrass sensation Wood & Wire; Ozark Original ACMA award winning family bluegrass band The Keisler Brothers; Pikeville, Kentucky IBMA award winner and the most soulful voice in bluegrass today, Dave Adkins; Newark, Arkansas’ own three finger banjo Jedi Adam Fudge; Ozark Original mandolinist and Acoustic Music Talk podcast host Brad Apple; Bethesda, Maryland progressive bluegrass icons Seldom Scene. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1980 archival recording of bluegrass legend Buck White performing the traditional song “More Pretty Girls than One,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley speaks with Ozark Folk Center wood worker Joe Roe about the subtleties of bow making.

OHR Presents: Ozark Original Singer Songwriters Feb 27, 2021

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This week, a collection of exceptional Ozark original singer-songwriters recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these canorous poets. Folk songs don’t just materialize out of thin air and they don’t grow on trees. They’re conceived and written by regular people to express their feelings, their experiences and their culture. Although we tend to think of folk songs as records of a distant past, contemporary songwriters carry on this rich tradition. Nowhere is the tradition more alive than in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri. Join us, as we present a small sampling of true contemporary Ozark original singer-songwriters creating brand new folk music for these modern times. Featured on this episode of Ozark Highlands Radio are: Buffalo Gals band member Melissa Carper of Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Mountain View, Arkansas’ own Carolyn Carter; Batesville, Arkansas native and Creek Rocks band member Cindy Woolf; Mountain View resident and Ozark Folk Center regular, Grace Stormont; Taller Than You band member and hammered dulcimer champion, Mineral Point, Missouri’s Ben Haguewood; Buffalo Gals band member and award winning fiddler, Eureka Springs, Arkansas’ Rebecca Patek; Traveling minstrel and multi-instrumentalist Willi Carlisle of Fayetteville, Arkansas. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1973 archival recording of Ozark original singer-songwriter Jimmy Driftwood performing his well known song “The Battle of New Orleans,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley speaks with Ozark Folk Center master printer Troy Odom about the techniques of early printing presses.

OHR Presents: Next Generation II Feb 13, 2021

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This week, next generation Ozark original folk, bluegrass and old-time musicians recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these budding artists. A defining characteristic of folk music is its translation from one generation to the next. Traditional songs and melodies travel not only across oceans, mountains and cultures but also through time as they are passed down. Each new generation of musicians leaves their mark on these cultural artifacts as they experience them and this has not changed. Within the mission of Ozark Folk Center State Park is a desire to provide an environment for this cultural translation to take place. The park’s Music Roots program in local public schools in combination with performance opportunities at Ozark Highlands Theater have provided a rich medium for propagating a steady stream of young traditional musicians. We’re proud to offer this small sampling of the next generation of Ozark originals. Featured on this special episode of OHR… The unbridled energy and vertical ascendancy of the band Taller Than You will have you up and dancing. This six piece old-time Ozark original string band features an unusual lead instrument, the hammered dulcimer, played by vocalist and award winning hammered dulcimer maestro Ben Haguewood. Another award winner, Kailee Spickes brings her championship old-time fiddling as well as backup vocals. Old-time clawhammer banjo champion Grace Stormont rounds out the rhythm and lends her amazing vocals. Chandler Spickes provides some smooth guitar and Gresham McMillon fills out the low end on upright acoustic doghouse bass. Up and coming Ozark original bluegrass phenomenon Southern Strings band straddles the line between traditional and modern. This bluegrass quintet can old-time with the best of them while bridging their unique modern acoustic sound to tunes from a variety of genres. The band is lead by vocalist and guitar whip Sophia Wright. Multi award winning fiddler and vocalist Mary Parker provides an impeccable virtuosity. World champion clawhammer banjo Jedi Lillyanne McCool shows her mastery of the three finger Scruggs banjo style. Mandolinist Isaac McCutchen rounds out the rhythm and style with his soulful voice, and Luke Nentrup brings it all together with his vocals and versatility on upright acoustic bass. Also featured on this episode is Southern Strings banjoist Lillyanne McCool’s winning performance at the 2019 old-time clawhammer banjo contest held during Grandpa Jones Tribute Weekend at Ozark Folk Center State Park. We’ll close the show with a rare performance by vocal prodigy Carolina Mendoza that is guaranteed to make you weep like a baby. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1973 archival recording of a very young Ozark original Greg Moody performing the traditional folk song “Going Down this Road Feeling Bad,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley gives us a glimpse into pioneer survival techniques and the proper use of a “froe,” explained by long time Ozark Folk Center craftsman and musician Robert Gillihan.

OHR Presents: Love Holler (Full Interview) Jan 24, 2021

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This week, Ozark original old-time family string band Love Holler recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these familial entertainers. Love Holler is a three piece old-time family string band. Father, Stacy Russell, leads the band on upright acoustic bass and vocals. Fronting the band are twin sisters Emma and Caroline bringing clawhammer banjo, guitar and the most ethereal sibling harmonies this side of paradise. Descendants of the original settlers of the Love Holler region of Independence County Arkansas, the Russell family has turned their ardor for all things antique into an authentic old-time sound. Although drawing their primary inspiration from legendary country music superstars The Carter Family, Love Holler has incorporated into their repertoire a collection of haunting ancient European ballads and early American folk songs as well as their own original songs. Join the Russell family as they embark on a journey through the past to the early days of radio and beyond. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original Judy Klemenson performing the traditional hymn “Where Could I Go but to the Lord,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley gives a perspective on both the corporeal and spiritual bounty of barns.

OHR Presents: Love Holler Jan 23, 2021

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OHR Presents: Jazz! Jan 09, 2021

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This week, OHR celebrates the singularly American musical art form, Jazz, with a mélange of both regional and nationally renowned artists recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these melodious mavens. The uniquely blended culture of America has produced some of the world’s most notable modern musical genres. Not the least of these is jazz. Growing from its roots in African-American blues music, jazz in its many forms dominated American popular music of the first half of the 20th Century. Featured on this episode of Ozark Highlands Radio are: A.J. Croce, jazz pianist, singer, songwriter and son of famed American singer-songwriter Jim Croce; powerhouse jazz and Texas swing trio The Quebe Sisters; talented Arkansas family group The Clark Family Trio; Ozark original singer and guitarist Denise Lanuti with her band Mighty Fine Time; multi-instrumentalist and featured artist on PBS’ American Epic, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton; inimitable time traveling San Francisco ragtime duo Meredith Axelrod & Craig Ventresco. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1991 archival recording of Ozark original Moon Mullins performing the classic tune “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

OHR Presents: The Ozark Granny Chicks (Full Interview) Dec 20, 2020

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This week, Ozark original all girl old-time string band sensation the Ozark Granny Chicks recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with these seasoned sirens. The Ozark Granny Chicks are an old-time string band quartet comprising Kay Thomas on mountain dulcimer, fiddle and vocals, Tara Ludwig on clawhammer banjo and vocals, Pam Setser on mountain dulcimer, guitar, spoons and vocals, and Crystal McCool on upright acoustic bass, fiddle and vocals. Specializing in traditional Ozark folk music, these ladies bring superb mountain harmonies and mastery of a variety of acoustic stringed instruments. Their laid back style is evocative of gentler days, when Ozark folks gathered for what were called “pickins” where they could socialize, dance, and listen to local musicians “pick.” Let the granny’s music transport you to the old Ozarks for a toe tapping down home good time. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original Mary Gillihan performing the traditional a cappella ballad “Two Brethren,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. In this episode, Charley discusses the socio-economic ramifications of hay hauling.

OHR Presents: The Ozark Granny Chicks Dec 19, 2020

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