Ozark Highlands Radio

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OHR Presents: The Steep Canyon Rangers (Full Interview) Sep 20, 2020

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This week, Grammy Award winning North Carolina modern bluegrass supergroup The Steep Canyon Rangers recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with the band’s leader and mandolin Jedi Mike Guggino. “Steep Canyon Rangers are Asheville, North Carolina’s GRAMMY winners, perennial Billboard chart-toppers, and frequent collaborators of the renowned banjoist (and occasional comedian) Steve Martin. The Rangers are made up of Woody Platt on guitar and vocals, Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass and vocals. Steep Canyon Rangers have been on a journey that is uniquely their own. The band started in college at UNC-Chapel Hill, then dove head first into bluegrass in its most traditional form, and over the years have risen to the top of the bluegrass genre headlining top festivals such as Merlefest and Grey Fox Bluegrass. Only to then be discovered by Steve Martin, famous actor and banjo player. Martin has taken the Rangers on a nearly decade long tour introducing them to hundreds of thousands of new fans and giving them prime time TV exposure. This has helped SCR become the most recognizable modern name in bluegrass music. The band has continued to tour extensively on their own, without Martin, and have expanded their genre into country and Americana with the addition of a drummer, alongside an incredibly versatile bassist - to accompany the original core band. The Rangers are big players in the bluegrass/country and Americana scene today. They are often compared to predecessors The Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the modern Zac Brown Band.” - https://www.steepcanyon.com/about In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark originals Frank Ellis, Cathy Barton, and Taylor McBain performing the classic tune “Grey Eagle” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

OHR Presents: Mighty Fine Times Aug 30, 2020

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This week, Fayetteville, Arkansas Ozark original old time acoustic quartet “Mighty Fine Times” recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with the band’s fearless leader Denise Lanuti. "Mighty Fine Times" members Dennis Collins and Denise Lanuti have many years of musical experience and have been performing together since 1987. Bayard Blain and Jennifer Parker joined the band and together the group features songs from many genres including old time, jazz, cowboy, bluegrass, blues and folk music. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of his own family, The Jones Family, performing the Buck White tune “Buck’s Waltz,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Writer, musician, and traditional dancer Aubrey Atwater presents a portrait of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers. In this segment, we look in particular at the music and dance of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers—a story that has everything to do with slavery and isolation.

OHR Presents: Mighty Fine Times (Full Interview) Aug 30, 2020

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OHR Presents: Wood & Wire Aug 16, 2020

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This week, Grammy nominated Austin, Texas based progressive bluegrass quintet “Wood & Wire.” Also, interviews with these boundary bending bluegrass mavericks. “To understand the musical entity known as Wood & Wire, it’s best to toss aside expectations regarding the sounds that might be created by four pickers holding assemblages of wood and wire — specifically acoustic guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin. Banjo player Trevor Smith spent some of his teen years in Tucson, Arizona, playing in headbanger bands while studying Bill Monroe and J.D. Crowe. Mandolinist Billy Bright, raised in El Paso, Texas, swore his youthful allegiance to punk rock. And bassist Dom Fisher holds a jazz studies degree from Ithaca College in upstate New York. They don’t claim to defy categorization, they just ignore the notion of boundaries. ‘Us coming together and throwing those recipes in a blender is what makes the sound of what we do unique’ asserts Houston and Galveston raised lead singer/guitarist Tony Kamel. Kamel, unbelievably, cites Wood & Wire as his first professional band outing, though he obviously developed prodigious skills since digging his mom’s guitar out of the attic at 12.” - https://www.woodandwireband.com/bio In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of West Virginia country music legends The Bailes Brothers performing the traditional song “I Saw the Light,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Writer, musician, and traditional dancer Aubrey Atwater discusses children’s songs in folk culture with musical examples and her own cultivated insight. In this segment, we look at children’s songs, many of which have ancient lyrics and references. As songs are passed from parent to child or child to child, it is very natural to sing about our surroundings and what we overhear. What is surprising, though, are the often morbid origins of these songs. Death, disease, cruelty, religious conflict, politics, war, corruption, taxes, you name it.

OHR Presents: Richie & Rosie (Full Interview) Aug 02, 2020

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This week, New York singer-songwriter, Americana and folk duo Richie & Rosie recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with these two fascinating talents. “Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton grew up 150 miles and a few decades apart. While both were raised by professional cellists, Richie started playing banjo at age 14 and Rosie began classical piano lessons at eight, eventually moving to classical viola as a teen. Both shared incredibly unique, musically-immersed childhoods. Richie’s family founded the iconic GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance (of which he is now President) and by her junior year of high school, Rosie was playing fiddle and touring with folk rock band The Mammals. During that time, the two were introduced at Saratoga Springs’ Flurry festival, a meeting that would spark a fated friendship and unique musical bond. ‘He left an impression on me because he was wearing Converse. I had never seen an adult wear Converse before,’ said Rosie, reflecting back on the first time she shared the stage with Richie. As a Woodstock native, she graduated high school and decided to move to Ithaca after being drawn to the thriving old-time scene, which happened to also be Richie’s stomping grounds. While studying viola at Ithaca College and playing fiddle on the side, Rosie started incorporating folk with her traditional Celtic and classical upbringing. Meanwhile, Richie was a well-established singer and banjo player in the community, having performed around the world with bands like Bela Fleck, Pete Seeger, David Byrne, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Joan Baez. In addition to releasing two solo albums, Richie was adding to his endless discography, which includes three Natalie Merchant records, multiple collaborations with Jim Lauderdale and Donna The Buffalo, and Carrie Rodriguez.” https://richieandrosie.com/bio In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original Frank Ellis performing a traditional fiddle medley from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Writer, musician, and traditional dancer Aubrey Atwater discusses songs of “home” with musical examples and her own cultivated insight. Home, hearth, family, and sense of place are profound aspects of the human experience. In this segment, we explore American folk songs that address leaving home, returning home, searching for home, homesickness, and our heavenly home.

OHR Presents: Richie & Rosie Aug 01, 2020

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OHR Presents: Amy Helm Jul 19, 2020

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This week, Woodstock, NY singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and American musical legacy Amy Helm recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with this descendant of American music royalty. “Amy Helm is an American singer-songwriter and daughter of The Band drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own touring band. Born in Woodstock, New York, Amy spent her childhood between Woodstock, Los Angeles, and New York City. She attended Trinity High School where she studied jazz with Dr. Aaron Bell, while singing in bands, and playing in New York City clubs and bars. A lifelong musician and music-lover, Helm’s parents guided her training and influences. She later became a founding member of the alt-country collective Ollabelle and served as a backing musician in her father's Midnight Ramble Band.” http://www.amyhelm.com/home#about-amy In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1975 archival recording of Ozark originals The Simmons Family and also Pam Setser performing the traditional song “Bright Morning Stars are Rising.”

OHR Presents: Hard Times Jul 05, 2020

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This week, Ozark Highlands Radio explores hard times in 2020. For this special episode, we’ve reached out to various Ozark Highlands Radio featured artists to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic. Hear notable musicians open up about how they themselves, their careers, and their art have been affected by these trying events. We’ll also hear music from these hard driving gig workers, recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. The pandemic of 2020 has been a major disruption to almost every facet of human life. Because of the associated lock-downs and social distancing requirements in combination with the nature of their work, one certain group of gig workers, touring musicians, have been completely shut down. Not only are they dealing with an immediate and unexpected lack of income but also a very uncertain future. As we’ll hear from their interviews, they’re quite aware that they may be some of the last people allowed to get back to work. Featured in this special episode are Canadian Ottawa Valley fiddler and step dancer April Verch, Mark Bilyeu of the Ozark original group “The Creek Rocks,” international autoharp maverick and poet Bryan Bowers, Rhode Island writer, musician and traditional step dancer Aubrey Atwater, North Carolina old-time songwriter and clawhammer banjo slinger Joe Newberry, and Florida contemporary mountain dulcimer Jedi Bing Futch.

OHR Presents: Nick Shoulders Jun 21, 2020

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This week, Ozark original, singer-songwriter, yodeler, multi-instrumentalist and one man band Nick Shoulders recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Also, interviews with this interesting musical multi-tasker. Nick Shoulders is originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas but now divides his time between Fayetteville and New Orleans. Nick blends his unique brand of Arkansas honkabilly with Slim Whitman-style quivering country ballads. While simultaneously playing drums and guitar, Nick performs old-time country and honky tonk music that features whistling, yodeling, mouth trumpet, kazoo, and more. “Wielding a high yodel and whistle crafted from a lifetime chasing lizards through the Ozark hills, Nick combines his family's deep ties to southern traditional music with years singing to empty street corners to create this hybridized form of raucous country music: born of some dark holler and bred to be stomped into the New Orleans dance floors it now calls home. Since 2014, Nick has periodically traveled for months at a time, living out of his van-house with his trusty 130-pound dog Moose while busking as a one-man band all over the U.S.” - https://nickshoulders.bandcamp.com In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original Mike Sutter performing the blues song “Jimmy Bell,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Writer, musician, and traditional dancer Aubrey Atwater discusses the tradition of jump rope and hand clapping rhymes and songs in folk music with musical examples and her own cultivated insight. In this segment, we visit playgrounds to hear children jump rope and play hand-clapping games, eavesdropping on their rhymes and chants, many of which are derived from old folk songs, tales and current events. We even learn how some of these songs have made their ways into modern popular music.

OHR Presents: Nick Shoulders (Full Interview) Jun 21, 2020

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