This week, cowboy poet, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and archivist Andy Hedges recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with this Texas troubadour.

“Andy Hedges is a songster, reciter, storyteller, guitarist, and collector of cowboy songs and poems. The son of an Italian schoolteacher and a rodeo cowboy turned preacher, Andy was born in Lubbock, Texas, in the spring of 1980. He grew up in the small community of Tokio, Texas, where his family paid rent on an old farmhouse by looking after a few head of cattle. It was there that Andy fell in love with traditional music by listening to his father’s cassettes of cowboy songs.

Andy’s vast and varied repertoire includes classic cowboy poetry recitations, obscure cowboy songs, dust bowl ballads, and blues. He also hosts a podcast, Cowboy Crossroads which features in-depth interviews with fellow musicians and poets. Andy has performed many times with folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the duo’s performance at the 60th Newport Folk Festival was named one of the ’10 Best Things We Saw’ by Rolling Stone.” - https://www.andyhedges.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 original Dave Para performing the traditional song “Why Paddy’s Not at Work Today,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

Writer, musician, and traditional dancer Aubrey Atwater discusses the prevalence of cautionary tales found in traditional folk music with musical examples and her own cultivated insight.