Ozark Highlands Radio is a weekly radio program that features live music and interviews recorded at Ozark Folk Center State Park’s beautiful 1,000-seat auditorium in Mountain View, Arkansas. In addition to the music, our “Feature Host” segments take listeners through the Ozark hills with historians, authors, and personalities who explore the people, stories, and history of the Ozark region.

This week, international guitar thumbpicking champion and songwriting humorist Shane Adkins performs live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with Shane. Featured as well, a performance and interviews from up and coming modern thumpicking prodigy Kirby Easler.

Alabama guitarist Shane Adkins comes by his talent honestly. As a boy, he learned from guitar legend and family friend Mose Rager in the heart of thumbpicking country, Drakesboro, KY. Shane applied those lessons and went on win the International "Home of the Legends" Thumbpicking Contest in Muhlenberg County, KY and the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship in Winfield, KS. A talented songwriter, Shane takes a page from friend and fellow musician Mike Snider, writing songs with southern wit and humor. This performance was as one of the featured musicians who appeared at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s annual Thumbpicking Weekend in May of 2016.

Kirby Easler is a Nashville-based guitarist from Charleston, South Carolina, specializing in solo acoustic performance and fingerstyle arranging. At 22 years of age, Kirby is a protégé of Grammy-winning guitarist John Knowles, CGP, and has worked and performed alongside some of the industry's top guitarists, including Thom Bresh and Tommy Emmanuel, CGP. In 2015 Kirby placed second in the Contemporary division of the National Thumpicker's Hall of Fame guitar competition, and in April 2014 Kirby and her Yorkshire Terrier, Grabel, were featured on The Late Show with David Letterman for an episode of "Stupid Pet Tricks.”

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers an archival recording of Ozark original Dave Leatherman performing the song “From Mother’s Arms to Korea,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

From his series entitled “Fine Fiddlers of the Ozarks,” old time and Ozark fiddle aesthete Roy Pilgrim profiles the Ozark tradition of square dances. This installment features archival recordings of actual Ozark square dances held in Galena, MO and Mt. Gaylor, AR in 1950.