Ozark Highlands Radio

This week, Grammy Award winning cowboy quartet “Riders in the Sky” recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park.

“Riders in the Sky is an American Western music and comedy group, which began performing in 1977. The band has released more than 40 albums, starred in a single-season, self-titled television series on CBS, wrote and starred in an NPR syndicated radio drama Riders Radio Theater, and appeared in television series and films, including as featured contributors to Ken Burns' Country Music. Their family-friendly style also appeals to children, exemplified in their recordings for Disney and Pixar. They have won two Grammy Awards and have written and performed music for major motion pictures, including "Woody's Roundup" from Toy Story 2 and Pixar's short film, For the Birds. The band also recorded companion albums for Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.” - https://ridersinthesky.com/history

Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment offers an archival recording of Ozark originals Bud & Karen Bell performing the song “Cannonball Blues,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

This week, the Ozark original traditional folk trio “Harmony” recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with this talented trio.

Harmony has been a mainstay on the Ozark Folk Center Stage for almost a half century. Their vocals, as one might suspect, center around stellar three part harmony. The group features the talents of Ozark Highlands Radio host Dave Smith on vocals, guitar and fiddle among other instruments. Rounding out the trio are husband & wife duo Robert and Mary Gillihan who both sing and are multi instrumentalists as well. Mary plays both bass and autoharp, while Robert covers the guitar and mandolin.

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 an enduring legacy of music and craft. This episode focuses on the population and cultural impacts of the Ozark Folk Center State Park on the Stone County, Arkansas region.

Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment features a rare recording of talented Ozark original folk singer Kay Thomas, performing her arrangement of the traditional song “All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

On this week’s show, Ozark original guitar wizard Danny Dozier recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with Danny.

Danny Dozier is an Arkansas native and proud of it. He is one of the area’s premier guitar players, well versed in the Merle Travis, “thumbpicking” style. Danny has worked with a wide variety of performers over the years including; Grandpa and Ramona Jones, Omar and the Howlers and regional favorite, Leatherwoods.

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 an enduring legacy of music and craft. This episode features background on the founding of the very first Arkansas Folk Festival.

Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment features a rare recording of prodigious Ozark original folk balladeer Aunt Ollie Gilbert singing the traditional Ozark folk song “The Ballad of Cole Younger,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

This week, Stone county native, Ozark original and our very own traditional folk music legend Pam Setser, recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with this Ozark icon.

Pam Setser is an award winning multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire. It's not just her musical talent that will catch your heart but her angelic voice as well. Setser has played at many venues including Louisiana Hayride, Hee Haw, The Ralph Emery Show, Jay Leno, and You Can Be A Star. Not to mention playing in Washington D.C. for President Clinton, and winning third place in the National Wrangler Country Showdown at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. From the first time you hear Pam Setser perform, you will want to hear her again and again.

http://pamsetser.com

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1979 archival recording of Ozark folk icon Almeda Riddle, performing the traditional tune “Pretty Peggy-O,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In this week’s guest host segment, renowned traditional folk musician, writer and step dancer Aubrey Atwater waxes poetic in her discussion about songs of undying love. The segment features the most beautiful of all love songs ever conceived, “The Blackest Crow.”

This week, Stone county native, Ozark original and our very own traditional folk music legend Pam Setser, recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with this Ozark icon.

Pam Setser is an award winning multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire. It's not just her musical talent that will catch your heart but her angelic voice as well. Setser has played at many venues including Louisiana Hayride, Hee Haw, The Ralph Emery Show, Jay Leno, and You Can Be A Star. Not to mention playing in Washington D.C. for President Clinton, and winning third place in the National Wrangler Country Showdown at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. From the first time you hear Pam Setser perform, you will want to hear her again and again.

http://pamsetser.com

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1979 archival recording of Ozark folk icon Almeda Riddle, performing the traditional tune “Pretty Peggy-O,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In this week’s guest host segment, renowned traditional folk musician, writer and step dancer Aubrey Atwater waxes poetic in her discussion about songs of undying love. The segment features the most beautiful of all love songs ever conceived, “The Blackest Crow.”

This week, a special road trip episode. OHR visits Rogers, Arkansas’ Railyard Live Concert Series featuring Southwest Missouri based experimental post-oldtime neo-folk duo The Spooklights recorded live at Railyard Park in Rogers.

Rogers, Arkansas’ Railyard Live Concert Series began in 2021. Held on the city’s Butterfield Stage next to Railyard Park in historic downtown Rogers, it features live concerts every weekend throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall. All of the Railyard Live events are either free to the public or at very low cost of admission. The concert series features a wide array of musical styles and interests designed to appeal to the diverse population of Rogers and invite them to experience the newly revitalized Railyard Entertainment District. The Ozark Folk Center State Park and the City of Rogers, Arkansas partnered to bring Ozark Highlands Radio to capture a little slice of this modern Ozark culture.

“Banjos and beats. Slide guitar and synth. Strange lights flickering in the woods. The Spooklights are what happens when Ozark tradition collides with homemade electronic wizardry. Ben Miller and Pat Kay — stalwarts of Midwest mountain music — soldered their roots to circuitry, creating a jangle-stomp time machine to explore hillbilly music from another dimension. Part folklore, part science fiction, their sound is familiar and otherworldly all at once: ancient, yet from some distant future.

Banjos and synthesizers... Dulcimers and wubs... Strange flashing lights... Unexplained phenomena... The Spooklights is a collaboration that is not what anyone would have expected from these two renowned torchbearers of Ozark mountain music tradition heretofore. It's certainly not what they expected when they traded keys to one another's bunker of busted toys and forlorn experiments during the lockdown of a global pandemic. 

From a pile of spare parts and fringe ideas, these industrious cobblers of homemade gear soldered a few choice wires between Electronic Music and their trademark "Ozark Stomp Grass" producing a jangle-stomp time-machine to vessel their most bizarre implements and soundscapes. In it, they have embarked on a journey exploring hillbilly music from a distant future. Hop on in, y'all. It’s only weird the first time.

Where does the name come from? What is the Spooklight? The Spooklight (also called the Hornet Spooklight, Hollis Light and Joplin Spooklight) is a paranormal light enigma near Route 66 southwest of Joplin, MO along a farm road called E 50, colloquially known as ‘Spooklight Road.’”

- https://stompgrass.com/the-spooklights

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1974 archival recording of the legendary songwriter and Ozark original, Jimmy Driftwood, performing one of his more unusual songs, “The Lonesome Ape,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” author, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins discusses some notable early song collectors in Springfield, Missouri.

This week, Tennessee based old-time string quartet The Stones River Reelers recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s annual Stringband Music & Arts Festival.

Every October, the Ozark Folk Center State Park holds its annual Stringband Music & Arts Festival. It’s two days of lively stringband music & dance, handcrafted art, fine Southern cuisine, and old-fashioned fun. The festival includes live shows on Friday and Saturday featuring acclaimed bands from the Ozarks and beyond.

The Stones River Reelers are a Tennessee based traditional oldtime quartet. Self described as “Hardcore traditional music from the heart of the Volunteer State,” they are Andrew Larson on guitar, Michal Klug on fiddle, Seth Shumate playing harmonica, and Aaron Stephens on banjo. The Reelers recreate not only the sound but also the feel and flair of early American “hillbilly” dance music of the 78 speed records era. Why do they do it? According to their website: “Like all the great old-timers, we play this venerated music to avoid hard labor.” - https://stonesriverreelers.com/about

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1974 archival recording of original OHR host and clawhammer banjo Jedi Mark Jones along with Lynn Young, performing the traditional song “John Henry,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins discusses the exact location of the Ozark region. Where the Ozarks are and where they’re not.

This week, Virginia based old-time string quartet The Earl White Stringband recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s annual Stringband Music & Arts Festival. Also, interviews with Earl White.

Every October, the Ozark Folk Center State Park holds its annual Stringband Music & Arts Festival. It’s two days of lively stringband music & dance, handcrafted art, fine Southern cuisine, and old-fashioned fun. The festival includes live shows on Friday and Saturday featuring acclaimed bands from the Ozarks and beyond.

“Fiddling Earl White has been a mainstay in the old-time, folk and dance community for more than 45 years.  An original and founding member of the famed Green Grass Cloggers, he is one of few Black Americans preserving and playing Appalachian old time string band music, which was an intricate part of Black communities and formed the foundation of American music of today.  Earl is well known for his extensive repertoire of tunes, and his heartfelt, compact, driving style.  He has played in numerous old time string bands, and he currently leads the Earl White String Band, featuring Victor Furtado (banjo), Jim Nelson (guitar), and Dido Norris (bass). White runs the Big Indian Farm Artisan Bakery with his wife in rural Virginia. He also teaches private lessons, hosts jams and (when we’re lucky) comes down to Raleigh to play a PineCone Square Dance.” - https://pinecone.org/artists/earl-white/

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1974 archival recording of legendary balladeer Aunt Ollie Gilbert, performing the traditional song “A Rock in the Weary Land,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins profiles Ollie Gilbert’s husband, folk singer Oscar Gilbert.

This week, world renown bluegrass and old-time music virtuosos and educators Tony Trischka & Bruce Molsky recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s annual Arkansas Old-time Fiddle & Banjo Championships. Also, performances from the 2025 contest champions, fiddler Gwyneth Davis of Petit Jean Mountain, AR and banjoist Erik Brashers of Eureka Springs, AR.

Each year, the Ozark Folk Center State Park hosts the Arkansas Old-time Fiddle & Banjo Championships. Competitors ranging in age from eight to eighty come from all over to test their skills and possibly be crowned a champion. World class musicians are brought in judge these contests and also perform on the Folk Center’s evening concert. At the 2025 contest we were honored to have as our judges and performers, Tony Trischka & Bruce Molsky.

Tony Trischka was born in Syracuse, NY and raised in a home filled with music. There were broadway scores and a sweeping range of classical music, from Stravinsky to Beethoven. The wide-open American vistas of Aaron Copland had an especially potent spiritual and visceral impact on him, as did the folk music his left-leaning father held dear. The Almanac Singers, the solo work of its founding members Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly’s children’s lp were in constant rotation. Trischka fell in love with the banjo by way of the Kingston Trio’s 1959 recording of “M.T.A.,” and was able to experience the New York-centered folk revival by trekking to the Newport Folk Festival in the early to mid-’60s. He moved to the city in the early ’70s and hit the ground running, settling in among a peer group of extraordinary musicians who saw American roots music as a thriving, living language that could be expanded and combined with other influences and sensibilities.

- https://www.tonytrischka.com/bio

Grammy-nominated, described as “an absolute master” (No Depression), Bruce Molsky transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known for his work on the fiddle, Bruce’s banjo, guitar and his distinctive, powerful vocals also resonate with listeners. His combination of technical virtuosity and relaxed conversational wit makes a concert hall feel like an intimate front porch gathering.  Bruce's take on tradition has landed him in collaborations with some of the world's most highly respected players from roots to rock.

https://brucemolsky.com/bio

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1985 archival recording of a notable contest fiddler from the past, Alison Krauss, performing the traditional tune “Gardenia Waltz,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins discusses the etymology of the name Ozark.

This week, Ozark original up and coming traditional bluegrass quartet Spillwater Drive recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival weekend.

Each August, the Ozark Folk Center State Park in scenic Mountain View, Arkansas hosts its Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival. The event brings a full weekend of down home crafts, soul food and soulful bluegrass music. Bands at the festival range from local acts to some of the most celebrated groups in modern bluegrass music.

Spillwater Drive is a traditional four piece bluegrass group from the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks region. An Arkansas Country Music Awards winner, the band brings bell ringing vocal harmonies, superb instrumental virtuosity and unstoppable energy. Spillwater Drive features Adam Ash of Gateway, Arkansas on banjo, Mountain View’s very own Samuel Cobb on mandolin, Gary Cook from Monett, Missouri on upright acoustic bass, and from Washburn, Missouri, Jake Stogdill on the acoustic guitar.

- https://www.spillwaterdrive.com/meet-the-band

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1987 archival recording of honorary Ozark originals The Grandpa Jones Family, featuring Grandpa, Ramona & Alisa Jones and Cathy Barton-Para, performing the traditional tune “Bill Cheatham,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Also, a vintage joke told by Grandpa.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins discusses the surprisingly varied heritage of the Ozarks.