This week, a special road trip episode featuring up and coming Irish finger style guitar Jedi Shane Hennessy recorded live at the 2024 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Also, a performance from each of the top three 2024 Walnut Valley International finger style guitar champions, Hiroya Tsukamoto, Mikey Bilello, and Stephen Bennett.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound and Sally & The Hurts that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

Shane Hennessy is a virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist, singer/songwriter, and composer. With an upbringing in the world of Irish traditional music, Shane has been captivating audiences globally for the past few years, with sell-out solo tours in Europe and North America under his belt, as well as regular appearances at major international music festivals including MerleFest, Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival, Sound of Europe Festival (Düsseldorf, Germany), and Milwaukee Irish Fest. He has released four albums of original music, and his most recent studio album ‘Rain Dance’ was hailed as “a triumphant reaffirmation of his virtuosity and compositional excellence” by Irish Music Magazine. Shane has collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel, worked with Grammy-winner Bill Whelan (composer of Riverdance), and made his début on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee in March 2023. A musician from a young age, Shane credits his background in Irish traditional music as the base on which he has built his genre-defying musical explorations. Initially a concertina player, he achieved successes in competitions in Ireland. He then turned to the guitar aged twelve inspired by the music of James Taylor. Becoming more interested in songwriting and in music in general, it was when he discovered the styles of Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins that his interest in solo performance blossomed. Described by legendary guitarist and mentor Tommy Emmanuel as “a brilliant entertainer and an amazing musician who transcends the guitar the same way Muhammed Ali transcended boxing”, Shane has since developed an unmistakably unique voice as a fingerstyle guitarist, blending his native Irish music with elements of jazz, country, blues, funk, classical, soul, world, and hip-hop. With the addition of some smooth vocals and improvisations, it makes sense why music legend super-producer Nile Rodgers (CHIC) remarked that “[Shane’s] style is killer, it’s really cool stuff.”

https://www.shanehennessy.ie/bio

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 2015 archival recording of Ozark original guitarists Danny Dozier and Randy Buckner performing the 1924 Isham Jones song “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins concludes his three part series on the surprisingly violent history of tornadoes in the Ozarks.

This week, a special road trip episode featuring world renowned cowboy singer-songwriter and story teller Dave Stamey recorded live at the 2024 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound and Sally & The Hurts that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

Cowboys and Indians Magazine has called him “the Charlie Russell of Western Music.” Western Horseman Magazine has declared his “Vaquero Song” to be one of the greatest Western songs of all time. True West Magazine named him Best Living Western Solo Musician four years in a row. Dave Stamey has been a cowboy, a mule packer, a dude wrangler, and is now one of the most popular Western entertainers working today. He has been voted seven times Entertainer of the Year, seven times Male Performer of the Year and Five times Songwriter of the Year by the Western Music Association and received the Will Rogers Award from the Academy of Western Artists. He’s delighted audiences in twenty-three states and finds that he prefers this to being stomped by angry horses. In November 2016, Dave was inducted into the Western Music Hall of Fame. - https://davestamey.com/

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original cowboy Glenn Ohrlin performing the song “Tying Knots in the Devils Tail,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins continues his three part series on the surprisingly violent history of tornadoes in the Ozarks.

This week, a special road trip episode featuring Salt Lake City, Utah based progressive bluegrass explorers Pixie and The Partygrass Boys recorded live at the 2024 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Also, a bonus first main stage performance by original Walnut Valley campground jam band Sally & The Hurts.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound and Sally & The Hurts that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

Pixie and The Partygrass Boys may be far from their humble beginnings but they still don't take themselves too seriously. What began as a group of ski bums playing house parties in the Cottonwood Canyons of Salt Lake City has evolved into a nationally touring band that always aims to have the most fun possible. The band is Katia "Pixie" Racine on vocals & ukulele, Amanda B. Grapes on fiddle & vocals, Zach Downes on upright bass, Ben Weiss on mandolin & vocals, and Andrew Nelson on guitar & vocals. Pixie and The Partygrass Boys create a uniquely American sound that can turn the room into a ruckus but offers a full variety of other dynamics as well - approaching bluegrass/folk with a classical and jazz background while incorporating elements of broadway and pop-punk. They have captivated audiences across the nation with their unique blend of heartfelt songwriting, high velocity instrumental excellence, silly outfits, and sing-along anthems. Pixie and The Partygrass Boys invite the audience into their world every time they take the stage, hoping to share a piece of the magic they've found on the mountain tops and in the desert canyons of their Utah home.

- https://www.pixieandthepartygrassboys.com/band

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1984 archival recording of Ozark originals Janis Dooley & Pam Sanders performing a cappella the song “No Mortal as Happy as I,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins begins a three part series on the surprisingly violent history of tornadoes in the Ozark region.

This week, a special road trip episode featuring up and coming California based bluegrass phenomenon AJ Lee & Blue Summit recorded live at the 2024 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Also, a bonus performance from IBMA award winning hit maker Chris Jones & The Night Drivers.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound, that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

AJ Lee & Blue Summit are an award-winning energetic, charming, and technically jaw-dropping band quickly rising on the national roots music scene. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the group met as teenagers, picking and jamming together as kids at local music festivals and jams until one day, they decided they would be a band.  Their first gigs were local, small venues, cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, where they’d play for multiple hours honing their set list and learning shared musical vocabularies. Now, as they criss-cross the country performing hundreds of shows a year to larger and larger audiences, you can sense the intention they had back then – to make music together not for just aspirational reasons, but because it’s fun – and it’s all you want to do as young musicians. Currently made up of Lee on mandolin, fiddler Jan Purat, and guitarists Scott Gates & Sullivan Tuttle, the band carries that youthful, festival-parking-lot energy with them still today, but at the same time there’s a genuine ease and confidence to their music making. This is not the bluegrass of ambitious musicians intent on industry success, this is music made firstly for the joy of making it and primarily made for each other.

https://www.bluesummitmusic.com/about-us-1

Chris Jones & the Night Drivers make some of the most distinctively elegant yet driving bluegrass music heard anywhere today. Deeply rooted in tradition but never bound to it, they deliver original music with tight arrangements, emotional authenticity, and engaging humor. Collectively, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers have won 12 IBMA awards and have racked up 24 #1 songs. In July of 2022, they made their debut on The Grand Ole Opry and were soon asked to return.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1984 archival recording of Ozark originals Bob Momich & Adam Fudge performing a banjo duet on the tune “Protecting the Innocent,” 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 dives deep into Aesop’s classic fable about the ant & the grasshopper.

This week, a special road trip episode featuring Celtic-American Roots music “super group” RUNA recorded live at the 2024 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield Kansas, a four day acoustic music marathon and arts & crafts fair held every September in Winfield, Kansas.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound, that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

Celebrating fourteen years together as a band, Celtic-American Roots music “super group” RUNA continues to push the boundaries of Irish folk music into the Americana and roots music formats. Interweaving the haunting melodies and exuberant tunes of Ireland and Scotland with the lush harmonies and intoxicating rhythms of jazz, bluegrass, flamenco and blues, they offer a thrilling and redefining take on traditional music. Seeking to preserve and continue a traditional culture in a modern age, RUNA creates the backbone of its signature roots sound from the musical and geographical diversity of its individually established band members.  Their strive for excellence and creativity blazes a trail for the future of folk music, earning them the reputation as one of the most innovative Irish folk groups of this generation. RUNA consists of vocalist Shannon Lambert-Ryan of Philadelphia, Dublin-born guitarist, Fionán de Barra, acclaimed drummer Cheryl Prashker (Full Frontal Folk, Jonathan Edwards), fiddler Jake James of New York, and three-time Canadian fiddle champion Tom Fitzgerald, who also plays mandolin. - https://runamusic.com/about

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers an archival recording of Ozark original Mike McGhee performing the Classic Child ballad “Barbara Allen,” 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 profiles the legendary Ozark song catcher, Mary Celestia Parler.

This week, a special road trip episode. For the first time, Ozark Highlands Radio visits the legendary Walnut Valley Festival, a four day acoustic music marathon and arts & crafts fair held every September in Winfield, Kansas. Host Dave Smith and OHR producer Jeff Glover sample the menagerie of musical acts we recorded at this incredible event.

The annual Walnut Valley Festival, now in it’s 53rd season, is one of the oldest and most respected acoustic music festivals in the world. Held at the Winfield, Kansas fairgrounds, more than 30 musical acts will perform on four separate stages, presenting over 200 hours of live music. Also, there is a dedicated contest stage where contestants vie for national and international championships in Finger Style Guitar, Flat Pick Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Old Time Fiddle, Mandolin, Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, and Autoharp. There is a juried arts and crafts fair, exhibits by renowned instrument makers and music shops, family activities, a bevy of food vendors, a farmer’s market and even a pub! An unusual aspect of Walnut Valley is its campground tradition. Campsites are not reserved and campers line up to claim a choice campsite during the "Land Rush.” Walnut Valley Festival goers often bring their own musical instruments to participate in the sometimes all night campground jam sessions. Bands like Old Sound, that began as "Jam Bands" in the campgrounds, have even been invited to perform at the festival.

Ozark Highlands Radio was invited to the 52nd annual Walnut Valley Festival. It was an unforgettable experience and a total success for us, having been able to record fifteen musical acts including: Nathan McEuen; Sally & the Hurts; RUNA; Special Consensus; Chris Jones & the Night Drivers; John McCutcheon; The Rick Faris Band;; Socks in the Frying Pan; Pixie & the Partygrass Boys; A.J. Lee & Blue Summit; Dave Stamey; Old Sound; Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley; Shane Hennessy; and Bing Futch. We also managed to capture the 2024 Championship Finger Style Guitarists performance and the National Mountain Dulcimer Championship.

This week, More Voices. Another collection of contemporary folk singers with unique and authentic voices recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park.

Ballad singing is a primary form of expression in folk music. Folk ballads merge melody and story to recount events but also transport the listener to an emotional space. How well a ballad can bring the listener into that space very much depends on the singer. Less important to an effective folk singer are the rudimentary aspects of singing than is the authentic sound of their voice. The timbre and character of the singer’s voice in service to the ballad becomes the vehicle, transporting the listener into that emotional space. Ozark original and legendary folk balladeer Aunt Ollie Gilbert for an example. As much as the stories Aunt Ollie relates, it’s the sound of her instantly recognizable and authentic voice that moves listeners deep into the hills and hollers of the Ozarks.

Featured on this episode are an all-star lineup of contemporary singers including: renowned vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Amythyst Kiah; Ozark original up and coming folk sensation Willie Carlisle; outlaw country music legends Malcolm Holcomb & Ozark original Billy Don Burns; singer-songwriter and educator Wil Maring; Paul Brock Band singer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Curley; famed folk duo The Secret Sisters; world champion mountain dulcimer player, vocalist and educator Sarah Kate Morgan; vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and musical time traveler Meredith Axelrod; folk blues superstar Taj Mahal; Jake Leg Stompers vocalist Lela Mae Smith; Kentucky Colonel and bluegrass sensation Dave Adkins.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1984 archival recording of Ozark original Pam Setser with Mike Gavin performing the Flatt & Scruggs song “Rough & Rocky” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor, and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins profiles the legendary Ozark original balladeer Oscar Gilbert, husband of famed ballad singer Aunt Ollie Gilbert. Featured is an archival recording of Oscar performing the traditional Ozark ballad “The Ballad of Cole Younger,” courtesy of the Lyon College Wolf Folklore Collection.

This week, a retrospective of the second season of Ozark Highlands Radio featuring a variety of outstanding performances recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Host Dave Smith and OHR producer Jeff Glover provide context and commentary for this captivating collection.

Each year at the Ozark Folk Center State Park, we record many hours of live music. We cherish all of it, but some of these performances stand out as being uniquely interesting or moving. On this episode, OHR producer Jeff Glover guides us through some of the most memorable moments of season two. Featured on this show are: Bill & the Belles; Anna & Elizabeth; The Honey Dewdrops; Jamey Stone & the Lomax Project featuring vocalist Moira Smiley; Clarke Buehling & Carl Anderton; Dom Flemons; The Vogts Sisters; Don Edwards; Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton; David Holt & Josh Goforth; Sad Daddy; Suzy Boggus; Willie Carlisle & Allison Williams.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, legendary educator, country music legacy, and the original keeper of the vault, Mark Jones, offers a 1974 archival recording of Ozark original folk school the Jr. Rackensack Society performing the traditional tune “Down in the Arkansas” 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. This episode explores the uniquely American art form of shape note singing.

This week, a sampling of Ozark original stringbands recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s 2024 Stringband festival held annually in Mountain View, Arkansas.

Each Fall, the Ozark Folk Center State Park holds its annual Stringband Festival featuring internationally touring musicians as well as local stringbands. In 2024, the headliners were The Lonesome Ace Stringband from Toronto and Dirk & Amelia Powell from Louisiana. Both these internationally touring acts were featured recently on Ozark Highlands Radio. In this episode, we’ll spotlight the authentic local Ozark stringbands that round out our festival. Featured are Lillyanne McCool & Ozark Legacy, The Creek Rocks, Bug Shuffle, The Riggsville Ramblers, and Salem Plateau.

Lillyanne McCool & Ozark Legacy is a five piece string band that straddles the line between oldtime and bluegrass musics. Led by award winning banjo virtuoso Lillyanne McCool, Ozark legacy is based in Mountain View, Arkansas. Joined by her brother Jared on mandolin and her mother Crystal on upright bass, Lillyanne has grown up on the Ozark Folk Center stage. Esther Exley joins in on fiddle and Emalee Flatness-Combs brings the guitar.

The Creek Rocks from Springfield, Missouri are Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu. Cindy Woolf was raised in Batesville, Arkansas along the southern foothills of the Ozarks Mountain region. Mark Bilyeu hails from Springfield, located atop the Ozarks Plateau. They began their musical collaboration in 2003 with Mark at the helm for Woolf’s debut CD “Simple and Few.” They married in 2013 and have endeavored together on a mission to breath new life into traditional Ozark folk songs, a mission that’s carried them all the way to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival!

Bug Shuffle is a traditional oldtime stringband trio based in Mountain View, Arkansas. The band consists of husband and wife Scott & Shay Pool and our very own Dave Smith, the host of Ozark Highlands Radio. Shay Pool is an oldtime fiddle contest champion and educator in the Ozark Folk Center’s Music Roots program. Scott is a renowned guitar accompanist and talented luthier. Together, they own and operate Mountain View Music, an old fashioned retail music store and local landmark.

The Riggsville Ramblers are another Mountain View fixture. This four piece Ozark original stringband can be heard regularly in the craft grounds at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. The Ramblers are husband and wife Jenny & Tom Sartain on banjo and guitar, Joe Roe on fiddle, and Carl Adkins on resonator guitar. With a sound plucked right out of the 19th century, the Riggsville Ramblers will have your toes tapping and your hands clapping.

Salem Plateau is an oldtime husband and wife duo made up of five time Arkansas CMA winner Grace Stormont-McCarthy and multi-instrumentalist Joseph McCarthy. With a penchant and a voice for ancient ballads, Grace grew up on the Ozark Folk Center stage singing and playing everything from upright bass to guitar and banjo to fiddle. Not only a talented multi-instrumentalist, Joseph McCarthy is a human encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to traditional Ozark music.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers an archival recording of Ozark original stringband Squirrel Heads in Gravy performing a medley of “My Own House Waltz and Come on with Dinah,” 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 discusses the folk song Lazy John.

This week, musicians born into powerful family musical traditions recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, commentary from some of these living legacies.

Legacy is something handed down from the past. The tradition of folk music and culture is rooted in legacy. Musical legacies can exist in the form of songs, melodies, musical instruments, styles of playing, and sometimes even people. A musician born into a powerful family music tradition may find themselves a living connection to that legacy for thousands of fans. On this week’s show, we feature some of these living legacies: Amy Helm; A.J. Croce; Carlene Carter; Dale Jett; and Thom Bresh.

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.

Adrian James "A.J." Croce is an American singer-songwriter. He is the son of singer-songwriters Jim Croce and Ingrid Croce. A.J. Croce has been inextricably linked to a version of his own story by virtue of his name. He’s experienced a lifetime of comparisons to a father he lost at age two, whose music bears little resemblance to his own output yet still serves as a reference point despite the years that have passed and the many iconic mentors who have stepped in to offer their counsel, creativity, and endorsement throughout his long career.

Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter of the famed Carter Family and her first husband, Carl Smith. She became the step-daughter of Johnny Cash. Between 1978 and the present, Carter has recorded twelve albums, primarily on major labels. In the same timespan, she has released more than twenty singles, including three No. 3-peaking hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Dale Jett is a proud bearer of the Carter Family musical legacy. Son of Jeanette Carter and grandson of A.P. and Sara Carter, Dale performs songs from the Carter Family song book with his group “Hello Stranger.” With his wife Teresa on bass, and Oscar Harris on auto harp, Dale keeps the music of his family tradition alive and relevant.

Thom Bresh has led an incredible, multi-faceted life in the entertainment business. To start, his birth father is guitar royalty, Merle Travis. Thom was raised in California during the golden age of television and worked as a stuntman/actor during his youth. He went on to become one of the premier practitioners of his fathers “thumbpicking” style of guitar. Harnessing a quick wit and an equally quick set of ten fingers, there is nothing like a Thom Bresh performance.

In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers an archival recording of country music legacy and our very own Mark Jones performing in the banjo style of his famous father Grandpa Jones the tune “Mountain Whippoorwill,” 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 describes therapeutic music and her role as a musician in a pediatric hospital.