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Ozark Highlands Radio

Ozark Highlands Radio

By: Ozark Folk Center State Park
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About this listen

 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 on a musical journey with historians, authors, and personalities who explore the people, stories, and history of the Ozark region.All rights reserved Music
Episodes
  • OHR Presents: Homecoming Hootenanny

    OHR Presents: Homecoming Hootenanny
    Mar 11 2026
    This week, a sampling of local homegrown organic free-range Ozark original folk music from right here at the Ozark Folk Center State Park, recorded at our annual Homecoming Hootenanny. Each May, the Ozark Folk Center State Park hosts our annual Homecoming Hootenanny. It’s an entire weekend of music and crafts featuring folks whom have performed at the center over its more than 52 years in operation. Ozark Folk Center State Park is dedicated to perpetuating the music, crafts and culture of the Ozarks. Open mid-April to mid-November, the park offers visitors an opportunity to watch artisans work, to stroll through the Heritage Herb Garden, and to hear live Southern mountain music. In the Ozark Folk Center Craft Village, more than 20 working artisans demonstrate, create and sell handmade items. Handcrafted items like flame-painted copper jewelry, leather purses and goods, baskets, brooms, stained glass, ironwork, pottery, knives, weavings, quilts, wood carvings, spun yarn, soap, candles, and more are made onsite. The performances featured on this episode were recorded at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s 2025 Homecoming Hootenanny. All of these folks are Ozark originals and local to the area. Some have performed at the Folk Center as far back as the 1970’s. Hear why folks say there’s something in the water in Mountain View, Arkansas that grows musicians. Four family bands, four national fiddle champions, two national clawhammer banjo champions and a national mountain dulcimer champion all local and all appearing on this one weekend at the Ozark Folk Center. Headliners this year include: Possum Juice; George Hulsey & Friends; Gary Rounds & Friends featuring Tim Crouch; Carolyn Carter; The Parker Unit; and Five South. In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins explores the storied history of early gospel music publishing in the Ozark and Quachita Mountains. This episode focuses on legendary gospel music composer and publisher Eugene Monroe Bartlett and his Arkansas based Hartford Music Company. Featured is an Ozark Folk Center archival recording of Fredona Currie performing Bartlett’s most famous hymn, “Victory in Jesus.”
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    59 mins
  • OHR Presents: Playlist Three

    OHR Presents: Playlist Three
    Feb 24 2026
    This week, a retrospective of the third 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 three. Featured on this show are: A.J. Croce; Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas; Hubby Jenkins; The Savoy Family Band; The April Verch Band; Molsky’s Mountain Drifters; The Downhill Strugglers; Willie Carlisle; Pam Setser; The Barefoot Movement; Brad Apple & Samuel Cobb; The Paul Brock Band. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, we revisit legendary educator, country music legacy, and the original keeper of the vault, Mark Jones, offering a 1979 archival recording of David Prine, the brother of John Prine, performing the song “Southern Railroad Blues” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins explores the history of bears in the Ozarks.
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    59 mins
  • OHR Presents: The Rick Faris Band @Walnut Valley

    OHR Presents: The Rick Faris Band @Walnut Valley
    Feb 13 2026
    This week, a special road trip episode featuring award-winning Owensboro, Kentucky bluegrass singer/songwriter Rick Faris and his band 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. Rick Faris is a Kansas Music Hall of Fame Member who was recently awarded the “Songwriter of the Year” at the 2024 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards making him an 8-time IBMA Award winner. In addition Rick won the coveted “New Artist of the Year” in 2022. Faris also spent 11 years with Special Consensus while the band earned two GRAMMY nominations before embarking on his chart topping solo career. The Rick Faris Band, is an International touring Bluegrass outfit playing in the US, Mainland Europe, the British Isles and Canada. They bring sibling harmony and comedic relief with brother JimBob Faris on bass and a youthful snap to their original brand of music with a couple of bluegrass thoroughbreds, Henry Burgess (who grew up with fiddle legend Byron Berline) and Gibson Davis (who is a third generation bluegrass musician following father Chris Davis and his Grandfather Danny Davis). Rick recently moved to Owensboro, Kentucky the Bluegrass Music Capital and has opened his Faris Guitar Co. - https://rickfaris.com/press-kit In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, OHR producer Jeff Glover offers a 1988 archival recording of gospel music legends The Chuck Wagon Gang performing the 1934 J.R. Baxter song “After the Sunrise,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. In his segment “Back in the Hills,” writer, professor and historian Dr. Brooks Blevins explores the storied history of early gospel music publishing in the Ozark and Quachita Mountains.
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    59 mins
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