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, Ark.  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, the unconventional folk-blues-rock-bluegrass trio “The Howlin’ Brothers” perform live at Ozark Folk Center State Park.  Also, interviews with “The Howlin’ Brothers.”

“The Howlin’ Brothers” are Ian Craft, Ben Plasse, and Jared Green.  The trio has a wide ranging appeal as evidenced by their popular performance at the Ozark Folk Center State Park.  Combining banjo, fiddle, guitar and upright bass, they perform traditional and original music with a sound familiar to fans of old time, roots, and Americana styles.  Of note is fiddler and banjo player Ian Craft, as he could be creating a new style of hybrid banjo playing.

Renowned folk musicians Aubrey Atwater & Elwood Donnelly profile influential folk music icons Jean Ritchie and the Ritchie Family, as well as explore the traditional Appalachian music and dance that the Ritchie Family helped to perpetuate into the modern American folk lexicon.  This episode focuses on memories of Bayless Ritchie, and features Aubrey & Elwood’s performance of the traditional song “I am a Foreign Lander.”

Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment features a rare recording of Ozark originals Aubrey Richardson & Mike McGee performing the traditional folk song “Cluck Ole Hen,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.

Sound Beat episodes for May 2021.

It’s The Apple Seed! We bring you new stories every day--tall tales, personal tales, fairy tales, historical tales and more. Today we’re bringing you “The Elephant’s Child,” an old folk tale retold by Tim Lowry. You’ll also hear a personal story from Donald Davis, who describes how his uncle faced hardship by using the simple motto “Keep A-Going!” We’ll wrap up with a story from John McCutcheon about his experiences performing in Sydney, Australia. These are stories of hope, friendship, and moving forward--it's all coming to you today on the Apple Seed!

In July of this year, Virginia will become the first Southern state to legalize marijuana, marking a major milestone in the failure of the War on Drugs. Katherine Ott Walter traces the racist roots of the War on Drugs and offers sensible alternatives to dealing with addiction in America. And: In the early 1970’s, Richard Bonnie became the Associate Director of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. While the Commission ultimately recommended the decriminalization of marijuana, President Nixon refused to endorse the recommendation. But that didn’t stop a handful of states from decriminalizing marijuana.