Summary: 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, North Carolina insurgent country folk singer/songwriter Malcolm Holcombe performs live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Aubrey Atwater & Elwood Donnelly profile legendary banjo ingenue Lily Mae Ledford, and Mark Jones offers an archival recording of original Ozark dulcimer master craftsman Lynn McSpadden. Malcolm Holcombe may not be a household name to music fans, and that probably suits him just fine. Among his peers however, he’s respected and revered. Holcombe has shared the stage with Merle Haggard, Richard Thompson, John Hammond, Leon Russell, Wilco and Shelby Lynne. Though his instrumentation is nothing new to the singer/songwriter genre (guitar and vocals), Malcolm sets himself apart with honest and touching songs, arranged and crafted from his unique perspective. Malcolm is joined by longtime collaborator Jared Tyler on various stringed instruments and vocals. 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 profiles legendary banjo ingenue Lily Mae Ledford. Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment offers an archival recording of original Ozark dulcimer master craftsman Lynn McSpadden, performing the traditional tune “Castle Grand,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.
