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, the accomplished traditional folk trio “Harmony” perform live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with the trio “Harmony,” folklorist and author Charley Sandage offers an historical sojourn into Ozark culture, and Mark Jones presents an archival recording of the Ozark folk singer Kay Thomas. Harmony has been a mainstay on the Ozark Folk Center Stage for many years. 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. Husband & wife duo Robert and Mary Gillihan round out the trio, 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 the genuinely talented Ozark folk singer Kay Thomas, performing a beautiful arrangement of the traditional song “All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.
