Nancy Paddock is the producer and coordinator for the Original Ozark Folk Festival and a staunch advocate for all things folk music. She said while the Eureka Springs festival, now in its 78th year, is working to promote a new generation of folk artists and fans, preserving Ozark tradition has always been at its core.
“In fact, it's an interesting play with the Eureka Springs Historical Museum. They started a nonprofit for the folk festival in the late ‘80s, and they used that to get the money to make our historical museum, which I think is just wonderful. And now the Historical Museum promotes the folk festival and keeps track of the history of our town. It started in ‘47 by a group of artists who wanted to preserve Ozark culture. That was Elsie and Louis Friend and others of the artists colony that started in the ‘40s. Back then, they pretty much concentrated on very local. They had street dances, the school shut on Friday, they had the parade, they had a queen. It was very much a Eureka Springs festival in the ‘50s and ‘60s because we were a smaller town back then. Then in the ‘80s, it started to get a little more attention from the musicians that had moved into town. As I said, the nonprofit started up in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, and we had a big push and big-name bands. We had Merle Haggard, we had Arlo Guthrie, we had a lot of big bands back then that came. It just keeps going and everyone loves it. Everybody in town loves the folk festival.”
"Well, what is it about this festival in particular that that people love and are drawn to? I mean, when you started getting involved with it, you'd been a fan of it before. So what was it that drew you to it?" Caruth said.
“You know, it's because it was such a town festival," Paddock said. "There were fiddle players on the streets, there were little groups playing here and there. It starts with the Hedgehoppers, which is our third grade class. So every third grader since 1947 has been a Hedgehopper at the festival. There's that connection to town where people have their kids growing up and they're like, 'Oh, next year they get to be a Hedgehopper'. Everybody remembers being a Hedgehopper. They pass their little vintage outfits from generation to generation. That's just a really cool thing.”
"Can you explain what what a hedgehopper is for those of us who maybe don't know, who haven't been a part of this?" Caruth said.
“They're preserving a form of Ozark dance, which was the original intent of the festival," Paddock said. "So they do a square dance. All these kids are all dressed up, they do a couple of really classic square dances, and then they sing a couple Ozark songs. It's always so much fun to see them up there trying their best to be the best up there. We add to the program because their dance and song doesn't last that long. This year we have Still on the Hill, who are our ambassadors of Ozark culture everywhere. They’re going to open the Hedgehoppers show and play some of their Ozark music and a little Ozark history after the Hedgehoppers. That's our little bow to the history of the Ozarks right there."
"Can you talk about that lineup, you know, you said there's so many, you're focusing on Ozark musicians. You got Still on the Hill. You've got, I think Handmade Moments as part of this the Hill Benders. You've got Ozark Mountain Daredevils, you've got a big collection of people," Caruth said.
“We have a lot of local acts. After the Hedgehoppers on Thursday night, we have our Barefoot Ball, another tradition since about 1951," Paddock said. "The story behind that is Truth or Consequences was a radio show then, and they had a contest where a couple would win a vacation in the Ozarks, but they had to do the whole thing barefoot in the old hillbilly tradition. Eureka Springs threw a ball. From then it was the first Barefoot Ball. We still do the ball every year. You don't have to be barefoot. This year we're bringing in Front Porch Band, which is a local band who is really going national right now. They're a great bluegrass band with a little jamgrass in them. It's Alex Hof, John Henry, Petey Wesley and Cameron Keeling. We also have Patty Steel, who is just a mover and shaker in our area. She's been such a side person, and now she has her own band. We're really glad to have her opening up the Barefoot Ball this year. That's Thursday night.”
"On Friday morning, we start with the family band the Mountain Gypsies and continue with the songwriter contest. We had 21 entries this year and we are right now willowing it down to six entries that are going to perform in the park. They'll each do two songs. These are all Ozark musicians from around the area. There's a few Oklahoma musicians in there too. It's always great to hear new music and new songs, and these are great songs. I listened to them all yesterday and I'm amazed at the quality of songwriting."
"Can you talk a little bit about that?" Caruth said. "You know, what is it about this area of the Ozarks and Eureka Springs that that makes this music unique and different and sort of it feels like there's such a collection of young musicians coming up to that are taking on that tradition and pushing it forward and pushing it further."
"We really do," Paddock said. "I mean, it's been like a renaissance around Eureka Springs with the bluegrass and folk music. I think the farm has something to do with it because they have camping at the farm. So like Danny Spade has his little bluegrass jams out there, and it really helped bring a lot of musicians to the area that had a place to stay and develop. Also, I think that a lot of people grow up in this area listening to music. They go to song circles, they go to parties, they they pick up instruments and they learn to play. And they're encouraged to be creative and they're encouraged. I think the Square Saturdays farmers markets on the Fayetteville Square encourages people to be musicians. You know, I have friends, sons I saw there when they were ten years old playing on the square that now have musical career. I really think that there's a magic in the Ozarks that makes you want to create and talk about what your life is like and to share it with friends. I look at some of the people who have played our festival in the past that have gone like Willie Carlile and Melissa Carper and Chuckie Waggs, and there's just so many great musicians that have started in the busking on the streets in Eureka, trying to put their music out there. They get some jobs in local restaurants and bars, and the next thing they're getting jobs outside of town. And then they go national and we spread this Ozark charm all over the country."
"Well, and then I want you to speak maybe to the people, because, you know, there's lots of people moving to this area from other places who who maybe have, you know, maybe stereotypes or misunderstandings about the Ozarks and about the traditions here and, and what that's like," Caruth said. "So when people come to a festival like this or go up to Eureka, what do you think they are surprised to discover?"
"You know what most people from around the country are most surprised about? Coming to Eureka or the Ozarks is how friendly we are," Paddock said. "I've actually had people say, 'Is everybody as nice as you around here?' I'm like, 'Yeah, we really are'. We love to share our food, our restaurant choices, our favorite swimming holes, our campgrounds just we all enjoy the Ozarks so much. We want to share it with everyone else. And I think coming to Eureka Springs, you know, a lot of people come like, 'Oh, it's just shopping'. And then they discover the historical museum and go, 'Oh my gosh, this town has been going on for one hundred and seventy five years', and then they go up to the Crescent Hotel and see the architecture and find out that, oh, there were Irish stonemasons that came in in the late eighteen hundreds and built these things. And then you start learning about the different influences of the the deep woods, the deep hillbilly culture that had their own style of music, from the Jimmie Driftwood and the the Ozark Folk Center, which is really the staunch old time folk music, but it branches out. I love the fact that Willie Carlisle, who has a degree in history, he's doing modern based music based on Ozark styling and Ozark ballads, and it comes across so well, and I see that with so many of the younger musicians, they're they're making their own music, but they're taking all the influences of the Ozarks and the influences of modern life, and they're putting it in a bluegrass song, and it's it's wonderful."
And one of those featured artists in this year's festival lineup, also putting a spin on traditional folk music is Matt Paxton. The California based singer songwriter comes from a long line of songsmiths, and he says his band is excited to make their first stop in Eureka Springs and kick off their tour at a time when Americana music is having what he calls a renaissance.
“I think Americana and roots are having a really fun little resurgence right now," Paxton said. "Over the last couple of years, it makes me very proud that that is sort of coming back to the forefront. And I come from what's known as a double legacy family. So my grandmother was a songwriter. Um, she wrote a little song called 'Heartbreak Hotel' for Elvis Presley that kicked this whole thing off. And then my dad was a very successful songwriter and entertainer as well. His name was Hoyt Axton. His mantra was always, just write a good song. He didn't care what genre it was, what the theme was. Just make it a good story. You've got three and a half to five minutes to take people on a journey. So it better be succinct and better have an effect. I've always taken that mentality when I was songwriting. It's your chance to tell many stories.”
"Yeah. You know, Americana sort of having a resurgence and more people are plugging into it," Caruth said. "It's moving. It feels more progressive, like it's moving forward. And especially with this festival. A lot of the acts are younger musicians. A lot of the local upcoming bands. So can you talk about where you feel like this genre of music is going, and maybe why there is a resurgence or renewed interest in it?"
"Absolutely. Well, I mean, there's a lot of crazy things happening in our society that that justify that music is usually a counterpoint to a lot of that stuff. Right," Axton said. "It's supposed to be not all music has to be, you know, um, a voice for the people, but traditionally, like folk, right. And what has become Americana, it was like that, right? It's like I said earlier, it's a way for us to condense life experience into a small, palatable moment for people to connect with, whether it be happy, sad, angry or powerful, whatever it needs to be. Americana music as an industry term was traditionally so broad that it really didn't have much meaning. It just meant like they're like, 'Oh, this isn't country music. This isn't really rock. This isn't really bluegrass. Let's just throw it in this weird Americana', you know, throw this moniker on top of it. But that has turned into something that is hyper inclusive as an art form and, you know, and song style and, and represents little swaths of, like, every, every roots based music.
"So you got your country, your blues, your soul, your your rock, your bluegrass, your folk all have these elements tied together and creating one sound, which is Americana. And it's, you know, like I said, it's growing legs. You have artists, you know, like the Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell and Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton are now, you know, they're big artists, they do big productions, and they all sort of intermingle these different styles in there. They change their shows and bring different artists on there. It's amazing to see. I think society has just sort of been aching for that a little bit because like I said, the industry dropped the ball in general. The cool thing is, like I said, the counterculture against this in the industry as a whole is that it's a lot more grassroots artists. There's a lot more younger artists who are finding their voice and putting it into musical form. And because Americana is so broad, it's accepting of all these new artists, young and old, that it wants to hear something that's original and has some some soul to it. And I think that's just one of the most beautiful parts about Americana and roots music in general."
"And looking forward to the festival. You know, what can people expect from you guys?" Caruth said. "You know, you said you tailored the show sort of to the audience and to where you're going to be. What can maybe give a little sneak preview for some people who are going to attend?"
"Absolutely. So, you know, like my father, my father started out as a solo folk guy, just traveling the country with a, you know, just him and a guitar and a car," Axton said. "And then he rotated sort of wrote some huge rock hits like Joy to the World and The Pusher and Never Been to Spain. And then his later years of his life were all spent, a little more country centered. Like I said, he just wanted to write good songs. And we're sort of that same way. Like I said, probably for more festivals, we keep stuff a little more dancey and upbeat and still tell stories, but we do. If you're fans of this band called the Allman Brothers, I don't know if anybody's ever heard of them. They're pretty amazing, you should check them out, but we do that. We have a double guitar element to us. A lot of guitar, we call them guitar harmonies. So there's a there's a really good interplay. There's a lot of we're not a jam band by any means, but every show is a little different because we, we sort of keep, um, you know, improv is really high in a lot of our songs, even though there's a very, you know, focused center to the songs. We do like to make every show a little unique and a little quirky to get the same thing twice when it comes to that element.
"So I call us we're Hoyt Axton meets Allman Brothers, and it's a pretty fun, fun, you know, lyrical depth. But also, um, you know, musicianship is really important and I have great, great players from we're based out in Los Angeles, and I grabbed the best guys I could find to go on these these big national tours. And right after we see you guys, we're going all over the Eastern seaboard for the very first time in our career on touring. So, um, you know, it's going to be a great way to kick off our festival or our tour season with you guys Friday, September fifth. So we're on that Friday out there in one of the gazebos out there. So they said it's going to be a beautiful, fun day of music and we're just happy to be a part of it."
The Original Ozark Folk Festival takes place Sept. 4–6 in Eureka Springs, with both free and ticketed events. A full lineup and schedule are available at their website.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
