Folk Music

Pete talks with square dance caller Steve Green about Roots of American Square Dance, an educational multimedia event at the Pryor Center featuring live music from renowned string band The Old 78s.

Rachel sits down with Arkansas Country Blues and String Band Festival Founder and Co-Director Rachel Reynolds to talk about what's happening at this year's festival.

Pete speaks with Director of Marketing and Sales at Mount Sequoyah, Holly Neely, about the Music on the Mountain series, featuring a free performance by The Adorners on Oct. 26.

Pete speaks with Nancy Paddock about the Original Ozark Folk Festival taking place Sep. 5, 6, and 7 in Eureka Springs.

This week’s excerpt of "I Am Northwest Arkansas" concentrates on folk singer Lead Belly. Host Randy Wilburn talks to Alvin Singh, great nephew of Lead Belly and northwest Arkansas resident. In this excerpt from the conversation, Alvin discusses the legend’s legacy.

Wild Prairie Winds is an ensemble with members from several different states that will perform this weekend at the Folk School of Fayetteville as well as at the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park. The ensemble and Chamber Music of the Ozarks will also host "Chamber Music 101," a free discussion about and demonstration of chamber music. Ozarks at Large's Kyle Kellams sat down with leaders from both organizations to learn more about this weekend's events.

Texas natives Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood form the two-piece band Trout Fishing in America. They will headline the 76th-annual Original Ozark Folk Festival in Eureka Springs on Friday. They joined Ozarks at Large's Kyle Kellams over Zoom to speak about pausing their tour during the pandemic and more.

Singer-songwriter Bonnie Montgomery's upcoming album, “River,” captures a mood of lush country and Americana. The classically trained opera singer knows her way around southern gospel and western swing. Montgomery visited the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio this month to discuss her new album and her varied musical past.

On today's show, a proposed amendment in Arkansas to remove sales tax for period products. Also, considering what the Ozarks have been, are and might become. Plus, Bonnie Montgomery has country and roots music in her soul, but she’s long loved other music too.

This week on the Community Spotlight, producer Sophia Nourani spoke with Nancy Paddock, long-time organizer of the Ozark Folk Festival, about this year's events and performers. The Ozark Folk Festival will be taking place Nov. 9 through 11, 2023.