OHR Presents: Autoharp Weekend 2016

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, Arkansas. 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, three world renowned autoharp virtuosos, Bryan Bowers, Karen Mueller, and Charles Whitmer perform live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s annual “Autoharp Weekend.” Mark Jones offers an archival recording of bluegrass legend Buck White performing the song “More Pretty Girls Than One.” Author, folklorist, and songwriter Charley Sandage presents a portrait of Dr. Bill McNeil, the long time archivist at the Ozark Folk Center, in which Dr. McNeil discusses Ozark folk tales. Bryan Bowers takes the auto harp to places not known to exist. Sounds strange, but it’s true. He possesses a powerful and soulful voice, and is a regular contributor to the Annual Auto Harp Weekend at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. From Washington State, Bowers became very popular with the audience of the comedy radio program The Dr. Demento Show with his 1980 recording of Mike Cross' song "The Scotsman.” In 1993, Bowers was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame whose membership includes Mother Maybelle Carter, Kilby Snow, and Sara Carter. Karen Mueller is one of the top autoharp and mountain dulcimer players performing today. Her exciting and innovative performing style, featuring Appalachian, Celtic and contemporary music, has been applauded by critics and audiences from LA to Boston. Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has said "Karen Mueller's touch, timing and taste make her a true virtuoso. Her talent and clarity...deserve a wide audience.” Charles Whitmer is a music educator and composer, as well as being an autoharp virtuoso. He currently has 612 traditional songs in print arranged for autoharp for which he is known internationally. In 2008 he was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame. He is a current staff member of The Autoharp Quarterly as a sheet music editor and was also a long time staff member for I.A.D. Publications, a former international quarterly magazine for autoharp enthusiasts. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers an archival recording of bluegrass legend Buck White of “The Whites” performing the song “More Pretty Girls Than One,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. 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 its enduring legacy of music and craft. This episode focuses on Dr. Bill McNeil, the long time archivist at the Ozark Folk Center. For thirty years, from 1975 until his untimely passing in 2005, Dr. Bill McNeil served as the Ozark Folk Center’s folklorist and all-purpose advisor on all things dealing with traditional Ozark culture. During his tenure at the Folk Center, Bill McNeil guided the establishment of the Ozark Cultural Resource Center, an archival and teaching facility on the Folk Center’s grounds. This installment examines Dr. McNeil’s take on Ozark folk tales.