OHR Presents: Betse Ellis & Clarke Wyatt

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, Dynamic traditional Ozark music duo Betse Ellis & Clarke Wyatt perform live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with Betse & Clarke, folklorist and author Charley Sandage offers an historical peregrination into Ozark culture, and Mark Jones presents an archival recording of original Ozark songster Bob Blair. Betse Ellis & Clarke Wyatt are a fiddle and banjo duo, who specialize in traditional old time music of the Ozarks. For years Betse was the fiery fiddler in the touring group, The Wilders. A student and friend of Arkansas fiddle legend, Violet Hensley, Betse has made it her mission to carry on the traditional songs and fiddle style of her native Arkansas. Betse has enjoyed a successful solo career but has recently teamed up with Clarke Wyatt, a talented finger style banjo picker. Now a powerful team, together Betse and Clarke continue to explore the sounds and styles that make Ozark music unique. 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 beautiful gardens of the Ozark Folk Center State Park, and it’s mission to preserve the original ornamental, edible, and medicinal plants of the Ozarks. Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment features a rare recording of original Ozark songster Bob Blair, performing the song “Who Will Sing For Me,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.