OHR Presents: Love Holler (Full Interview)

This week, Ozark original old-time family string band Love Holler recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with these familial entertainers. Love Holler is a three piece old-time family string band. Father, Stacy Russell, leads the band on upright acoustic bass and vocals. Fronting the band are twin sisters Emma and Caroline bringing clawhammer banjo, guitar and the most ethereal sibling harmonies this side of paradise. Descendants of the original settlers of the Love Holler region of Independence County Arkansas, the Russell family has turned their ardor for all things antique into an authentic old-time sound. Although drawing their primary inspiration from legendary country music superstars The Carter Family, Love Holler has incorporated into their repertoire a collection of haunting ancient European ballads and early American folk songs as well as their own original songs. Join the Russell family as they embark on a journey through the past to the early days of radio and beyond. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers a 1978 archival recording of Ozark original Judy Klemenson performing the traditional hymn “Where Could I Go but to the Lord,” 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. In this episode, Charley gives a perspective on both the corporeal and spiritual bounty of barns.