OHR Presents: Songs of Farewell

Ozark Highlands Radio

This week, songs about saying goodbye performed by a variety of artists recorded live at Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. Farewells have produced some of our most powerful and emotional works of art. Goodbye is a theme endlessly explored in paintings, sculpture, literature and film. Music is no different. In this episode, we’ll hear songs of farewell written for everything from beloved people, to places, careers, innocence, life, and even a horse. Featured are experimental folk ensemble Jayme Stone & the Lomax Project with Moira Smiley, renowned cowboy singer Don Edwards, the Paul Brock Band with Dennis Carey & Dave Curley, Smithsonian Folkways artists Anna & Elizabeth, Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser with cellist Natalie Haas, Texas swing and bluegrass phenomenon The Purple Hulls, John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Smithsonian Folkways artists Lula Wiles, traditional fiddler Bruce Molsky, folk singer and actor Joe Purdy & friends, and ubiquitous cowboy cadre Riders in the Sky. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers an archival recording of Ozark original Bob Blair performing the traditional song “Who Will Sing?” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Renowned folk musician Aubrey Atwater presents songs about home. Leaving home, missing home, and going home are all themes of Aubrey’s segment this week.