The Ozarkian Folk Chronicles: An introduction

BY HAYDEN HEAD

Two years ago, Curtis Copeland gave me a call and asked if I might be interested in co-hosting a podcast with him. Curtis and I were already close friends; we had worked on a couple of projects together, and both of us belonged to the Society of Ozarkian Hillcrofters.

I leapt at the suggestion, and after a brief consideration, Curtis came up with our name, the Ozarkian Folk Chronicles. Our intention has always been to preserve the old stories, and our first podcasts were just the two of us talking about granny women, belled buzzards, and the role of the devil in Ozarks folklore. But it didn’t take long before we realized we would need to expand what we meant by “folk,” and we started interviewing all sorts of people with all sorts of stories.

For 115 episodes, Curtis and I have had the pleasure of talking with artists and storytellers, musicians and academics, authors and performers, Back-to-the-Landers and conservationists. I suppose we’ve expanded the definition of “folk” about as far as it can go, but we’ve never lost our Ozarks focus. Vance Randolph, the famous Ozarks folklorist has been our inspiration, and we do our best to emulate his efforts. Emalee Flatness-Combs recorded our theme song, “The Hills Ain’t High,” (written by yours truly) that opened the podcast for over a hundred episodes. For the sake of variety, we asked Creek Stink of Flotsam Farms to record another version, but you can still hear Emalee’s perfectly pure voice at the conclusion of every episode. 

Folks often ask us what our favorite episode is. I’ve always been partial to Episode 12 in which Emalee sings the Jimmy Driftwood song, “Straighten Out My Laig.” The singer is bemoaning the pain he feels in his amputated leg, so he exhorts someone to dig it up, straighten it out, and bury it again to relieve his suffering. And if that isn’t macabre enough, Abby Burnett, author of Gone to the Grave: Arkansas Burial Customs: 1850-1950, joined us to talk about other bizarre burial practices in the Ozarks. That one always felt like a perfect episode to me. 

But we also had Dennis Pritchard (Episode 11) on the show to play his song “Resurrection Sunday” about the attempt of a Reeds Spring preacher to raise his dead mother, whom he had thoughtfully stored in a freezer. And then there was Episode 64 with Crescent Dragonwagon, formerly of Eureka Springs and now living in Fayetteville, who described what it was like for a Jewish girl from New York to move to the Ozarks. 

Of course, I treasured the opportunity in Episode 75 to interview my son, Henry O. Head, about his new photography book, “Twelve Acres,” published by Twin Palms in Los Angelas and blowing up ever since on social media. Twelve Acres is steeped in Heno’s memories of a friendship in the Ozarks, and it’s an incredible work of art—if I do say so myself. He has given lectures on his book and on photography more generally in New York, Berlin, Paris and Milan. 

Of course, we have our fair share of true crime episodes, several of which were presented by Tammy Morton and Angel Wolf (Episodes 41, 43, 46, 51, 58 and 90), but also storytellers Travis Holt (Episodes 5, 39, 98 and 108) and Jason Harmon (Episodes 78 and 79). Jason started something of a series when we interviewed him about Dave McElyea, the marijuana moonshiner of Madison County, Arkansas, and the book “When Money Grew On Trees.” The star of those episodes turned out to be Sheriff Ralph Baker, and in fact, we’re still talking about the Sheriff (Episode 111 and yet another in the wings). And I always love sitting down with Mark Bilyeu and Cindy Woolf of the Creek Rocks (Episodes 57 and 63). They were the recipients of a grant to study Ozarks folk music in the Library of Congress, and their talents are incomparable. 

But there are many, many more guests, and I’m sure Curtis could submit his own list. We are also happy to have sponsors for our podcast: The Big Foot Fun Park on Highway 76 Country Boulevard, the Branson Globe and the Ozarks folklore website, OtisBulfinch.com. But it’s never been about the money, and we hope others will join us in preserving as much of our Ozarks culture as possible. We all see changes to our beloved Ozarks every day, and Curtis and I feel that it’s imperative to save what we can. But the yoke is light, and we always look forward to the moment we sit down with a storyteller or an entrepreneur or a musician and say, “Hello, and welcome to the Ozarkian Folk Chronicles. Your place for all things Ozarkian: the profane, the profound, the preposterous and the impressive!” 

You can listen to the podcast at ozarkianfolkchronicles.com or your favorite streaming platform. Oh, and one more thing: Be sure to keep the roadsides clean and the hills pristine ‘cause there’s no place more lovely than the Ozarks!