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Join us in Eureka Springs for the longest-running Folk Festival in the nation: The 74th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival! From November 11–14, 2021, locally, nationally and internationally recognized Folk and Americana musical acts will be featured in venues all around Eureka Springs to celebrate our Ozarks culture.
The one and only 74th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival is proud to announce its 2021 schedule:
Todd Snider
Kicking off the festival, Todd Snider will take the stage at the Eureka Springs City Auditorium on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30pm, presented by Bear Morrison Productions in association with the Ozark Original Folk Festival. Since debuting in 1994, Snider has gone through his own incarnations. His first single “Talking Seattle Blues” was a head fake that might’ve pointed to goofy novelty songs. But he quickly showed that his artistic quiver was much deeper and more interesting. A storyteller who works a similar creative soil to John Prine and Shel Silverstein, Snider’s best songs are both sad and funny, political and entertaining, and always written with a poet’s eye and a stand-up comedian’s sensibility about the follies of human condition. While he’s made eighteen fine albums, it’s on stage where Snider is even more potent, with between-song banter that weaves subtle emotional threads through his sets. A road dog who loves the road, Snider has toured with Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, and appeared at festivals like Farm Aid, Newport Folk Fest, Lockn’ and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Snider has long been recognized as one of his generation’s most gifted and engaging touring musicians, so it’s no surprise he has returned from the pandemic with a brilliant new comeback tour — and make no mistake, “The Comeback Special” will include some of his best work yet. Tickets are on sale here.
Arkansauce
Also performing on Thursday, November 11 is Arkansauce — at 9pm the Barefoot Ballroom at the top of the Basin Park Hotel. Arkansauce is a genre-hopping, four-piece string band from northwest Arkansas, bending the rules and blurring the lines between bluegrass, newgrass, folk, americana, with notes of country, blues, and funk. An Arkansauce show is riddled with improvisational guitar, banjo, and mandolin leads, paired with powerful harmonies and heart-felt songwriting, all held together by deep foot-stompin’ bass grooves. With a loyal following growing every day in the Natural State and along their tour routes, the band is proud to be stepping into a hard-driving sound unique to the Arkansas quartet. Tickets are on sale now for $15 here.
Jonathan Byrd
On Friday November 12, Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys will bring their high energy soulful Americana show to The Auditorium. Jonathan Byrd and The Pickup Cowboys are musical gunslingers, vaudevillian hucksters, and old-fashioned tent revivalists. Between heartbreaking ballads and heart-lifting sing-alongs, the Cowboys entertain and get audiences involved in the show. Byrd is a preacher’s son, a Gulf War veteran, and an award-winning songwriter from Chapel Hill, NC, known for literary, outsider songs that have become campfire favorites.
The Chicago Tribune called Byrd “one of the top 50 songwriters of the past 50 years.”
Melissa Carper
Opening the show at 6pm will be the Hedgehoppers, followed by Melissa Carper and the Blue Hankies. Melissa made her mark on the music world this year with her release of ‘Daddy’s Country Gold”, which climbed both country and folk charts and got some nice jazz reviews as well . Her country sound blended with jazz overtones is the perfect vehicle for her tasty lyrics that remain long after the last note has faded. A true daughter of Eureka, Melissa has made her home in Nashville and Texas pulling their musical influences into her songs as well. She brings her band fiddler and vocalist Rebecca Patek and pianist Emily Gimble, granddaughter of Johnny Gimble of Bob Wills fame.
“It’s a tricky thing that Carper has done. She clearly revels in recreating the music of her heroes, carefully preserving the sense of romance and immediacy of the old classics. Yet by bringing her own experiences into the canon, she is unearthing a history that includes so many more of us, finally allowed to speak out through memories forgotten due to silence and taboo. – No Depression”.
This November 12 show is a benefit for our local food bank. Admission is a non-perishable food item or a cash donation. Secure your tickets now here.
Gangstagrass
#americasband Gangstagrass will take the stage at The Auditorium on November 13! Gangstagrass is here to help us party together with an irresistible blend of America’s rural and urban music traditions. Forget everything you thought you knew about our cultural divisions: when Gangstagrass starts playing, those preconceptions are relegated to the dustbin of history. Banjo and fiddle seamlessly meet verbal acrobatics from skilled MCs. High lonesome harmonies flow over block-rockin’ beats. Initially known for the Emmy-nominated theme song to the hit FX Network show “Justified”, the band has become a formidable force in live performance, touring extensively in the US, Canada, and Europe. Hot off 27 weeks in the top ten Billboard bluegrass charts between their 2019 live album “Pocket Full Of Fire” and 2020 album “No Time For Enemies” — which reached the #1 spot, the first time ever that MCs occupied that top spot. They wowed the nation on America’s Got Talent and they are prepared to wow you on November 13 at 7pm (doors at 6:30pm). Tickets are on sale now here.
The Creek Rocks
Opening the show for Gangstagrass on November 13 is Ozarks premier duo The Creek Rocks. Mark Bilyeu and Cindy Woolf are among the Ozark Plateau’s most potent songwriters, expressing themselves with a humble folk-rock sound and lyrics to touch the heart. Mark is a founding member of Ozark family band Big Smith, who toured and recorded from 1996 to 2012, then reunited in 2016, and now play a few select shows a year. Cindy Woolf has been a resident of the Ozarks since 1998, where she has become well-known for a singular singing voice and her enchanting performances of her original songs. Dirty Linen said of Woolf upon the release of her first album, “instantly timeless…spell-binding…beautiful, heartfelt, entrancing.”
Donna and Kelly of Still on the Hill
Also on Saturday night (November 13), the Ozark Stage at the Main Stage Theater will feature Still on the Hill. Still on the Hill is a national and international touring group from Arkansas that has been described as “Ambassadors of the Ozarks” for the work they do to preserve a rich culture that is quickly disappearing. Kelly and Donna of Still on the Hill are award-winning ‘story telling-song writers’. Different than most singer-songwriters, this dynamic duo embellishes their songs with a host of unique instruments from the hills they call home. Many of these were hand-made by old-timers and have amazing stories that go with them. High energy and beautifully heartfelt, Still on the Hill’s music is familiar but still as unique as the Ozark world they represent.
Opening the show at 7pm (doors at 6pm) is Mighty Fine Time. The musicians of Mighty Fine Time — Dennis Collins, Denise Lanuti, Jennifer Parker and Bayard Blain — each has decades of musical experience. They will present several styles and genre of music, including originals, traditional folk, bluegrass, blues and also jazz standards. Tickets are on sale now for $10 here.
Sam Baker
Sunday night at 7pm on The Ozark Stage at the Main Stage Theater is singer-songwriter Sam Baker. A Sam Baker show is a celebration. Some songs tell of everyday people who survive life’s daily challenges; others are stories of growing up in a small Texas prairie town. All his shows are an acknowledgment and appreciation of the pure joy that comes with people gathering to listen to live music. Sam’s fans travel to see him, often driving hours to experience the powerful performance. After the show, they tell Sam their stories. At the end of the day, we all go in peace. Tickets are on sale now for $20 now.
Friday (11/12):
Saturday (11/13):
Sunday (11/14):
More details will be added as they become available, or visit the facebook page.
