The Importance of Folk Music in The Ozarks

Written by Owen Corp

Photography by Owen Corp

Modeled by Aliyah Rivero, Cade Johnson, Mollie Williams, & Madeline Brady

“The mockingbirds sing in the Bodarks/The pine trees are swaying above/There’s no place on Earth like the Ozarks/The beautiful land that I love,” Jimmy Driftwood sings in “Beautiful White River Valley.”

The Ozarks is a vast geographical region spanning much of the southern half of Missouri and northern Arkansas, with small parts reaching Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Like the Appalachian region, the Ozarks is a cove of unique folk traditions and culture, the most prominent being folk music. Musicians like Nick Shoulders, Willi Carlisle, and Dylan Earl have been giving a distinct voice to the Ozarks unlike any other as of late. While not specifically from the Ozarks, each plays into the aura, dialect, and deep cultural roots of these hills and hollers.

When discussing Ozarks Folk, it is important to feature the history of the genre.

With a history akin to Appalachian folk, Ozarks folk music is rooted in the disenfranchised and impoverished worker and farmer class. Much of the Ozarks economy has historically been fueled by farming and mining, with very high cases of workers’ rights infringements and racism. Most of the Ozarks is inhabited by settlers from the British Isles, Germany, and imported slaves. According to Vance Randolph in his novel “Ozark Magic and Folklore,” the songs they brought with them became their strongest voice of identity.

John L. Handcox was born in 1904 in the Ozark town of Brinkley, Arkansas. Handcox grew up during the Great Depression era. As he grew older, he sang songs to help those struggling from race tensions during the Civil Rights era, as well as farmer struggles. He was a leading member of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU), a Socialist workers organization mostly led by women and founded by descendants of slaves. Handcox would sing and write songs like “Landlord, what in the Heaven Is the Matter with You?” at STFU rallies, detailing the hardships and injustices set upon Black farmers within the isolated farming regions of the Ozarks. As Handcox grew older he would set his songs towards more contemporary political issues, such as the neo-liberal presidency and administration of former president Ronald Reagan, with songs like “Oh No, We Don’t Want Reagan Anymore” and “Let’s Get Reagan Out.”

Ozarks folk music wasn’t always sung as a voice for the oppressed — it also served the role of loving and appreciating all our “Snakes and Waterfalls,” as Shoulders describes it. Driftwood has long been hailed as the leader of the Ozarks Folk movement, leading the way to make Mountain View, Arkansas, the unofficial “folk music capital of the world,” as stated on numerous signs in the town as well as Driftwood’s official website. Having been born to a farming family from Timbo, Arkansas, Driftwood was a textbook example of what it was to be an Ozarker in the mid-20th century due to his characteristically thick accent and appreciation for the nature surrounding us. Driftwood’s success in the music industry is far greater than has ever been seen in the Ozarks, winning three Grammys, and writing songs like “The Battle of New Orleans” and “Tennessee Stud,” which would go on to attain massive success after being recorded by Johnny Horton and Doc Watson. 

Driftwood also used his music for issues he was passionate about, which led an environmentalist movement against the damming of the Buffalo River. His efforts turned out beneficial and established the Buffalo River as the first National River and one of the few natural rivers remaining in the United States. His album “Down in the Arkansas” was his most financially successful solo LP, which to this day stands as a cornerstone of the Ozarker identity. Driftwood's poetic writing fully encapsulates what it is to understand and appreciate our land which continues to be so singular and special. Driftwood himself said, “There’s no place on Earth like the Ozarks, the beautiful land that I love.”

The rhythm of political activism and appreciation for nature continues to be a theme within contemporary artists. Contemporary issues such as the genocide of Palestinians in the Israel-Palestine conflict as well as the Black Lives Matter movement have been largely topical with musicians like Shoulders. He has orchestrated numerous live stream concerts to raise funds for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund via Instagram.

While banjos and fiddles may not be for everyone, the voice that folk music has given to the disenfranchised and how musicians aid those less fortunate is all the reason the Ozarks have a special and unique way of showing its culture and sound.