April 14, 2008
Lyon College News Bureau

The Lyon College Regional Studies Center is once again inviting listeners to step back in time on a new CD of songs from the renowned John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection.

Following the success of its 2005 double-CD, "Sounds of the Ozark Folk: The 1963 Arkansas Folk Festival," the Lyon College Regional Studies Center has released a second CD, "Sounds of the Ozark Folk, Vol. II: Middle Americana."

Between 1952 and the late 1960s John Quincy Wolf Jr. (Lyon '22) and Bess Wolf ('30) recorded hundreds of songs on front porches, in parlors, and in church houses across the rural South. Bess Wolf donated the entire collection of reel-to-reel recordings to the Wolfs' alma mater in 1981.

"Middle Americana" features ballads and instrumentals from 20 singers and musicians recorded by the Wolfs, primarily in north central Arkansas. Many of the ballads are of regional origin, such as "Lee Mills," the story of a real-life murder in Van Buren County and "The Battle of Prairie Grove," an account of one of Arkansas's largest Civil War battles.

Featured performers include folk music notables such as Almeda Riddle and Fred High, legendary Searcy County banjo player Joe Craft, Arkansas champion fiddler Mulkey Kent of Ash Flat, and Stone County balladeers Oscar Gilbert and Seth Mize.

For more information and a printable order form, visit http://www.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/blurb2.html or call Judy Blackwell at 870-307-7509. All proceeds go toward maintenance and promotion of the Wolf Collection. This is a limited edition CD, so get yours while supplies last.