Summary: This week, two time Grammy Award winning Texas Swing fiddler and Asleep at the Wheel member Jason Roberts & the Jason Roberts Band recorded live at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, interviews with Jason. Mark Jones offers an archival recording of four Ozark originals; Buddy Lancaster, Tom Simmons, Jackie Stewart, and of course Mark Jones performing “Bile Them Cabbage Down.” Author, folklorist, and songwriter Charley Sandage presents a profile of the Shawnee residents of the Ozark region. Grammy Award winning fiddle player Jason Roberts brings his signature style to the Jason Roberts Band. Having spent his childhood among legends in Texas honky-tonks -- and then nearly 20 years with the world-famous band Asleep at the Wheel -- Jason has soaked up the very best of Western Swing and brings his own signature style to this traditional American genre. Two Grammy Awards and four individual Hall of Fame inductions later, Jason and his Jason Roberts Band delight fans around the world. Music is a family thing in the Roberts clan. Jason’s grandfather, Buck Roberts, a fellow Texas Western Swing Hall of Famer, toured nationally with The Roberts Brothers Rhthymaires in the 1940’s and 50’s. A 12-year-old Jason eventually fronted a band with his grandfather and other Rhythmaires’ veterans. From the other side, Jason’s grandmother played swing piano well past her 100th birthday. Jason learned to play on his grandfather Carl’s fiddle, an instrument that’s on stage with him to this day. Legendary fiddler Johnny Gimble (Jason’s kin by marriage) took notice of young Jason's remarkable natural talent and took him under his wing. Jason has said, “Every good lick I know, I stole from Johnny Gimble.” By the time he was 15, Jason had played with greats like Gimble, Leon Rausch, Bobby Boatwright, Herb Remington, and other members of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys. From the White House to The David Letterman Show and the Kennedy Center to Bob Wills’ hometown of Turkey, Texas, Jason has helped keep the spirit of Western Swing alive across generations. His fiddle magic and endearing personality make him a fan favorite everywhere he plays. In this week’s “From the Vault” segment, musician, educator, and country music legacy Mark Jones offers an archival recording of four Ozark originals; Buddy Lancaster, Tom Simmons, Jackie Stewart, and of course Mark Jones performing “Bile Them Cabbage Down,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives. Author, folklorist, and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events, and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and its enduring legacy of music and craft. This episode focuses on the history of the Shawnee Indian inhabitants of the Ozark region.
