Show Me Folk

The staff of the Missouri Folk Arts Program extends heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Stan Elmore. Mr. Elmore was a master artist in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 1996, when he…

We are saddened to learn that storyteller Vivian Hawkins of Hannibal, Mo. has died. She apprenticed, along with Deborah Swanegan and Samuel Williams, in 1993 with Gladys Caines Coggswell in Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Ms. Hawkins…

In 2017, we also shared the sad news that old-time fiddler Cliff Bryan of West Plains died on March 12. The tribute we wrote about Cliff is published in a PDF, and you can access…

We’ve received sad news from our colleagues at Northwest Folklife that Phil Williams passed February 16, 2017. Missourians may recall that Phil and Vivian Williams’ Voyager Records has turned out CDs with/of Missouri old-time fiddlers…

A lovely tribute (with more links) to Alan Jabbour, born in Florida, from our colleagues at Florida Folklife Program: We are saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Alan Jabbour, folklorist, scholar, and founding…

In early January 2017, we learned the saddest news. Master blacksmith John “Preston” Williams, Sr. died in a tree cutting accident. The tribute we wrote at that time is published in a PDF linked below….

In December 2016, we were incredibly saddened to learn that Donivan Bailey, a 2015 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program master artist, had died unexpectedly. Linked below is a PDF with the tribute we published when we learned the…

Thanks to our friends at History Museum on the Square, we’ve learned of the loss of Homer Boyd of the famed vocal group the Philharmonics. The Springfield News-Leader shared an in-depth story about Mr. Boyd’s contributions…

Sad news. We learned that Louis Meyer, former director of Kansas City-based Folk Alliance International, died unexpectedly in Austin, Tx. Our sympathies to his family, friends, and fellow musicians. https://www.kcur.org/post/louis-meyers-former-folk-alliance-head-and-imaginer-bluegrass-tommy-dies?fbclid=IwAR0WQL0jOFoAcqEA2AGpFPKFTcleharukzVkitOc9X9qPrUnflQguZaLvzY#stream/0 An obituary for Louis Meyers can…

We are sad to learn that Butch Antal of Ashland, Missouri died on Friday, November 13, 2015. Mr. Antal and his band the Storyville Stompers often performed in the 1990s via our small touring project,…