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West Plains, Mo. and Bo Brown, Ozarks Forager and Musician
Rogersville, Mo.
Ozarks traditional artists accept awards recognizing their contributions to the Show Me State
Marideth Sisco and Bo Brown are bandmates and great friends, so they were absolutely thrilled to learn that they had both been chosen as 2025 Living Traditions Fellows as part of Missouri Folk Arts’ ongoing Show Me Folk initiative. The fellowships recognize the artistic excellence and exceptional lifetime achievement of living traditional artists and community scholars in the Show Me State. To date, nine exceptional Missouri individuals with deep-rooted contributions to their vibrant Missouri communities have been recognized with the honor thanks to the diligence of their nominators.
Marideth Sisco is a jill of many artistic trades–a vocalist, author, storyteller, journalist, educator, and gardener who has recorded albums, advised filmmakers, and produced a radio series, among her many accomplishments. In addition to tending her garden plots, Sisco has also tended her Ozarks community, explored its stories and brought them to light on stages small and large, including the Rinzler Stage of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Kathleen Morrissey (West Plains Council on the Arts) nominated Sisco and wrote:
As we saw the need for a place to collect and present the oral histories and community stories of this place, we connected the dots between art, culture, humanities, and community outreach. Marideth has been the backbone for much of our efforts. Her work with the local newspaper, her understanding of regional nuance, and her ability to tell our stories are critical for our work . . . her role has been foundational. Whether it is providing vision or developing projects, she is there. We hope you will see her as we do. A one-of-a-kind voice from a place that matters.
Bo Brown and Sisco have known each other many years and traveled many miles together, including a 2011 U.S. and Canada tour with the Blackberry Winter Band, which grew out of the soundtrack to the independent film Winter’s Bone, based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell. Over the years, they have continued to perform in the Ozarks and beyond with that band and others.
While Brown is recognized with the Living Traditions Fellowship for his musicianship, his nominator Suzi Vause primarily outlined his contributions as a noted Ozarks forager and foodways expert. Like Sisco, he was invited to represent the region at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He alternated between performing on festival stages and providing cultural interpretation in the amazing teaching garden and its arbor. At home, he is found most often teaching this traditional foraging and foodways face-to-face during plant walks, workshops, and gatherings on his Niangua River Bottoms property and throughout the region.
In a letter of support for Brown’s nomination, Tina Marie Wilcox—the head gardener and herbalist at the Ozark Folk Center in Mtn. View, Arkansas—wrote:
Bo Brown teaches people that they cannot only survive, but live richly by deeply knowing plants and the creatures who share life in the Ozarks. He can identify almost every living thing that grows, crawls and flies in the Ozark Mountains. His delivery of information is both friendly and engaging though encyclopedic. Having been brought up in the Missouri Ozarks, he has eaten foods from the wild his entire life. He has taken this Ozark tradition along with his work as a professional birder and time spent out in nature, and created a career of teaching, foraging, conservation, and writing. His meals, ferments, and native food snacks are delicious and are on the cutting edge of gourmet gastronomy.
On October 18, 2025, Folk Arts Specialist Deb Bailey presented custom plaques to Bo and Marideth during a special session at the Old-time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival in West Plains, Mo.
