The Ozarks Studies Institute, an ongoing initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries, and the Springfield-Greene County Library District are collaborating again to organize and host a free public talk by Sarah Jane Nelson, author of a new biography of Max Hunter. The free talk will begin tonight, Thursday, April 20, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at the Library Center on South Campbell Avenue. 

Copies of Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter: Stories of an Ozark Folksong Collector, from the University of Illinois Press, will be available for purchase. 

“A traveling salesman with little formal education, Max Hunter gravitated to song catching and ballad hunting while on business trips in the Ozarks. Hunter recorded nearly 1600 traditional songs by more than 200 singers from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s, all the while focused on preserving the music in its unaltered form.

Sarah Jane Nelson chronicles Hunter’s song collecting adventures alongside portraits of the singers and mentors he met along the way. The guitar-strumming Hunter picked up the recording habit to expand his repertoire but almost immediately embraced the role of song preservationist. Being a local allowed Hunter to merge his native Ozark earthiness with sharp observational skills to connect–often more than once–with his singers. Hunter’s own ability to be present added to that sense of connection. Despite his painstaking approach, ballad collecting was also a source of pleasure for Hunter. Ultimately, his dedication to capturing Ozarks song culture in its natural state brought Hunter into contact with people like Vance Randolph, Mary Parler, and non-academic folklorists who shared his values.”

The online Max Hunter Collection is an archive of almost 1600 Ozarks folk songs, recorded between 1956 and 1976. A traveling salesman from Springfield, Missouri, Hunter took his reel-to-reel tape recorder into the hills and hollows of the Ozarks, preserving the heritage of the region by recording the songs and stories of many generations. As important as the songs themselves are the voices of the Missouri and Arkansas folks who shared their talents and recollections with Hunter.

Between 1998 and 2001, the materials were digitized and transcribed from Max Hunter’s original reel-to-reel tapes and typewritten lyrics. The project was led by Dr. Michael F. Murray, with assistance from Kathy Murray (tune transcriptions) and Mark Bilyeu (lyric transcriptions) from the Missouri State University Department of Music. The originals are held by the Springfield-Greene County Library District.