Arkansas at 78 RPM: Corn Dodgers and Hoss Hair Pullers

A rowdy, foot-stomping journey through Arkansas’s wild string band tradition, newly remastered from original 78s.

Arkansas in the late 1920s and ’30s was alive with some of the most vigorous and idiosyncratic string bands in America. For the traveling recording scouts of the era, the state offered enticing pickings, from hard-driving fiddle tunes to quirky jug band breakdowns and heartfelt early country songs.

This collection carries listeners from the hillbilly music craze of the ’20s into the song-based country styles of the late ’30s—a period of galvanic change in American life and sound. All tracks have been newly remastered from original 78 rpm discs.

The release also serves as the soundtrack to Making Pictures: Three for a Dime by Maxine Payne, featuring extraordinary rural Arkansas photography from the 1930s–40s.

What’s Included

• 27 rare tracks recorded between 1928–1937
• Newly remastered 24-bit audio from the Dust-to-Digital Foundation archive
• View the complete tracklist here: [Insert hosted PDF link]
• 32-page booklet featuring:
• Massengil family photographs from their traveling photo booth
• Detailed liner notes by country music scholar Tony Russell

Track Highlights

• Ashley’s Melody Men – “Searcy County Rag”
• Dr. Smith’s Champion Hoss Hair Pullers – “Just Give Me the Leavings”
• George Edgin’s Corn Dodgers – “My Ozark Mountain Home”
• Lonnie Glosson – “Arkansas Hard Luck Blues”
• Morrison Twin Brothers String Band – “Dry and Dusty”