Officials with the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) will host a special presentation, “Si Siman, the Ozark Jubilee, and Music Business at the Crossroads” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, at the Garnett Library, 304 W. Trish Knight St., in West Plains.
The program is underwritten by the Missouri Humanities Council and is co-hosted by the Ozark Spring Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR).
The presentation will be given by Dr. Kitty Ledbetter, freelance author and emeritus professor of English at Texas State University in San Marcos. She will provide an entertaining, well-illustrated account of Si Siman, a native Ozarker and executive producer of the Ozark Jubilee (1955-1960), the first continuous, live network country music television show in history.
More about the Jubilee and Siman
Hosted by superstar Red Foley, the weekly show was broadcast live from the Jewell Theater in Springfield, Missouri. Siman played a crucial role in developing and securing talent for the Jubilee, which was the only network television show at the time originating outside New York or Los Angeles.
More than a third of the Ozark Jubilee performers are now in the Country Music Hall of Fame, including Chet Atkins—whom Siman nicknamed “Chet” in the 1940s—Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee.
Following the Jubilee, Siman became a music publisher and managed the career of Wayne Carson, writer of two legendary songs: “The Letter,” recorded by The Box Tops in 1967, and Willie Nelson’s Grammy-winning version of “Always on My Mind” in 1982.
Ledbetter’s presentation will draw from her recent book, Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads (University of Arkansas Press), offering insights into Siman’s impact on country music and the music business.
More about Lebetter
Ledbetter taught Victorian British literature for 20 years at Texas State University. After retiring from Texas State in 2021, she moved back to her hometown of Springfield, Missouri, and began a career as a freelance writer.
Ledbetter has given presentations about Si Siman at conferences and lecture series for organizations such as the International Country Music Conference and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, the Missouri Conference on History, Ozark Studies Institute, and the Ozark Studies Association.
Before beginning her teaching career, she was a country radio disc jockey for 25 years. She was chosen for the “Springfield’s Leading Ladies: Creating Legacies” exhibit at the History Museum on the Square in Springfield, Missouri, from March 9 through June 2, 2024.
The May 13 presentation is supported by the Missouri Speakers Bureau, a joint initiative of Missouri Humanities and the State Historical Society of Missouri and is free and open to all. Light refreshments will be served.
For more information about the event, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.