Ozark Mountains Spotlight: "Mountain Music Highway 66"

Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Arkansas' Mountain Music Highway 66

Location: Timberlane Ranch, Alberta Mountain, Leslie, Arkansas – Arkansas Highway 66 (The Mountain Music Highway)

Here on Alberton Mountain, on Music Highway 66, it is famous not only for its scenic beauty but for the profound musical legacy that runs through it. This is the same Highway 66 that folk legend Jimmy Driftwood once lived on, near Fox Mountain, right between Leslie and Mountain View in the small town of Timbo in Stone County. He taught school in

Timbo and bought a 150-acre farm there in 1947. My own home lies in Searcy County, and just across the road, the musically gifted Weedy family resides. Not far from here, in Oxley, is a well-known fiddle player named Nathan Dodds. Further along the highway towards Mountain View, there are other families involved in music. Whichever direction you head—from Fox to Timbo to Big Flat—you’ll find musicians, farmers, and families whose roots in this land go back to the 1700s. Jimmy Driftwood began teaching around age 17 (~1924). He wrote his first song around the age of 12 and reportedly wrote his first poem at the age of eight. His song, "The Battle of New Orleans," was written in 1936 to help his students learn history.

On January 8, 1815, Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson's hastily assembled army won the day against a battle-hardened and numerically superior British force. The resounding American victory at the Battle of New Orleans soon became a symbol of American democracy triumphing over the old European ideas of aristocracy and entitlement. The battle was the last major armed engagement between the United States and Britain.

This land holds not only echoes of the Civil War but also vibrant modern legacies. Jimmy Driftwood’s mission to preserve and present folk music sparked a movement that endures to this day.

Nearly 60 years later, much of that spirit lives on in Mountain View, Arkansas, "The Folk Music Capital of the World.

"Yesterday, Becky and I took it easy. We shared some coffee and rested—we didn’t go into town. I also wrote a new song about Calico Rock, and it’s got a fun, lively rhythm to it. I think we’ll keep resting through the weekend before reentering the world next week. There’s a possibility we’ll head to the Jimmy Driftwood Barn, but only if we’re both feeling up to it. I’m thinking of new ways to move forward—interviewing more authors, songwriters, and musicians. I might even begin working with some label artists, while still keeping my heart in the Ozarks, as well as in the traditions of bluegrass, gospel, and folk.

I’ve also been enjoying Jacob Austin Band music reviews. Their energy reminds me of the kind of folk-rock revival we could embrace in the KWMV Mountain View

Travel Logs. We’ll keep spending time with the Jacob Austin Band. As always, I sign off with a reminder: Imagine tomorrow today—and put God first in your life, and you will move mountains.

Written by Al Timberlane

July 25, 2025

Location: Timberlane Ranch, Alberta Mountain, Leslie, Arkansas – Arkansas Highway 66 ( Mountain Music Highway 66)