Broadcasting the Ozarks

Broadcasting the Ozarks explores the vibrant country music scene that emerged in Springfield, Missouri, in the 1930s and thrived for half a century. Central to this history is the Ozark Jubilee (1955¿60), the first regularly broadcast live country music show on network television. Dubbed the ¿king of the televised barn dances,¿ the show introduced the Ozarks region to viewers across America and put Springfield in the running with Nashville for dominance of the country music industry¿with the Jubilee¿s producer, Si Siman, at the helm. Siman¿s life story is almost as remarkable as the show he produced. He was booking Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Glenn Miller during the mid-1930s while still a high school student and produced nationally syndicated country music radio shows in the decades that followed. Siman was a promotional genius with an ear for talent, a persuasive gift for gab, and the energy and persistence to make things happen for many future Country Music Hall of Famers, in