Ozark Mountain Daredevils to headline Drury 150th anniversary events

An upcoming September concert will feature a meaningful homecoming for John Dillon.

When the Stuttgart, Arkansas, native was a freshman at Drury University in the mid-1960s, he wrote his first song in the men’s dormitory. He thinks it was called “The Blue and the Green,” he said, and Dillon remembers it getting picked up as part of a talent search from “The Bell Telephone Hour.” 

“I was in a folk group at the time,” Dillon said. “That was my first taste of the big-time, and it got me wondering if I could write more songs.”

Dillon and the rest of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils will be featured in a special concert Sept. 16 in commemoration of the university’s 150th anniversary. Announced Monday, the concert will mark the first public event for the celebration. 

The concert will also feature Molly Healey String Project, the HillBenders, the Shandies, Justin Larkin, Lyal Strickland and more. Named “Generations: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Friends,” the concert will pay special tribute to the Dares, with each band working on a lineup that shows the band’s influence. 

Fresh sound from expanded lineup

The band is playing with an expanded lineup that features Molly Healey, Nick Sibley, Ruell Chappel, Dave Painter, Ron Gremp and Kelly Brown playing with original members Dillon, Michael “Supe” Granda and saxophonist Bill Jones. 

It’s an impressively talented group of musicians, Dillon said, who have energized the band with a fresh sound.

“This current lineup is maybe the best group of musicians since the very beginning,” Dillon said. “They are so emotionally invested in the music and its history.”

The group has been enjoying a revival as it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 with the release of a documentary and a concert played in collaboration with the Springfield Symphony.

Out of the blue, a re-recording of a classic

That energy has continued with a busy tour schedule for the rest of the year, and a re-recording of one of its signature songs.

“Jackie Blue 2,” an updated version of the 1975 classic, was released a few months ago on online platforms. It features modern instrument sounds as well as modern audio engineering and mixing, which has been greatly upgraded over the last five decades.

The updated song also features Healey handling the vocals originally sung by Larry Lee. 

Dillon said re-recording a vintage song with a new band, including Healey on vocals, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Always, a lot of bands want to recut an old song, because the tech has changed so much and you can get better sounds, and more of a sonic landscape that you couldn’t get back then,” Dillon said. “But (the new musicians) bring a new dimension to it. It’s been refreshing to play it live, working with everyone we have.”

Healey said she relished the opportunity to sing such a legendary song that featured “a perfect marriage of a great hook and great voice.” Once she got over the initial intimidation, she said.

“At first it felt impossible to live up to that standard,” Healey said. “But once I got it in my head that I didn’t need to match Larry and live up to the original, it felt easier. The Dares were so incredibly supportive.”

Drury University connections

Dillon is not the only Drury graduate in the band. Bill Jones also earned a degree from Drury, and several other members attended classes, Dillon said. Healey has also worked with Drury professor Brian Shipman on his “DU Uncut” show, a program that profiled southwest Missouri musicians and featured their performances. 

Dillon credits the education he got from Drury for positioning him to handle the band’s success. He pursued a degree in humanities and liberal arts because he wanted to learn as much as possible.

“The people I met, and the freedom I had to become myself, led to everything else good that happened to me,” Dillon said. “I’m honored to be a part of its anniversary.”

The September concert was pitched to the band only a few weeks ago, long after its 2023 schedule had been ironed out. The band played Friday at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and has appearances booked for the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.

The concept of the concert, and its purpose, was too much of a full-circle moment to pass up, Dillon said. 

“To bring along a number of young artists paying homage to our history, performing our old songs, that’s a generational handoff,” Dillon said. “To have that happen at Drury, where everything started, is a big deal for me.”