Still on the Hill concert March 22

Still on the Hill will be telling the story of Cane Hill through their music during a concert at the Siloam Springs Library planned for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 22.

The band, comprised of musicians and songwriters Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, uses story songs to tell Ozark history. They received a grant from Historic Cane Hill to research the town, then write and record an album about the community, located about 25 miles southeast of Siloam Springs in western Washington County. Donna Mulhollan also created photo quilts to go along with each song to serve as a visual aid and "low tech Power Point," the couple said.

The Mulhollan's are performing the songs at a series of 13 free concerts and are giving away 100 free CDs -- one per family -- to the first 100 to attend.

Historic Cane Hill is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history of the town. The idea behind the songs and the concert series is the hope that people will hear the music and be inspired to visit Cane Hill, Kelly Mulhollan said.

Cane Hill has a very rich history, he said. At one time, the community was a population center in Northwest Arkansas -- even bigger than Fayetteville. The town boasted the first public school in Arkansas, the first public library, one of the earliest colleges and the first college to accept women. The community almost disappeared during the 20th century but now the historic buildings, including Cane Hill College, are being restored, he said.

To research the songs, the Mulhollans interviewed people who grew up in Cane Hill and collected oral history. They also wrote three songs inspired by artifacts in the Historic Cane Hill Museum.

The Mulhollans have been together for 23 years and their last four projects have focused on the history of the Ozarks, according to Donna Mulhollan. They call their style of music "folk-grass," she said. They use many of the same instruments used in bluegrass music such as fiddles, banjos and scrub boards, but their music also has the storytelling elements and unique and homemade instruments of folk music, she explained.

Still on the Hill also uses very colorful presentations with a theater backdrop and visual aids. They also encourage audience participation, she said.

More information about Still on the Hill is available on their website, stillonthehill.com. More information about Historic Cane Hill is available at historiccanehill.wixsite.com.