One of the great things about the movie Winter's Bone is its relentless momentum. No matter what she encounters, Ree (played by Jennifer Lawrence) never stops hunting for her missing, meth-cooking dad. Except once, when in the midst of her search she walks into a house party and we hear the voice of Marideth Sisco.

Sisco's a cappella rendition of "Missouri Waltz" stops Ree, and with her the whole movie, right in their tracks. Director Debra Granik found Sisco and her accompanists in the Ozarks—not only where the film is set but where it was made—but that's not to say that the singer, who's in her 60s, has spent her whole life beside a wood stove. Though she is a Missouri native, she's also an academically trained musician who ditched music education in the 60s to play more popular sounds in California. She's since moved back home, where she's worked as a journalist and teacher and sung with local musicians. Some of them are in Blackberry Winter, the acoustic combo that backs her on the film soundtrack. They'll play songs from the movie and their new album at Lincoln Hall on Wednesday.