OTR Logo

OTR Newsletter

Vol. 1, No. 2 (Winter, 1994)

Articles In This Newsletter:

Return to: OTR Newsletter Index or OTR Main Home Page

OTR's Year In Review

As the New Year is upon us, OTR looks back on 1993 as an exciting year of beginnings, and anticipates 1994 as an important period of growth. Supporters of old-time music have "rallied 'round the radio" and become involved with OTR in large numbers. Our first newsletter was received by over 1000 individuals, organizations, and broadcasters, many of whom registered their support with phone calls, letters of encouragement, and financial contributions. Thanks go out to everyone who sent in money.

Our first national effort to compile statistical information, the Old-Time Music Radio Survey, was sent to over 450 radio programmers (see article in this issue). Plans for the first Old-Time Music and Radio Conference, to be held May 31 - June 2, 1994 in Mt. Airy, NC, progressed with nearly 100 panelists, musicians, and speakers confirmed, and a grant application submitted to the N.E.A. Folk Arts Program (see article in this issue).

OTR received significant press coverage for its fledgling efforts, having been mentioned in several prestigious publications. These include newsletters by the Southern Arts Federation, International Bluegrass Music Association, the Folk Alliance, and the Charlotte (NC) Folk Music Society, as well as Bluegrass Unlimited and Old-Time Herald magazines.

Although all these positive indications are reassuring, much hard work still stands before us in our attempts to build a coalition which will hold together and work together for the good of old-time music. It is essential that our conference be successful and well-attended. Compiling, analyzing, and disseminating the survey data will be a huge job. Financial need will continue to be an unavoidable reality. Contributions from recipients of the first newsletter were enough to facilitate distribution of the survey and publication of this second newsletter; however, continued momentum of OTR efforts will hinge directly on continued financial support from people like you.

When the challenges facing OTR are weighed together with its accomplishments, it is clear that there is plenty of work and satisfaction to keep us busy for many years to come. On behalf of the OTR steering committee and newsletter staff, we would like to thank you for your interest and involvement, and hope that you had a wonderful Holiday season!

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

Radio Survey Distributed

After nearly a year in the making, the Old-Time Music Radio Survey was recently mailed to radio stations and programmers across the US, plus several in Canada, Australia, and France. 468 surveys were distributed to radio personnel who had either contacted OTR directly or had been referred to OTR as possible/potential programmers of old-time music. Thanks go to the International Bluegrass Music Assn. (IBMA), High Windy Productions, and performer David Holt for help in compiling this database. Special thanks go to steering committee member Burr Beard of WNCW in Spindale, NC, for his help in survey design.

In addition to asking for basic information such as names, addresses, call letters, and frequencies of stations, the survey also seeks to compile details and technical data pertaining to these radio stations and their old-time music programming. Some of this information -- total population reach, average quarter hour listenership, programming profiles, satellite receive capabilities, etc. -will be useful to station management, marketing, and sales personnel. Other information -- such as whether a station will play particular music sources such as cassettes, LPs, CDs, etc.; what quality of service radio stations are receiving from record labels; if live music and retail sales opportunities for traditional music exist within a station's listening area; and more -- will be pertinent to record labels, producers, and performers.

It will take several months for the surveys to be returned and compiled. OTR aims to have preliminary survey results available for distribution at the Old-Time Music and Radio Conference, May 31-June 2, 1994 in Mt. Airy, NC. Any interested station or programmer who did not receive a copy of the survey should contact OTR, c/o John Lilly, P.O. Box 3014, Elkins, WV, 26241 (phone 304-636-1903 or 304-637-8712).

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

Conference Includes Radio

The Folk Alliance 6th Annual Conference, presented Feb. 17-20 in Boston, MA, by the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, will give substantial emphasis to radio. Several panels, workshops, and focus groups which directly deal with radio issues are scheduled. Among these is an OTR focus group session scheduled for 4:15-5:30 PM on Friday, Feb.18. OTR steering committee members Burr Beard, David Holt, John Lilly, and Art Menius will all be attending the conference and hope to be spreading the word about old-time music on the radio at this meeting, as well as at other sessions.

Additional radio-related discussions include Folk Radio Issues panel and workshop session (Thursday, Feb. 17 at 3:05 PM), Broadcast Media peer group session (Thursday, Feb. 17 at 4:30 PM), Organizing Airplay for Folk Music panel and workshop session (Friday, Feb. 18 at 9:00 AM, chaired by John Lilly), plus various other recording, distribution, and promotion panels throughout the conference.

To register, or for additional information, contact the Folk Alliance at P.O. Box 5010, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

Old-Time Music and Radio Conference Plans Solidify

The Old-Time Music and Radio Conference is scheduled for May 31 -June 2, 1994 at the Andy Griffith Playhouse and Veterans Park in Mt. Airy, NC. Planned to coincide with the annual Mt. Airy Fiddlers' Convention, this ambitious gathering will mark the first time radio programmers, traditional musicians, representatives of arts organizations and record companies have come together to discuss the future of old-time music. Radio professionals, musicians, scholars, recording industry representatives, and public sector folklorists from around the country are among those who have agreed to participate in this conference as panelists, speakers, performers, hosts, and workshop participants.

Among the scheduled topics for panel discussions are "Community Involvement: Public Service Builds Audience Support;" "Success Stories: Radio Shows That Work;" "The Recording Industry and Old-Time Music Today;" "Funding Opportunities;" and much more. There will be a tour of historic radio station WPAQ in Mt. Airy as well as practical workshops on radio production presented by WFDD, WNCW, and WPAQ. Musical WFDD Workshopworkshops will include "Master Fiddlers;" "Piedmont Blues;" "Banjo Styles;" "Young Fiddlers;" and others. Confirmed musical workshop participants include National Heritage Fellowship recipient Melvin Wine; three-time Mt. Airy fiddling champion Ralph Blizard; pioneer cross-picking guitarist George Shuffler; seventh generation Madison County, NC, ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams; Piedmont blues performer Lightnin' Wells; and many others.

Evening general sessions will be a mix of discussion, performance, and presentation. Keynote speakers include renowned scholar Dr. Charles K. Wolfe, plus Diane Rapaport, author of How To Make and Sell Your Own Recording. Confirmed evening musical performers include the Slate Mountain Ramblers; guitarist Wayne Henderson; Piedmont blues artists Turner and Lynn Foddrell; the popular all-woman stringband, the Heartbeats; and others. The evenings will also feature special "Town Hall" sessions where attendees will take the floor to voice their concerns.

Finally, the conference will give way to the Mt. Airy Fiddlers' Convention on Thursday, June 2, with a BBQ supper and concert including Guitar Gabriel; the Red Hots; and the Toast String Stretchers. This concert is scheduled to be digitally recorded and distributed to radio stations for later broadcast.

Partial support for this conference has been sought in the form of a grant application to the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program. The review panel is currently studying proposals for this funding cycle, and OTR, which filed its application under the auspices of its parent organization, the Old-Time Music Group, Inc., expects to hear the results of the panel's consideration early in 1994.

Additional support will be sought from other public and private arts organizations, businesses, individuals, and from OTR supporters in the form of conference registrations. Our goal is to enroll a minimum of 100 paid attendees in order to ensure the success of the conference.

Everyone who receives a copy of this newsletter by mail will also receive conference and registration information within the next few weeks. We strongly urge you to consider joining us at Mt. Airy!

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

New Old-Time Music Radio Programs

Two new radio programs featuring old-time music have recently been made available for airplay.

One of these, entitled "1992 Fiddle Tunes Tour'' is produced by Centrum at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA, and features performances from participants in the 1992 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. According to Centrum director, Peter McCracken, several artists from the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes went on tour with a tent show throughout rural areas of Washington state after the conclusion of the 1992 Port Townsend event. Many of the performances from this tour, along with interview segments and impromptu jam sessions, were recorded for inclusion in this radio special. A wide range of musical styles are highlighted. Among them are the Cumberland Plateau fiddling of Clyde Davenport, the Mexican-American music of Los Campesinos de Michoacan, blues from John Dee Holeman, and African-American stringband music from Joe and Odell Thompson.

The program runs 58 minutes, and is edited into four segments of approximately fifteen minutes each, making it suitable as a one hour feature presentation, or as separate half-hour or fifteen minute inserts. It has already aired on WNCW in Spindale, NC; in Fresno and Chico, CA; and in the Seattle area on KSER.

"1992 Fiddle Tunes Tour" is available on cassette or DAT at no charge to radio stations. Contact Centrum at 206-385-3102.

"Banjo Meltdown" is a six-part radio series which highlights the incredible variety of banjo music presented at the Tennessee Banjo Institute at Cedars of Lebanon State Park near Nashville, TN. The show has been distributed via satellite uplink for six weeks from November 16 -December 21, 1993, according to program producer Mark Yacovone of WDUQ- FM at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Interested stations who missed the uplink can arrange for air copies by contacting Mark Yacovone at 412-396-6030.

This series features a virtual encyclopedia of banjo styles and players running the gamut from the American Banjo Fraternity Orchestra, to Morgan Sexton, to Ralph Stanley, to Seamus Egan, to Richie Stearns, to nearly any well-known or obscure banjoist one can imagine. Segment titles include "Banjo Sound: A Sampling of the Tones and Textures of the Banjo's Voice;" "Southern Banjo I & II;" "Banjo in the Big City;" "Banjo Musics: The Astonishing Variety of Music Put to the Banjo;" and "Banjo Future."

The Tennessee Banjo Institute has also been documented in CD recordings from Smithsonian/Folkways Mail Order (phone 301-443-2314), and on a video tape entitled Banjo Meltdown. The video is available from The Tennessee Folklore Society, Box 529, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

Suggested Reading

There is plenty of good reading available for those with an interest in old-time, folk, and early country music. Our sister publication, the <i>Old-Time Herald. recently published one of its most impressive issues, and also announced a distribution agreement with Tower Records. Congratulations to OTH editor Alice Gerrard

The November 1993-January 1994 issue contains articles on singers Ginny Hawker and Kay Justice, a profile of the Skillet Lickers' band along with a transcribed interview of Gid Tanner, personal reminiscences of mountain singer and banjoist Dellie Norton by granddaughter Sheila Kay Adams, plus much more. The Old Time Herald continues to be the best source available for reviews of old-time music recordings, articles on historic and contemporary old-time musicians, discussion of issues in old-time music, and information regarding products, festivals, and services. The upcoming February 1994 issue will include the annual festival guide. For information, call (919) 490-6578.

For those in the San Francisco Bay area, or for those with especially far-reaching interests, there is The Eclectic Ear. the newsletter of the Coalition for Eclectic Radio. This organization is based in San Francisco, CA, and advocates for a diverse group of radio programmers and listeners in that area, who are drawn together by common goals and challenges. Jazz, blues, spoken word, gospel, folk, bluegrass, and "eclectic" programming all come together in this coalition of endangered, non-mainstream radio voices. To receive The Eclectic Ear, the Radio Survival Guide (a program listing), or more information about the Coalition for Eclectic Radio, contact them at P.O. Box 883702, San Francisco, CA 94188- 3702.

If cowboys, yodeling, and early country music is what you like, there is Country: Musical Trails Less Traveled. Published in North Carolina by Jay Taylor, this attractive and well-written publication takes a nostalgic look at "God, Home, and Country" music. A recent issue included stories on Carson Robison, Kenny Roberts ("King of the Yodelers"), and Rick and Thel Carey (Australia's "Mr. and Mrs. Country Music"). For information, write to Jay Taylor, P.O. Box 143, Marshville, NC 28103-0143.

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

FOLKDJ-L Goes Online

Folk music and radio have entered the 21st century! At the very least, they have entered the mid-1990's with the introduction of a new electronic discussion list on the Internet system. FOLKDJ-L went online in late November of last year, and currently links together over 90 folk music programmers and others interested in the subject. For those with access to the international computer network known as Internet (or the similar BITNET), FOLKDJ-L is a unique opportunity to share thoughts, opinions, playlists, and the occasional radio joke with like-minded individuals across the US, Canada and many countries overseas. The communication is quite interactive, with people posting and responding practically instantaneously.

According to originator and "list owner" Tina Hay of WPSU-FM (Penn State U.), the list was started "to give folk, bluegrass, and Celtic DJ's a chance to talk to one another about issues of common interest." In recent weeks, these topics have included a lively discussion on cassette tapes for airplay, reviews and opinions of new releases, an interesting blow-by-blow account of the cancellation of a popular radio show in California and its repercussions, pluses and minuses regarding the prospect of a national "chart" for new folk music recordings and much, much more.

If you have Internet access and would like to subscribe to FOLKDJ-L, send e-mail to LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU (or LISTSERV@PSUVM.BITNET). Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, type SUB FOLKDJ-L [your complete name and station (optional)]. If you have questions or problems, contact Tina Hay or OTR editor John Lilly .

Return to Table of Contents for this issue

Letters To OTR

"With my husband, Greg, l host a two-hour show on Sundays on our local college station, KSBR-FM... Our show is Folk Roots, and we play about one third bluegrass, one third Celtic, and one third other folky types of music including a good dose of Old Time. Of particular interest is getting better communications going with the record companies and self-producing artists. It's great to play the old classics, but the newer performers need to be presented, too. We are so removed geographically from the major areas of Old Time activity that we have a hard time keeping current.

Record companies that give good service are quite naturally the ones whose new artists get airplay."

Margie Mirkin, Laguna Nigel, CA

"I'm sure you don't know about our own efforts here in the midwest regarding radio programs of old-time music. We tape record a program called the "Old Time Music Hour" at our opera house in Walnut, Iowa, every Saturday night, June through October. We created it primarily for commercial radio as an alternative to the mediocre radio programming that is now so current on commercial radio. We landed eight stations in North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and hope to add three in Indiana. Mostly they program the show on Sundays, and that's fine with us."

Bob Everhart, Walnut, IA

"I'm very happy to see the start of your organization. I produce and host a weekly radio program, The Folk Tradition, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary in March 1994. It airs over WKAR-FM in East Lansing (90.5 FM) every Sunday at 6 p.m. and reaches much of mid-Michigan including Ann Arbor. I play a wide variety of traditional and contemporary folk music including a lot of old-time music (as well as bluegrass, blues, singer-songwriter, Celtic, world music, etc.)...There's a fair bit of interest in old-time (and other folk) music around mid-Michigan. Elderly Instruments in Lansing is an excellent retail store and mail-order source of recordings, books, and instruments. I try to promote area concerts at venues like the Ten Pound Fiddle coffeehouse in East Lansing and the Ark in Ann Arbor. The Ten Pound Fiddle will have concerts this fall by the Volo Bogtrotters, the Red Mules, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Al and Emily Cantrell, and a trio of Marimac acts doing a package tour."

Bob Blackman, Haslett, Ml

(Ed Note. we welcome your notes and comments for our next issue.)

Return to Table of Contents for this issue