OTR Newsletter

1994 Year In Review

OTR Conference a Success

These topics included "Financial Support: Your Program and Your Management", "Community Involvement: Public Service Builds Audience", and many others. The concerns of the music community were addressed at sessions session such as "Record Labels: Old-Time Music and the Recording Industry Today", and "Self-Production: Make and Sell Your Own Recording" among others. Panelists included radio professionals, representatives of national arts organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, owners of several recording labels, and a number of full-time musicians.

One of the most heavily attended events was the radio production workshop coordinated by Paul Brown from WFDD Public Radio and Mark Brown from WPAQ. They discussed their experience and gave demonstrations with a wide range of recording and broadcasting equipment .

The evening sessions proved a highlight for many attendees, featuring keynote addresses, musical performances, and "Town Hall" group discussions. The first address, by Dr. Charles K. Wolfe gave an inspiring account of the history of old-time music radio broadcasting dating back to the early decades of this century, and a call to recognize the future of old-time music as represented by the broad spectrum of musicians and musical styles active today. The address by noted author, Diane Rapaport encouraged members of the old-time music community to be creative and aggressive in identifying outlets and audiences for traditional music. Evening musical performances included the Toast String Stretchers, Slate Mountain Ramblers, Turner & Lynn Foddrell, the Heartbeats, Sheila Kay Adams, Wayne Henderson, and Melvin Wine.

The conference also included a special award to radio pioneer, Ralph Epperson from WPAQ, Mt. Airy, as well as a tour of WPAQ's studios.

The final afternoon of the gathering was spent at Veterans Park, preceding the annual Mt. Airy Fiddlers Convention, for a series of music workshops and performances featuring some of the finest musicians and singers in the country. Among those involved were Hazel Dickens, Benton Flippen, Guitar Gabriel, A.C. Overton, Brad Leftwich, Matokie Slaughter, Ralph Blizard, The Red Hots, Alice Gerrard, and many others.

During a post-conference debriefing, many participants expressed opinions regarding the events, and discussed ways to enhance the conference in future years. Several committees were formed: Conference Planning, CD Promotion, Fundraising and Development, and Newsletter.

Program books from the 1994 conference are available from OTR free of charge. The next Old Time Music and Radio Conference will take place in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, June 4 - 6, 1996.

Old-Time Music on the Internet

(As technology advances, many traditional music enthusiasts are quick to take advantage of the opportunities available for Incr eased communication. Electronic communication over the worldwide Internet system is accessible to anyone with a computer and a telephone jack. Many people, including many radio station personnel also have lntemet access through their workplace. Steve Goldfield provides this introduction. - ed.)

Old-time music has appeared on scenic country roads on the information highway in the last few years. There are two kinds of places to look for it: usenet newsgroups, which are like bulletin boards, and Email lists.

Electronic mailing lists, or Email lists, are much like conventional mailing lists. People subscribe to these lists and then can receive whatever messages are sent to the list. Those of us interested in old-time music have a few such lists to read.

The oldest and largest is bgrass-l, which currently has more than 800 subscribers discussing bluegrass and old-time music. [To subscribe, send Email to listserv@ukcc.uky.edu with no subject and the message: SUBSCRIBE BGRASS-L [First_name Last_name.] ] Bgrass-l was started by Frank Godbey, the list owner, in November 1991 at the University of Kentucky. Bgrass-l is a very busy list, which has led a lot of people to drop off or become inactive.

Folkdj-l is a list for disc jockeys, who send playlists and discuss issues of particular interest to music on radio. Old-time music appears quite frequently on these playlists. Folkdj-l was started by Tina Hay at Pennsylvania State University in November of l993. [To subscribe, send Email to listserv@psuvm.psu.edu (again no subject) with the message: SUBSCRIBE FOLKDJ-L [First_name Last_name.]]

Old-Time Music on the Radio has its own list to discuss issues of concern to OTR, such as annual meetings and the newsletter. The OTR list is just a reflector; if you send Email to otr@rufus.berkeley.edu, everyone on the list will see it. To have your name added to the list, send Email to Steve Goldfield at sag@coe.berkeley.edu asking to be added to the OTR list. Steve will add you to the list and send you an introductory message explaining the list and showing who is on it.

On usenet, old-time music has come up occasionally in the folk music discussion on rec.music.folk. More recently, old-time has been a major component of alt.banjo and alt.banjo.clawhammer.

Recent discussions on these groups led to an initiative to start rec.music.country.old-time. A three-week discussion was held on that group in November 1994. About 80 people took part; virtually all were extremely positive. A vote is to be taken from December 7,1994 to January 7,1995.

If you are not familiar with usenet newsgroups, ask your system administrator or a consultant with the company that gives you your network connection whether you have usenet access and how to read it.

If you have questions about any of the information in this article, contact Steve Goldfield, 419 Village Drive, El Cerrito, CA 94530; phone510-525-3216; Email

Rounder Releases Old-Time Collection

OTR produced this collection designed to heighten awareness of today's old-time music scene among the general public, and increase accessibility to this music by the radio community. Released to radio in conjunction with the first Old-Time Music and Radio Conference, Rounder Records has since released the recording for sale to the public through its usual retail outlets in both CD and cassette formats.

Plans for this project were developed at the Folk Alliance conference in Boston, Massachussetts in February, 1994. During a special session devoted to OTR, several participants, particularly Don DePoy from Maine, reflecting on the relative lack of old-time music available in CD format, suggested that OTR coordinate a sampler of traditional music recordings. Ken Irwin from Rounder Records agreed to release the collection, and a committee was formed to produce the recording. Members of the committee included Gayle MacBride, Burr Beard, Don DePoy, David Holt, Mike Seeger, Chirps Smith, and John Lilly. Liner notes were supplied by noted country music scholar, Dr. Charles K Wolfe, with additional notes by John Lilly. Recordings were supplied by Rounder Records, Marimac Recordings, June Appal, County, High Windy, Smithsonian/ Folkways, Cloudlands, and several artist-owned labels. Proceeds from record sales will go toward promoting old-time music on the radio through the Old Time Music Group, Inc., and OTR

Artists on this collection include Ralph Blizard; David Holt; Clyde Davenport; Ginny Hawker & Kay Justice; Dirk Powell, John Herrmann & Tom Sauber; Clarke Buehling; Etta Baker; The Toast String Stretchers; The Volo Bogtrotters; Bruce Greene; Hazel Dickens; Will Keys; Matokie Slaughter; The Heartbeats; Tracy Schwarz; Leroy Troy; The Wandering Ramblers; Mike Seeger; Kirk Sutphin; Melvin Wine; Joe & Odell Thompson; Benton Flippen; Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin; Bruce Molsky; Mac Benford; and The Double Decker String Band.

Radio stations wishing to receive airplay copies should contact Rounder Records at 617-354-0700.

CD Database Established

OTR At Folk Alliance, IBMA

The Folk Alliance conference was held in late-February in Boston, and attracted over 1200 members of that organization from throughout North America. Among those present were many old-time music supporters including Mike Seeger, Jody Stecher, Gayle MacBride, Dot Kent, and OTR Steering Committee members David Holt, Art Menius, John Lilly, Susan Madden, and Chirps Smith. John Lilly chaired a radio panel entitled "Organizing Radio Airplay for Folk Music", which addressed a number of positive approaches to finding, serving, and maintaining an audience for folk music through radio. A special OTR Focus Group session drew a capacity crowd. Among the topics discussed at this meeting was the idea of OTR coordinating a CD compilation recording project. Don DePoy from Maine and Ken Irwin from Rounder Records were instrumental in this discussion, which ultimately resulted in the May release of Old-Time Music On The Air: Volume One on Rounder Records (see article this issue).

In September, the International Bluegrass Music Association held its annual meeting and trade show in Owensboro, Kentucky, and OTR was there. Attending were OTR Steering Committee members David Holt, Susan Madden, John Lilly, and Art Menius, as well as many old-time musicians including Hazel Dickens, Bob Flesher, Mark Simos, and others. John Lilly was invited to represent OTR on the radio panel entitled "Building a Radio Audience on a Tight Budget". In addition, OTR shared a booth in the exhibit hall with David Holt and the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College. During the week, a lot of interest was expressed in OTR, especially with regards to the "Old-Time Music On The Air: Volume One" CD, and a number of airplay copies were distributed to radio stations in attendance.

This coming February, in Portland, Oregon, the Folk Alliance will hold another conference, and OTR will once again be represented. A special OTR Focus Group session is scheduled for Saturday, February 18 at 1:00 PM. For information, contact the Folk Alliance, P.O. Box 5010, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; phone (919) 962-3397.

For information on the International Bluegrass Music Association, contact IBMA, 207 East Second Street, Owensboro, KY 42303; phone (502)684-9025.

Radio Survey Preliminary Results

This information includes contact names and numbers, station technical data, program names and times, playlist availability, related musical styles, music source format preferences, satellite capabilities, and information about station sponsored music events, local venues, and retail outlets.

While complete analysis of these results is still pending, OTR has published preliminary survey results. This report includes the names, addresses and contact numbers for 140 radio stations which responded to the survey the vast majority of which broadcast old-time music at some point during their programming.

A few interesting details in this preliminary report include two radio stations reporting from Australia, two from Canada, and one from France. Of the domestic stations responding, the largest number reported from the state of California with 17. Other high concentrations were reported from New York (10), Virginia and Pennsylvania (8 each), and Alaska (7). All regions of the country appear to be represented, and nearly every state.

A number of syndicated programs returned surveys including Folk Masters, A Prairie Home Companion, Cornbread Jamboree, Traditional Music Network, The Folk Sampler, and others.

Additional surveys have been resumed since the publication of this report, and results from those stations and programs will be incorporated into the complete survey report, expected during 1995.

Copies of the preliminary survey report are available free of charge from OTR.

Community Microphone Letters to OTR

I just received from Rounder Records my promo copy of Old-Time Music On The Air: Volume One. Quite frankly, this is one of the most exciting and rewarding productions in memory. Outstanding! The material, notes, bios, etc are exactly what I seek out for airplay on "Pig in a Pen", now in its 21st year...

Ray Edlund, KPFA-FM Berkeley CA

...I want to urge the (Old-Time Music) Group to give a lot of thought towards including many elements in its definition of old-time music when preparing the next volume of Old-Time Music On The Air. To put it plainly, a broad scope should appeal to a broad audience.

As a plan of action...I'd include the old-time country stuff like Webb Pierce, Hank Snow, etc. for the nostalgia value, Cajun, and Black old-time musk as well, and publicize this expanded concept well so as to reach out to the broad audience needed to make this thing fly. We're all pushing against this commercial behemoth, so why not join together?

Tracy Schwarz, Cox's Mill, WV

...I want to thank you again for inviting me to participate in the Old Time Music and Radio Conference in Mt. Airy. It made me a new convert to traditional music and introduced me to some very fine musicians.... Your radio survey shows the magnitude of support of this important (and peculiarly American) niche musical genre. Few specialty genres are so well supported by the enthusiasm of so many local radio stations who help keep the music alive in the hearts of their listening audiences. Few radio DJs are as passionate about wanting station managers to recognize the increasing listenerships (and sponsors) for traditional music and the importance of supporting the genre....

Diane Rapaport, Jerome AZ

Changes In OTR Steering Committee

Susan Madden, from Vashon, Washington, is a twelve-year veteran programmer at KBCS, Bellevue/Seattle, Washington. Susan is well-known throughout the Puget Sound region for her "Sunday Folks" program, which airs a full range of folk music including old-time and bluegrass. She has also become a familiar face at many national gatherings in recent years including the Folk Alliance, IBMA World of Bluegrass, and the OTR conference.

Mr. Lynn "Chirps" Smith from Grayslake, Illinois has also joined the Steering Committee. Chirps is also known as a fine old-time fiddler with a unique midwestern repertoire. As a member of the Indian Creek Delta Boys, the Volo Bogtrotters, and as a solo performer and recording artist, Chirps has developed into one of the most visible and respected traditional musicians active today. He also is a regular participant in the Folk Alliance and attended the OTR conference. His work in designing and maintaining the database of old- time music CDs is invaluable (see article this issue).

OTR wishes to thank outgoing Steering Committee member Paul Brown, whose insight, skills, and hard work have been essential in the formation of this organization.

We welcome Susan Madden and Chirps Smith, who join continuing Steering Committee members Burr Beard, David Holt, John Lilly, and Art Menius.