Persistence can count for a lot, even when skills may be lacking. But when you add that diligence to passion, opportunity, and capability, great things can happen.
In bluegrass we find many examples of people who dedicate time and energy to the cause, not for the multi-figure incomes it generates, but simply for the love of the music and the people who make it.
Here’s an example that comes our way from Louisville, KY, bluegrass country you might say, where this weekend, bluegrass broadcaster Bob Mitchell will mark his 400th edition of Best of Bluegrass on WCHQ in Louisville. Bob makes regular play of the fact that he and his program share the same initials (B-O-B), which you’ll hear mentioned throughout each show.
His 400th broadcast is set for this Saturday, June 10, running two hours and aired over a number of stations and online networks over the weekend. A 30-minute edition is also archived online should you miss it live. The most recent archive features an interview with David Parmley who spoke at length with Bob about his return to bluegrass, his new band, Cardinal Tradition, and the early days with The Bluegrass Cardinals.
Mitchell has had the bluegrass bug since he was a boy, though he didn’t start in radio until 2008 when he volunteered at Radio Bluegrass International, then a service of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro. But he stuck with it, and found himself nominated as Bluegrass DJ of the Year in the 2017 SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards.
“Music has always been a part of my life. As a child, I rode my bicycle to downtown radio stations, department stores, used car lots, and concert venues to hear country and bluegrass music. Many of the groups I heard and met were the first generation artists who set the ground rules and who are now members of the Hall of Fame. I got my picture taken with Bill Monroe in 1975 and Johnny Cash in the 1950s. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera when I met Flatt and Scruggs. I now have 5 albums filled with photos and autographs.”
Bob is also one of our reporting DJs for the Bluegrass Today Weekly and Monthly Airplay charts.
Congratulations to Bob Mitchell for 400 editions of Best Of Bluegrass! Here’s to another couple hundred more.
