WAMU’s Bluegrass Country has a new head honcho. Chris Tesky has moved to DC from Connecticut to take the job as Senior Music Producer at the 24/7 bluegrass channel, broadcasting on HD Radio in the DC market, and via internet streaming online.
Tesky has a long history in bluegrass and acoustic music. From 1986 to 2004, Chris worked for Green Linnet Records, a primarily Celtic and World Music label. During this time he also performed with Hoe, a CT bluegrass group, and Lisa Furman and the Blue Flies, while teaching a dozen or more private guitar sudents each week.
In 2006, he launched his own label, Mad River Records, which has released 24 Celtic recordings featuring artists like Brian McNeill, Malinky, Bua, Genticorum, and the Paul McKenna Band.
All this while, Chris kept a toe in bluegrass radio.
“I started doing a bluegrass radio program in 1974 at WSHU-FM in Fairfield. After a brief and unsatisfying stint in commercial radio I went to WPKN-FM, a community radio station in Bridgeport, CT, where I did a weekly bluegrass program starting in 1978. I did my last show there last month. Over the 33 years I spent at WPKN, I served as program director, music director, and chairman of the board of directors.”
Chris says that he is thrilled with the new gig, and happy to be working with the crew at Bluegrass Country. My own sources at the station tell me that they are delighted to have him on board as well.
We have learned of the recent death of another prominent bluegrass personality, Les McIntyre, who passed away on April 28 from a massive heart attack. He was 69 years old.
Les was a fixture at WAMU in Washington, DC where he did on-air work for the station’s Bluegrass Overnight shows in the 1980s. He has contributed record reviews to Bluegrass Unlimited for many years, and was active up until his death, including being a participant in the 2002 Leadership Bluegrass Class in Nashville.
Like so many folks who work in non-performing sectors of the bluegrass business, Les was a musician as well. He played guitar with the DC-based None Of The Above, where he also sang lead, and is well-remembered by many folks in the DC bluegrass scene.
As we understand it, services will be delayed until May 21, and will be held at the Valley Funeral Home in Erwin, TN.
McIntyre’s is a name that will be familiar to many people in the bluegrass community, even though they never met. He is remembered by his family and friends, to whom we express our condolences.
UPDATE 5/2 – Longtime friend Bill Foster posted a lovely tribute to Les on the DC Bluegrass Union web site. An excerpt…
Les had a deep appreciation for Bluegrass and Classic Country music and was walking encyclopedia of the artists and their careers. He was a often-sought source of such details for album liner notes and trivia contests. His knowledge of the music is surpassed only by such folks as Pete Kuykendall of Bluegrass Unlimited and WSM Host Eddie Stubbs.
I first met Les back in 1974 at an Indian Springs Bluegrass Festival in Maryland, where I was introduced to him by Katy Daley. I was aware of Les and the music as he would occasionally sit in for the hosts on the weekly 10PM to Midnight Bluegrass programs on WAMU Radio. Les and I hit it off and became fast friends, a friendship which lasted until his recent passing. I was a fledgling mandolin picker and Les was playing with the local DC group, None of the Above. Les was a avid record collector and he got me interested and we would often spend weekends scouring the record stores and flea markets from Maryland to West Virginia in search of good finds. Les and I also attended many of the local jams, concerts and festivals. One of our favorite spots was the local bluegrass music club in Virginia called The Birchmere.
Now here is a number that all our radio friends will appreciate… 1000.
That is the number of shows that Lee Michael Demsey is celebrating today on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country. He has been with WAMU for nearly 30 years, spinning bluegrass when the signal was sent over the airwaves, and online since 2001 when the station moved the grassy programming to the Internet.
These days his show is heard weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to noon (EST), and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. He also hosts the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown Show the last Saturday of each month.
Hats off to Lee Michael for his long service to bluegrass music!
Ralph Stanley will be a guest today (10/14) on the Diane Rehm Show, broadcast on WAMU 88.5 FM in the Washington, DC metro market. He will join her live in the studio to discuss his autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times, due for release tomorrow (10/15) by Gotham Books.
The show can be heard on WAMU online and is syndicated on 150 NPR affiliate stations all over the US. The segment with Ralph is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).
Audio archives are maintained on the WAMU site, and today’s show will be available in the archive approximately one hour after the program ends.
UPDATE 1:00 p.m. – We just heard from WAMU’s Bluegrass Country host Katy Daley, who sent along a couple of photos from today’s visit from a number of bluegrass legends.
While Dr. Ralph Stanley was being interviewed (and line singing) with Diane Rehm, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen were across the hall on the air with Lee Michael Demsey on Bluegrass Country. Hillman and Pederson sang a few songs live — Wait a Minute, Love Reunited among them — and talked their 45-years in the music business — Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band.
They’re in town to play the Birchmere tonight with The Grascals. Chris Hillman is giving a lecture on his career at the Library of Congress on Friday from Noon to 1.
Thanks to Richard F. Thompson for putting together this lovely remembrance of Red Shipley.
Robert Grant ‘Red’ Shipley: September 4, 1937 – October 6, 2007
Legendary radio personality Red Shipley passed away in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, October 6, due to cancer. He had just recently retired from being the host of WAMU’s Stained Glass Bluegrass program, a show he hosted for 25 years. His last show was on September 16.
Shipley’s career as a bluegrass DJ has spanned more than 50 years, with the common factor throughout being the songs that serve as the foundation for his bluegrass gospel programs. He began his career at WJMA-AM in Orange, Virginia, on Memorial Day 1956. Later, during his time at WPIK-AM/WXRA-FM in Alexandria, Virginia, he began a program called Inside Bluegrass, and met Jerry Gray, who was instrumental in taking him to WAMU 88.5. Red filled in initially for Jerry and other bluegrass hosts, and in August 1982, took his place a the host of Stained Glass Bluegrass, where he remained until his recent retirement. Red’s reputation for his partiality for great music has spread world wide via the Internet and the show continues to be heard on BluegrassCountry.org.
Listeners in the Washington, DC area can also hear Stained Glass Bluegrass on WAMU’s 88.5 HD-2 (the hyper digital channels which parallels the bluegrass programming on BluegrassCountry.org.)
After his retirement from the trade show industry in late 1995, Shipley returned to Orange, Virginia., to be closer to his family. This move brought about a unique partnership between WAMU 88.5 and commercial station WJMA-FM in Orange that has allowed Red to continue to serve his regular listeners and has added even more loyal Stained Glass Bluegrass fans in central Virginia.
In September 2006, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) named Red as its Broadcaster of the Year.
In a formal announcement on the WAMU 88.5FM website, Caryn G. Mathes, General Manager for WAMU 88.5, commented on Sunday ……
“Radio lost one of its own legends last night. I’m deeply saddened by the news of Red’s passing, but grateful that he was able to spend 25 years on the air with us at WAMU, and heartened that he was able to continue doing what he loved for so long.”
Bass player, Kip Martin, who has toured and recorded with a variety of very well known names in bluegrass music and who founded the DC Bluegrass Union in 2001, adds his sentiments at this very sad time ……
“Personally, as a bluegrass and Southern Gospel performer, I was in complete awe of Red’s encyclopedic knowledge and passionate dedication to the inspirational music he loved. Quite simply, no one on Earth knew more about Bluegrass Gospel music than Red! I also admired Red’s ability to bring the Word of God to his fellow man without employing the ‘hard sell’ tactics prevalent in today’s modern media ministries. Red gently and subtly changed this world by doing what he loved to do.
Red was a good man who loved his work, his fellows, and above all, God. If we all followed Red’s example, this world would be a brighter, gentler, and less troubled place.”
Personal friend and compiler of the Bluegrass Unlimited column Notes & Queries, Walt Saunders shares with us a few of his thoughts …………..
“As my buddy Harold ‘Butch’ Smith of the East Virginia band told me yesterday, ‘Red Shipley was one of the good guys.’ I remember him as a DJ and MC for at least 40 years or more in and around northern Virginia and D.C.. He was a great friend to bluegrass.
About three years ago, Red was MC at the Graves Mountain Festival in Syria, Virginia. When he came off stage after working for several hours, I walked up to him to just say ‘Hi,’ because we hadn’t talked for a few years. We ended up having a wonderful chat, sitting and talking for about two hours, and reminiscing about the old days. I consider his passing a great loss to the bluegrass community, as well as a personal one. He was a great friend.”
Bob Webster, who has been co-host and engineer supporting Red in the production of Stained Glass Bluegrass since Spring 2002, offers some insight into Red’s character ‚Ķ‚Ķ.
“Red stood his ground when it came to music and didn’t always go along with the crowd. If he heard potential in a band, he would play their music even if it didn’t fit the classic formulas for bluegrass or gospel quartets. He could hear something in those sounds that audiences would appreciate and he thought the listeners should have the opportunity to experience the group. He also developed a very succinct way of describing the artists and the songs. Often his wit was floating just beneath the surface of those descriptions if one listened closely. He had a deep and respectful love of the bluegrass and southern gospel songs and artists. His hosting of Stained Glass Bluegrass for just over 25 years was a true labour of love. He also produced other weekly gospel shows for smaller audiences on other stations without compensation as a way of giving back to the community. Red’s presence and insights will be greatly missed.”
Some additional memories of Red Shipley can be found in The Washington Post, while fellow WAMU host Rob Bamberger has added a footnote to The Washington Post’s obituary.
Brance and I just had a chance to be a part of radio history. Katy Daley, whose morning bluegrass show is broadcast each morning on both BluegrassCountry.org and WAMU HD-2, is here at IBMA doing the show live from Music City. She invited us down to speak with her on air, and we just returned from a very enjoyable interview.
Katy, and producer/engineer Jen Hitt, mentioned that theirs is among the very first live remote broadcast for HD Radio, and we were delighted to be on hand to see it go down. We talked with Katy about Bluegrass Today, about my work with AcuTab and Brance’s with Clear Blue Productions, and she even played a couple of tracks from Acoustic Endeavors.
BluegrassCountry has been offering a free, 24/7 bluegrass audio stream online since 2001, and since are now replicating the signal on WAMU HD 88.5-2 for HD Radio listeners in the DC metro area.
Katy’s show airs each weekday morning from 7:00-10:00 a.m. (ET). I’m not sure if she would approve of me suggesting that everyone should “wake up with Katy Daley each morning,” but it’s not a bad plan as you prepare for the morning slog.
Katy and Jen have also volunteered to provide red carpet fashion coverage for us during our live blog coverage of the IBMA Awards Show Thursday night. They said they would send along fashion hits and misses via text messaging to our Live Blog Headquarters backstage at The Opry.
Join us here on Thursday evening (10/4) around 9:00 p.m. to follow the proceedings online.
Starting today, September 17, the folks at WAMU FM in Washington, DC will broadcast their 24/7 online bluegrass audio channel as an HD FM radio signal as well. DC area listeners with HD Radio receivers can find the new channel at 88.5-2.
Folks without access to HD radio will notice that many of their favorite bluegrass and acoustic music programs are no longer being carried by WAMU’s FM broadcast, but station management is betting that the future of radio involves this sort of niche programming, and that its home will be with HD Radio.
You may also want to check out recent additions to BluegrassCountry.org’s Musicians Tips series, with installments from Sonya Isaacs, Jamie Daley and Joe Carr.
Our friends at BluegrassCountry.org have launched a new feature as part of their 40th Anniversary celebration of bluegrass programming on WAMU. It’s called Musician Tips and will be a weekly audio segment with prominent bluegrass artists sharing advice on a wide range of topics that will be of interest to those seeking to improve their own songwriting, stage presence or performance.
Each tip will be run for a week in BluegrassCountry.org’s 24/7 bluegrass programming, and then be archived on their web site. You can hear the first in this series, from noted songwriter Chris Stuart, on the Musician’s Tips site, where you can also subscribe to the series as a podcast.
BluegrassCountry.org’s Katy Daly says that they have quite a lineup of artists in the pipeline.
In weeks to come we’ll feature tips from Bill Emerson, Jaime Daley, Sonya Isaacs, Joe Carr, Alan Munde, Ralph Stanley, Honi Deaton, all the Stringdusters, all the Steep Canyon Rangers, Mike Auldridge, Missy Raines, and Randy Kohrs, just to name a few.
WAMU, and it’s online sister station BluegrassCountry.org, are celebrating the summer of 2007 as their 40th year broadcasting bluegrass music. It was in 1967 that Dick Spottswood and Gary Henderson, who were among the founders of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine that same year, launched a program by that name on July 2, carried on WAMU 88.5 FM, broadcast from the campus of the American University in Washington, DC.
To help mark the anniversary, the folks at WAMU have searched through their archives and are running some special programs over the next few weeks.
The first, Katy Daley’s 1975 interview with Vassar Clements, starts tonight (8/28) at 10:48 p.m. The show is called Fiddle Players Young and Old, and will run repeatedly on BluegrassCountry.org over the next few weeks. The discussion with Vassar was recorded at DC’s legendary Cellar Door during his debut tour as a band leader, and was also the first interview Katy recorded for WAMU as a cub bluegrass radio host.
It runs again on Sunday (8/29) at 1:04 a.m., and also includes an interview with 12 year fiddler Roland Clark, who spoke with Michelle Mercer of NPR. Find future air times by checking the BluegrassCountry.org schedule online.
You can read more of the history of bluegrass programming on WAMU and BluegrassCountry.org on their web site.
