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By Robbie Clark
Of the music you listen to today, none is as faithful to its origins or as steeped in tradition as bluegrass music. It’s the only unspoiled form of music, and no matter how musicians’ styles and tastes have changed through the years since Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys started strumming on a regular basis down at the Grand Ole Opry back in 1939, not much has really changed.
You can’t say that about jazz or R&B, and you certainly can’t say that about country or rock.
Newer artists’ songs, like the Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Big Time in the Jungle,” hearken back to music created by Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, both of whom played in the Blue Grass Boys, back in the 50s when bluegrass music was first beginning to be called bluegrass. Chris Thile’s intricate mandolin work is reminiscent of David Grisman’s playing on the Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty,” though nearly four decades have passed between the two.
The music, through the years, has remained rural and bucolic and is heavily influenced by its oral traditions. Songs are passed down and learned, not simply recorded in a studio behind soundproof glass and mixing boards.
Each song has its own story. Even if the singer didn’t write the song, they still probably have a yarn to spin as to how the song came to find them. This exchange is sometimes as important as the song itself.
Enter Red Barn Radio. The brainchild of Ed Commons and Marilyn Myers, this live locally syndicated production yanks folk from the hills, off the street and out of taverns and puts a microphone in front of their face for the world to hear the talent that saturates the soil of Kentucky.
“Ninety-nine percent of the artists we feature on our show are Kentucky artists,” Commons said.
But the hour-long show isn’t simply a recorded concert broadcasted by a select few radio stations throughout the country and Canada. There’s also an interview portion, where the show’s host, Brad Becker, allows the musicians to remain true to the oral traditions of bluegrass music as they discuss their music and their relationship with it – a sort of “porch to the stage with a microphone” metamorphosis.
“The show’s about the musicians, it’s about their history,” Commons said. “It’s not about their new CD.”
Past guests on the show include nationally prominent acts such as J.D. Crowe & the New South and local flavor artists such as Charlie Whittington, as well as a slue of artists brimming with talent most people haven’t even heard of. Becker picks the talent that will appear on the show, and though sometimes an artist will approach Red Barn Radio, most guests are chosen by word of mouth.
In total, Commons and crew produce 26 shows a year, with special Christmas and New Year’s episodes. Artists perform in front of a live audience, which could be two to 20 people, in ArtsPlace, and the interview portion is recorded prior to the performance. The show’s announcer, Tom Brown, and Commons then record the introduction and transitions at a later time.
Though the show is captured before of a live audience, Commons uses his discretion when manipulating the final product to fit into one of three 59-minute packages. Sometimes the interview is chockfull of intimate moments; sometimes it isn’t very fruitful. Sometimes an artist may stumble through a song; sometimes the entire performance is a pristine performance. Either way, Commons uses his discretion when editing the final product.
“We slice and dice the hell out of it,” he said. “It’s all done on computers.”
Red Barn Radio’s next recording will be its 100th episode. This number of shows, with a vast majority being dedicated to Kentucky musicians, is indicative of the quality of talent hiding out in the state.
“I think it’s rewarding to have that many artists of quality that we’re able to do that many episodes,” Commons said. “And we still have the Louisville area and Western Kentucky to explore.”
Strangely enough, unless you attend the live taping (or download a show from the program’s Web site, www.redbarnradio.com), you aren’t going to hear Red Barn Radio anywhere in the Lexington area. No local radio station really has a format that jives with the program.
And that’s essentially the root of Red Barn Radio’s problems, according to Commons, little to no exposure. Red Barn Radio doesn’t receive any funding, and they don’t charge anything for admission to their recordings, so money for advertising is scarce.
In all, only about half a dozen stations carry the program throughout the country and one station carries the program in Saskatchewan, Canada, at 5 a.m.
“I got an email from a lady in Canada who said she gets up at 5 a.m. so she can hear Red Barn Radio,” Commons said. “It’s those few contacts that make you want to go on.”
Red Barn Radio’s slow take off isn’t a result of pushing a poor product. Common’s feels that the package that comes out of ArtsPlace each week is something truly Kentucky in every aspect of the production.
“I’ve always felt a Kentucky product is very saleable on a national level. We are harvesting a national product,” he said. “We’re helping create and perpetuate the Kentucky aura that goes with bourbon and horses. Those traditions fit into our product.”
With this line of thinking, James Clark, president and CEO of LexArts, has invited the Red Barn Radio crew to participate in April’s Best Of the Bluegrass festival. LexArts is organizing the event, which takes advantage of visitors coming to the area for Keeneland by exposing them to the region’s unique culture, this year, and Clark felt Red Barn Radio would make an ideal addition to the festivities and believes the program serves as a valuable venue for local talent.
“Any chance a performer can be treated as a professional musician is benefiting,” Clark said. “It’s very important for artists to feel respected in their hometown.”
LexArts also allows Red Barn Radio to use ArtsPlace free of charge. Red Barn Radio’s program during the Best Of the Bluegrass will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in the Downtown Arts Center. Admission will be $10, and PlaidGrass will be performing. Other recordings take place at 8 p.m. in ArtsPlace on Wednesday evenings. Check the show’s Web site for listings.
Originally Published: Issue 75 - March 23, 2006 Wildcat Weekly, Lexington Kentucky
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