Programmers
PROGRAMMERS
Tuesday Night 10 - 1:00 AM (at least)
The King Daddy Show
Listen up! I love my God,my country,my Harley and my people.I play my rock & roll 'cause that's what I like and what my listeners want. I'm retired in Jenkins,Ky with a heart condition and sure could use a registered nurse for my "Doll Baby". I may talk too much but that's how the man above made me. Thanks so much to WMMT and APPALSHOP for my opportunity as a DJ. Carl(King)Addington.
The Lost Kittens Broadcast
Sundays from 7:00 - 9:00 PM
A child of poverty, Tom was born on a sailing ship. His first glimpse of light came pressing through an ice field in a storm. He was took for dead when sailing home wasn't seen for 10 years. A missionaries voyage found the ship bound in the weeds of the Sargasso sea, from there he was taken to a Church located in an unspecified region of Central America.
Bluegrass Patches
Linda Bartley
(Barefoot Nellie)
Bluegrass Patches
Wednesdays 10am to 1 PM
Linda Bartley, Barefoot Nellie, is originally from VA but lives now in Pike County KY. She has been a volunteer at WMMT for over 3 years and currently is co-host of Bluegrass Patches with Jukebox Charlie & their Jack Russell “Patches”. She is also an extremely valuable sub for such shows as The Sunny Side up Bluegrass Gospel Show, Weekend Wakeup and Silver Fox. In addition to sewing and cooking, Linda loves music, DJ’ing, and WMMT radio. She says, “It’s a wonderful feeling to hear my listeners call in and request songs, without them my shows would be very dull.” Nope. Not a chance. She loves the music and her listeners too much. We don’t believe there’s any way her shows could be dull.
Wendell Bartley
(Jukebox Charlie)
Bluegrass Patches
Wednesdays 10am-1 PM
Wendell Bartley, aka Jukebox Charlie, lives in Pike County KY and, in addition to his yeoman’s work for WMMT, is a long time musicianer and member of one of our area’s finest groups, The Bluegrass Reflections. Jukebox Charlie has been playing Bluegrass, Gospel & Old Time on the air waves of 88.7 for over 3 years and is co-host of Bluegrass Patches with Barefoot Nellie and their Jack Russell “Patches”. In addition to making music and DJ’ing, Wendell enjoys camping and meeting our listeners at WMMT’s Bluegrass Express & other live shows. Jukebox Charlie enjoys all the calls and says about our listeners, “I wish to thank them for their nice comments about my shows.” And so do we.
Sundays 7 - 9 PM
Lost Kittens
Broadcast
Mikie was born on a hot air balloon and landed in McRoberts in the year 1990, he is a lover of music and film . He now lives in Whitesburg a skip away from wmmt head quarters. Mikie says ~ I just wanna spread the Do It Yourself Love to the new youth of the area.
David Fields is the short-winded host of CB Radio, is a native of Harlan County who recently returned to eastern Kentucky to work at WMMT.
From the Roots
Saturdays 12:30 – 3 PM
Zelma Forbes (Sweet Tater) is Professor of Mathematics with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. She lives in Neon, Kentucky with her eleven year old child William and five cats. Zelma likes to play the banjo, dance, sing, and grow plants.
Monday Night 10 - 1:00 AM
World Beat
Marley comes from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, walking valleys and ridges, vibing on high and low frequencies, digging the things humans do near and far, and trying his best to keep it all positive. Sometimes he takes action to protect land and people, and he's always looking to help build a better world that must exist in the not-at-all distant future. Before coming to Southern Appalachia, he filled the airwaves of the Shenandoah Valley with music and poetry from every corner of the Earth on WXJM 88.7 FM, but he thinks that WMMT is the best radio station on the Globe.
aka Willard, Angie, and Lil' Willard; The Hall Family
Big Willard, Angie, & Lil' WIllard
Scuttlehole Gap Get-Together
Tuesdays 10 AM to 1:00 PM
Willard Hall (Big Willard), from Knott County KY, has been the host of The Scuttlehole Gap Get-Together, featuring Big Name & Local Bluegrass & Claw Hammer Banjo, for 19 years and counting. He is a veteran, a pilot, an avid Bluegrass music collector, and a mainstay at Bluegrass Festivals throughout the region. He is even featured in Herb E Smith’s Appalshop Film “The Ralph Stanley Story” and has emceed Ralph’s Hills of Home Festival for 31 years. He has also brought us his young’uns, Angie & Little Willard of WMMT’s Bluegrass Express on Thursday nights. And, of course, Blue Highway’s & everybody’s favorite “Mom”, the legendary Big Weezie.
Willard says, “If you like the music I play for you, then spread the word!”
Big Bills Country
Tuesdays 3:30 - 4 PM
Big Bills Country
This program actually began in 1994 when the late Buck Maggard made the acquaintance of Big Bill Harris, an avid devotee of old-time country music from Nebo, North Carolina. Bill started sending WMMT “Shaking Down the Possums,” a 30-minute show featuring string bands, brother duets, early bluegrass, country/western, honky-tonk and more. Buck ran that show as part of “Deep in Tradition” for nearly two years. Recently Rich Kirby started playing some of these tapes on DIT. One day he wondered out loud where Bill might be these days. Redoubtable listener Miley Twyman got busy on the internet and before the end of the day we were in touch with Bill again.
Bill writes, “I want to thank you for running my programs again. I have been on many stations since 1988. The longest running program was on a station in Waterford, Ireland, 8 years. I went to electronic school in Columbus, Ohio for three years to study radio and TV, received my broadcast permit in 1964 at East Tennessee State in Johnson City. I started on a station WMCH in Church Hill, Tennessee in 1956. They taught me how to cue and set the volume and all the ins and outs. … I do this just for the fun of it and keep the old time music going so the new generation can hear what real music should sound like. One station said he enjoyed my music but did not like my voice. Well I may not have a good voice for broadcasting but I think I have the best and greatest dog gone country and western music around. I attended voice school in Asheville, North Carolina, there were around 20 members and I never finished. Our instructor wanted us to talk like we were from the north. Well, I tried. I could not get this southern accent out of my heart.”
First Generation Bluegrass
Wednesdays 1:00 - 4:00 PM & Inside Bluegrass
Becky Johnson hails from Concord, Massachusetts, for the past 20 years she has lived in North Carolina and now in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Becky's love of music began early. She and her 3 siblings all sing and play string instruments. The AM radio was always on, highlighting many genres of music one right after the other. And it was live radio, with a DJ at the mike. They lived less than 20 miles away from the Epicenter of the Folk Boom, Cambridge
Becky has been consumed with bluegrass music since childhood. She first saw and heard it on television, on the Andy Griffith Show....and that was it. Becky has attended bluegrass festivals since 1977, always with camera in tow. Later, she became a professional staff photographer for Merlefest for 15 years, Photo Archivist for The IBMA [International Bluegrass Music Association] for 12 years. Since then, mrsBluegrass has become a published
photographer/author with her book, "Inside Bluegrass; 20 Years of Bluegrass Photography" [Empire Publishing, Inc. 1988] And her work is featured in many scholarly books, including Bill Malone's recent reprinting of "Country Music USA"
Becky is the wife of Art Menius, [AKA the Lazy Farm Boy], Art is also the Executive Director of the Appalshop. Mrs. BlueGrass found her voice in Community radio at WMMT in February 2008, when she began hosting her first show, "The First Generation BlueGrass Show" every Wednesday @1pm, now, mrsB hosts a brand new show on Thursday evenings at 6pm. It's called "Inside Bluegrass With MrsBlueGrass". It features everything bluegrass from new releases to live, on air interviews with your favorite bluegrass artists.....to first hand stories, and who knows what else?
You can reach mrsBlueGrass at:
Becky Johnson
EMAIL: mrsbluegrass@mindspring.com
Back TracksBacktracks
Thursday 10:00 PM - 1 AM
Chuck Johnson, host of Backtracks, has been entertaining listeners on Thursday nights after The Bluegrass Express for over 6 years. A musician himself, Chuck has produced many of our local musicians in his home studio and has also done several of the promo’s and jingles you’ve heard on WMMT. A Virginian, he now resides in Letcher County and is a mainstay in the local music scene. In addition to music, Chuck enjoys gardening, fishing and a good jar of kraut. On Backtracks you’ll hear Classic Country & local musicians spiced up with Chuck’s exuberant wit & style as well as occasional guests. Chuck welcomes e-mail: cjwmmt@yahoo.com and says, “Thanks especially to the folks who regularly listen to Backtracks!”
Deep in Tradition
Tuesdays 1 -4 PM
Rich Kirby Rich Kirby has been following traditional mountain music for over forty years. His roots lie in eastern Kentucky; he has lived in Scott County, Virginia since 1973 and learned music from family, neighbors, and “old masters” of the tradition across the region. He plays banjo, fiddle, mandolin and guitar. Rich performed for many years with Tom Bledsoe; Rich and Tom joined with John McCutcheon to create the popular band Wry Straw. Rich has worked at WMMT since 1990. He took over “Deep in Tradition” when Buck Maggard passed away in 1999. He currently performs with Rich and the Poor Folks. www.myspace.com/richandthepoorfolks
- Stay Human Radio
Fridays 1-4:00 PM
E-mail Scott: wmmtscott@gmail.com
Originally from northwest Indiana, Scott Lucero moved to eastern Kentucky in the early 1990s. After having completing his Master’s Degree in English Literature at the University of Kentucky, he took a job at Hazard Community & Technical College. He’s been teaching there ever since.
The first summer he lived in eastern Kentucky, he stumbled across WMMT. He got to hear Curt Henderson play songs he grew up with and had the good fortune to hear Starvin’ Marvin play “Achy Breaky Heart” three times in a row because Marvin liked it so much. Soon thereafter he placed a call to Jim Webb to ask about becoming a volunteer himself.
At first, Scott subbed for some shows and after a bit of time was given a slot on Sundays. He alternated every other week with Alligator John. Once Gator took his leave, Scott’s show “No Depression” alternated with the “Spaceship of Fools” and, later, “The Nyt Kitchen.” As his family grew, it became more difficult for Scott to continue his Sunday night show. As soon as a slot opened, Scott took the Friday morning spot and “Stay Human Radio” was born. Now Stay Human has moved to Friday afternoons at 1:00 PM
Stay Human Radio, every Friday afternoon from 1:00 until 4:00 am plays a pretty eclectic mix of music. The first half of the show is almost entirely classic and neo-soul and funk. And the first Friday of every month is dedicated entirely to this type of music. You’ll hear the likes of Spearhead, Mary J Blige, Anthony Hamilton, and The Spinners. The other three weeks or so a month, he shifts gears about half way through. He plays a substantial set of Bruce Springsteen and bands like Steely Dan, Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Nick Drake, and the Weepies.
A teacher and writer, Scott’s work has appeared in Skylark, Kudzu, The Heartland Review, memoir (and…), VerbSap, and in PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture. He lives in Breathitt County, Kentucky, with his wife and their two children.
From the Roots
Saturdays 11 – 2 PM
Beverly May (Sally Goodin - along w/Johnny Appalseed, the Dutchman, the Blue Warbler) has been one of the voices you hear on From the Roots for 12 years. She lives in Floyd County and is an old time fiddler who also teaches at the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School. From the Roots features mountain music in all its glory including many artists from the listening area, vintage recordings, up & coming young artists and occasional Live performances from the studio or Appalshop Theater. All the programmers of FtR are musicians themselves and enjoy keeping the listeners up to date on festivals, concerts, dances and other happenings in this neck of the woods.
Bev says, “Old Time music is great to listen to but it’s even more fun if you’re playing it yourself. The FtR programmers hope you’ll join us for Appalshop’s Old Time Jam at 1pm the First Saturday of each month, October through May.”
From the Roots
Saturdays 11 – 2 PM
Art Menius (the Lazy Farm Boy)is the newest FtR programmer. Director of Appalshop since July, he has been active in the old-time music community since seeing Joe & Odell Thompson play in 1978. Menius was president of the Old-Time Music Group, publishers of the Old-Time Herald, from 1991 through 1998. He spent 18 years with MerleFest, the festival hosted by Doc Watson, and dearly loves 78 rpm records. His many articles and reviews include pieces about Tommy Jarrell, the Thompsons, Dellie Norton, and Charlie Poole.
Saturdays 11 – 2 PM
Larry Mullins (Black Jack Davy) retired from teaching in Wise County, VA in 2002 and began taking old-time music classes at Mountain Empire CC. He immediately fell in love with roots music. Although his musical tastes are broad, traditional mountain music is now Mullins’ favorite genre. When the opportunity to volunteer at WMMT became available, he welcomed it with open arms and has loved every minute. With his wife Janet (Tiger Lilly), Larry also alternates as a host of The Honky Tonk Jukebox on Saturday afternoons.
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The Zen Arcade
The Zen Arcade
Alternating Tuesdays 7-10 PM
Jonathan Piercy is the host of The Zen Arcade since its creation in September 2008. Before that he was host of WMMT's Spaceship of Fools for over two years.
His first concert was Whitney Houston with special guest Kenny G at Rupp Arena, circa 1988, and he's spent the rest of his life trying to make up for that.
When he's not agressively hunting down great music, Jonathan is a physician and professor of family medicine in Hazard, KY. He is also an avid cook and foodie, and has occasionally hosted WMMT's What's Cookin' Now!
Aka: Bubbalo
& Atomic Fireball Hour
Saturdays 8-11 PM
Tim Surer is married, the father of two, and comes from Leslie County. Bubbalo, heading into his third year at WMMT, is one of our fine Rock & Roll programmers and is a true music lover. In addition to playing guitar, he enjoys high school sports and learning new things.
On Saturday night’s Atomic Fireball Hour he plays Rock, Country, Pop & Soul oldies from the 50’s to the late 70’s. Tim loves music & DJ’ing so much that he has also become one of WMMT’s most valuable “Firemen” and fills in on numerous shows when the need arises. Bubbalo says, “WMMT is the best little radio station on this or any other planet.”
Show is Bluegrass/Country every Monday from 1-4pm
We play Bluegrass and Classic County Music. My hobbies are Fishing, Hunting, Golf, and Bluegrass Music. I am a retired police officer, and been a DJ for over 5 years and has listened to bluegrass music all my life. To all fans of bluegrass music: set your dial to 88.7fm Turn up the radio, Take the knobs off the radio and sit back and enjoy the programs!
The Country Gentleman
The Cumberland Sunrise Show
Mondays thru Fridays 5 - 8:00 AM
The Country Gentleman, Ancil Trivette, is an early riser & plays Bluegrass, Classic Country and local favorites for folks getting up and about, truckers and everyone else traveling the early morning roads in the mountains. Ancil lives in Letcher County and is a veteran, plays the guitar and loves building & remodeling. As the Country Gentleman, he is now in his fourth year as the get up, wake up voice of WMMT. In his own energetic, enthusiastic words: “Tune in – Turn it up – Rip the knob off!”
The Sports Roundup
Monday Mornings - 9:10 AM
Jim Ward was born in Paintsville, KY in 1958, but has lived in the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area most of his life. He came back to Eastern Kentucky two years ago after his parents passed away. He has been involved with public access radio for a few years doing a Saturday afternoon sports talk show on WEBR in Fairfax, Virginia, talking about NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR and others such as the PBA tour and college sports. He now does the Sports Roundup on WMMT Monday mornings at around 9:10 am, as part of the Monday addition of Pine Mountain Mornings. To contact Jim with a question or comment the email is sportsroundup@lycos.com.
Wiley Quixote aka Jim Webb
Ridin’ Around Listenin’ to the Radio
Wednesdays 4-6 PM
WMMT went on the air around Thanksgiving 1985. Wiley Quixote began his radio version of tilting at windmills a couple of weeks later. We’d like to say the world is a better place for it but we’re not sure. And since we are Real People Radio, we wouldn’t want to prevaricate. Commutation ain’t likely for the likes of us. A native Letcher Countian by way of the proverbial stint in Ohio, a tour of duty in Hazard and a lifetime in Almost Heaven Mingo and Pike Counties, not to mention northern Michigan and New York City, Wiley has seen some of the whirled. This predicated his prescription to the Weakly Whirled News and his sharing it with listeners up until the last year or so. There is some talk of bringing it back. Your vote will count. His quest to find the pulse of the neighborhood, if not the planet, has also led to the wildly and extremely popular segment of his show, Speak Your Pieces, gleaned from one of the best newspapers in the nation,The Mountain Eagle. (Ed. Note:The Eagle was started by Nehemiah Webb, his Grandmother’s brother.) Your vote may or may not count here but you can always call Speak Your Piece and read it in next week’s< Eagle and you may hear it on next week’s Ridin’ Around Listenin’ to the Radio.As for music, Wiley plays it. From Americana to Zydeco you’ll hear it on RALTTR. He features music you’ve heard before and music you’ve never heard before with some Bob Dylan thrown in for good measure. And of course you’ll always hear a polka. Nothin beats a polka in the eye. Occasionally the crack investigative staff will get him a whether report and he also proudly presents 2 of WMMT’s sterling features, The Coal Report, The Regional Roundup. And if that’s not enough, he also proudly follows up The Hightower Report, 3 of the best minutes in radio, with a catchy, appropriate tune each week. And then there’s the Peace de Resistance,The Byrd’s Eye View from Georgia, the weekly commentary from an incisive, brilliant, nailonthehead, veteran common tater from the Peach State.As for real work, Wiley (who is from a long line of Quixotes) runs the paddle boat concession at his primitive campground on top of Pine Mountain, Wiley’s Last Resort.www.wileyslastresort.com. He is also a poet, playwright and swarper who, in those guises, laments the destruction of our mountains, one of the greatest forests of the world. Paddle boats ain’t much use if there’s no water except in the grocery store.
Wiley invites everyone to tune in and invites suggestions for the Bob Boom Box, (3 or 4 of your favorite Dylan songs) He’ll play’em. He also invites commentaries from anyone, common taters or not.
Honky Tonk Jukebox
Ramblin' Ray (aka Mike York) has made the journey from Logan County, West Virginia, to help out at WMMT since early in 2005 when he started the Ramblin' Road Revue Show as well as producing eclectic Patchwork programs. A native of Bell County, KY, he has done some hard traveling having had driver's licenses (legally) in seven states.
Ramblin' Ray is an alternating programmer on the Honky Tonk Jukebox Saturdays 2:00 - 5:00 PM with rotating hosts the Silver Fox, Gentle Ben, and Blackjack Davey & Tiger Lily, a show which explores the diverse country music landscape with early classics in country, country blues, Cajun, and western swing.
