I created the "Are You Ready for the Country?" Radio Show in the summer of 2003. For a few years before the summer of 2003 I had started to fall in love with country music all over again. It started out by attending a Merle Haggard concert in Evansville, Indiana with my Dad and my Grandfather. I was raised on on all types of music.. but what stands out is the country music. Elvis Presley, Vern Gosdin, Merle Haggard, Gene Watson, Hank Williams Jr., .. the sounds that I grew up on.
As time went on country music became "unpopular" and you were also no longer hearing folks like Vern Gosdin on the radio. Instead you heard the contemporary sounds of John Michael Montgomery, Brooks & Dunn, and others who all lack the soul and heart that the early country music possessed. Sometime after that Merle Haggard concert in Evansville, Indiana I began to have an interest in country music once again. I wanted to learn about the Grand Ole Opry, I wanted to know about Nashville and the history on Broadway, and I was very disappointed that I couldn't turn on the radio and hear much classic country and bluegrass music.
When I eventually started the show up I knew that it wouldn't, however, be just a classic country show. In my opinion there is a connection between artists such as Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. There's even a real connection between those two. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were Johnny's backing band for one amazing record called Unchained in the early 90's. I see no real difference between Willie Nelson & Bob Dylan. Infact the two are good friends and have recorded songs together. So to me it all fits in some way and it's all good. When choosing guests for the show I choose artists who fall under the category of "Americana" in my humble opinion. They can play blues, folk, country, bluegrass, it doesn't matter. In choosing guests for the show I took a page from the great Johnny Cash's book. On Johnny's TV show back in the 70's he had guests such as Neil Young and Bob Dylan along side country greats like Glen Campbell and Waylon Jennings.
These are some clips from a few of the shows. I hope you enjoy them.
-Jon Hensley, 2004
Interviews:
Merle
Haggard's 2nd Appearance
Jack
Lalanne
John
Prine
Robbie
Fulks' 2nd Appearance
Al
Green
Shelby
Lynne
Joe
Nichols
Neko
Case
Mavis
Staples
Ray
Price's 2nd Apperance on the show
Robbie
Fulks
Todd
Snider
Jim
Ed Brown & Helen Cornelius
Gene
Watson
Merle
Haggard
Chris
Hillman
Warren
Haynes' 1st apperance on the show
Loretta
Lynn
Solomon
Burke
Chris
Robinson
Dave
Gleason
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