Renfro Valley Barn Dance
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| Radio show from Renfro Valley, Kentucky | |
| publication | 1937 - today |
| production | WLW |
| Contributors | |
| Moderation | John Lair, Dwight Butcher, Gene Cobb |
The Renfro Valley Barn Dance is an American country show broadcast by WLW of Renfro Valley , Kentucky .
history
Beginnings
Folk musician and organizer John Lair began planning a new Barn Dance Show in 1937. On October 9, 1937, the first broadcast of the Renfro Valley Barn Dances was held at the Cincinnati Music Hall. The show was already very successful there, but was moved to the Memorial Auditorium in Dayton in 1938. However, Lair was still not entirely satisfied with the design of the show. In his opinion, a barn dance show had to be held in a "real" barn. In 1939 the show moved to the eponymous location in the Renfro Valley in Kentucky. There the broadcast took place in a specially built barn. The first show featured Homer "Slim" Miller, a good friend of Lair's.
Ascent
The Renfro Valley Barn Dance quickly gained popularity and was broadcast nationwide. The area around the barn was developed similarly to today's amusement park, so there was, among other things, a restaurant where you can enjoy the cuisine of the southern states and a souvenir shop in which song portfolios, autograph cards and records were sold. The park was expanded in the following years.
In 1939 two other well-known country musicians also came to the show, Red Foley and The Duke of Paducah, Whitey Ford. The two would become two of the most popular members of the Renfro Valley Barn Dance. Other well-known members of the show included Jean Chapel , Jerry Byrd , Martha Carson , Homer & Jethro and Don Wilburn. Guest stars such as Waylon Jennings also later made appearances on the show. The popularity of the Renfro Valley Barn Dance continued to grow in the 1940s. Viewers traveled from 15 different states to see the show. The management often had to put on three shows on a Saturday in order to provide entertainment for all viewers. With 5000 spectators per evening, this completely exceeded the capacity of the barn with 1000 seats.
John Lair took on a variety of roles on the show. He was, along with Dwight Butcher and Gene Cobb, presenter of the show, wrote scenes, produced the show and hired the artists. Even when Lair died in 1985, the program continued. In the second half of the 20th century its popularity waned, although great personalities of country music continued to appear on the show. Nowadays, the show is no longer broadcast on the radio, but continues to take place regularly.
Guests and members
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Web links
- Official website
- WLW Renfro Valley Barn Dance on Hillbilly-Music.com
- History of the Renfro Valley Barn Dances - Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame