Hartland Hootenanny, the wildly sincere and sincerely wild weekly variety show created by Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor, will leap off the internet and onto the radio airwaves of WMOT 89.5 FM for a limited run starting August 8 at 8 pm CST.
Now in its fifth month of Saturday evening YouTube webcasts, Hartland Hootenanny is a rollicking old-time barn dance overflowing with music, humor, storytelling and the glitterati of roots music. Originating from Old Crow's newly built Hartland Studio in East Nashville, with behind-the-camera support from band-mates Morgan Jahnig and Robert Price, the Hootenanny features Secor's All My Tales Are Tall monologues, letters from viewers (The Pan American Mailbag), the fiddle-driven Socially Distanced Square Dance and, of course, special guests in conversation and live performance. Musical mavens on hand so far have included Chuck Mead, Dom Flemons, Molly Tuttle, Pokey LaFarge, Sierra Hull and The War & Treaty.
WMOT will air some of the Hootenanny's best episodes, produced for radio by award winning veteran broadcasters Ben Manilla and Jennie Cataldo of BMP Audio. In the WMOT premiere, super-picker Billy Strings is on set to tell stories and play songs he learned from his dad. On August 15, Ketch is joined by songwriter and singer Chely Wright remotely from her quarantine base in Vermont to talk about the early days of Opryland and her remarkable story of coming out in country music. Future episodes will be announced soon. The show also can be heard at WMOT.org.
“I'm excited and proud to be joining forces with WMOT, the station that continues to set the region's radio high bar for building community,” says Secor. “The Hootenanny couldn't have found a more appropriate home on the dial. Together I'm looking forward to reaching new audiences with this show which has been such a creative life raft during these crazy times.”
“We are over the moon to bring Ketch Secor's new show to the air here at WMOT,” says Program Director Jessie Scott. “As an avid fan of Old Crow Medicine Show since meeting them in 1999, I always look forward to their next step. Ketch and OCMS have carved out a unique place for themselves, and we are honored to be the flagship station for Hartland Hootenanny.”
While the show is anchored by Ketch Secor's non-stop torrent of virtuoso verbosity, other members of Old Crow have found their way into the show, chiefly multi-instrumentalist Cory Younts who acts as a socially distanced sidekick. Bass player Jahnig and drummer Jerry Pentecost have dropped by, in front of and behind the camera. The band has kept up a stream of activity during the Covid crisis, including releasing the heartfelt “Pray For America” single and video. They also performed the national anthem for the Nashville Predators in advance of their winning game on August 4th. Click HERE to view. Old Crow Medicine Show will return to the Grand Ole Opry on August 8th at 7:00 pm CST.
About WMOT 89.5
WMOT 89.5 Roots Radio is a listener-supported National Public Radio (NPR) station based at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. As Middle Tennessee's most powerful music station, WMOT has a 100,000-watt signal that reaches north to Bowling Green, Kentucky and south to the Alabama border. WMOT features original American Roots programming and is dedicated to the music most deeply connected to Music City's legacy: old school country music, bluegrass, singer/songwriter, folk, soul, R&B and old-school rock and roll. WMOT also continues to offer award-winning jazz programming on secondary channels (89.5HD2, 92.3FM in Rutherford County and 104.9 in Williamson County). Please visit WMOT.org for more information.