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The second reason that this fund drive is important reaches to the significance of offering folk music on the radio.

The theme of “Turn Your Radio On” has become more important as radio is becoming an afterthought in the lives of many people. Internet music streaming from sites like Spotify and Rhapsody have become competition. Technology has enabled podcasting and given tools to people to create their own programs on home computers. Even car radios now come installed a multitude of options to listen to these alternative sources, and hitting the FM button is not always the first pick for drivers.

Add in the mainstream media’s neglect and turning their nose up at most folk music offerings, and it becomes harder to get our voice out there.

A week before the WFDU fund drive began, we received some disturbing news about a much loved radio host in our folk community. Washington DC folk music icon Mary Cliff was told by WAMU-FM management that her show TRADITIONS would no longer be part of their schedule.

Mary was “discovered” by another folk radio legend, the late Dick Cerri. In 1967 Mary was working at the famed Cellar Door nightclub in nearby Georgetown when Dick heard her voice over the phone and told her she should be on radio. A friendship developed as Mary kept telling Dick about the progressive rock scene that was blossoming and all the underground artists that should be on the radio. Dick gave her an hour of airtime each day, starting in 1968 during the week Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

In 1970 public radio station WETA began broadcasting and Mary joined them to deliver great folk music to the listeners in our nation’s capitol with her show “Traditions.” (Note- my own show, which started in 1980, is also called Traditions. This was by coincidence – these were the days before the Internet, and I had not yet heard or met Mary. I now make efforts to refer to my show as WFDU-FM’s TRADITIONS to help distinguish the different shows and out of respect for Mary, who I’ve come to know and admire greatly.) Mary’s Saturday night program was a fixture with folk fans in the area, who came to enjoy her wonderful taste in music with deep roots in traditional styles, and also for her comprehensive coverage of Washington DC folk events.

In 2007, WETA decided to alter their diverse public radio offerings and become a classical music station, and Mary’s show was removed from WETA’s schedule.  The other public radio station in the area, WAMU, quickly picked up Mary and returned her to Saturday nights.  The American University owned station made some format changes in 2013 and bounced Mary’s show to their other FM facility which offered a format called “Bluegrass Country.”  Mary’s show fit the lower powered channel’s roots music offerings, and the show was also being heard on HD radio in the area.

As the calendar turned to 2015, the management of WAMU-FM decided to focus on the bluegrass aspects of their programming, and now Mary is without a home. It is hoped that her voice will soon return to the DC airwaves in the near future. Mary is an incredible resource for the region and her knowledge of trad music and familiarity with the folk music community is too valuable to be sidelined.  I would hope that her hiatus from radio is quickly rectified. For all the mistakes that occur in Washington DC, her removal from the airwaves is a great loss that surely will be corrected by some intelligent broadcaster.

Mary is not the only radio host who has been told they are losing their show. Over the past decade, a number of well received shows in different parts of the country were told that their services were no longer needed. While a number of these hosts have found new homes, a number have not. Many public radio stations have gone the same route as WETA and WAMU – dropping their diverse programming that was once a hallmark of public radio and becoming tightly formatted, ala their commercial brethren. Even satellite radio, with their claims of dozens of channels offering great variety of music, made similar moves when Sirus XM removed their folk channel “The Village” from the satellite and made it an Internet only offering.

Are these signs calling to the end of what we once knew as public radio? Will folk music radio cease to be heard?

I am not one to yell the sky is falling. There are hundreds of folk radio programs still broadcasting across North America. There are probably more folk radio shows on the air in 2015 then there were at the height of the folk revival.

Radio was first given a death sentence when television came on the scene and rapidly grew in popularity. Radio did not die at the time, but it changed to adapt as it found the service was still needed, although perhaps in different forms. Radio excelled at delivering information to local audiences and people would turn to radio for fast and portable access to information such as news, weather and traffic. Music became more accessible on radio and audiences discovered new artists and styles through radio.

The purpose of public radio was seemingly defined when both houses passed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law by Lyndon Johnson in November of that year. The idea was to help encourage and facilitate diversity in programming and provide for development of non-commercial radio and television, particularly to serve minorities and children. Part of the act stated “it is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences.” Broadcasters would be able to find resources to enable the to provide programs that were not easily serviced by commercial interests and would not rely on selling advertising.

Of course, this led to other issues in terms of funding, but non-commercial radio stations would turn to their listeners and private and corporate donors for help.

By the late 1970s, the push to deregulate radio began. Broadcasters worried that the controls of government were having an effect on free speech. Radio deregulation became reality in 1981, and in 1987 the Fairness Doctrine was abolished, a Federal Communications Commission policy that required broadcasters to present both sides of controversial issues.

While these changes may have helped preserve free speech, the impact enabled commercial interests to have more say and change the scope of broadcasting. It also enabled commercial broadcasters to own multiple stations in the same market and led to the growth of mass media corporations such as Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia Inc.), a corporation that bought their first radio station in San Antonio, Texas in 1972 and now own 850 stations across the country, the largest of any corporation. They also lease two channels on Sirius XM satellite radio, and the operate the iHeartRadio online platform, on which WFDU-FM’s signal can now be heard.

The vast majority of radio stations around the country are owned by handful of corporations, leading to much tighter control of the music being played.

These changes had an effect on non-commercial stations. NPR either owns or syndicates programming to over 900 public radio stations across the country. Public stations have developed tighter formats as it becomes easier to attract audiences to stations that offer the same type of program 24 hours a day. Stations that continue to offer diverse lineups of eclectic programs find it harder to build audiences since each show has its own listenership, and the concept of “appointment driven radio” for people to tune into specific programs, like a folk show, becomes harder to sell to those that continue to listen to radio. Finding younger audiences to follow the old business model has become a greater challenge, which is why radio is in a period of change.

Offering programs on different platforms is one step. WFDU is working hard to keep up with the times. Our shows can also be heard via our archive at www.wfdu.fm, which allows people to tune in at their convenience. Still, they need a compelling reason to do so with the vast number of offerings available through technology.

As host and producer of a folk radio show, it is imperative to recognize that we are no longer the only game in town, and we must continue to find ways to entice new audiences to listen and at the same time remember the traditional audiences that continue to tune in. Even though their numbers decrease with the march of time, they are still represent the biggest portion of our audience, and they are the ones that support us come fund drive.

What is the answer? I wish I had a crystal ball. If those of you who read this have ideas, please share them by making comments below.

What I am sure of is that folk radio CAN manage to exist and be relevant. Folk music is about community, and our shows become a gathering spot for the folk community – a somewhat traveling circus of a community that is drawn together by the music. Their needs change over time. For a number of years, I was resistant to adding items like weather reports and non-music community announcements to my broadcasts. In 2015 I’ve come to realize that elements like this are part of the local connection that listeners rely. You cannot replace the local aspect and knowledge of your local folk radio host. If they are doing a good job, they will know your community and what it likes and needs. They need you to support their efforts and to help spread the word about what they are doing. At least, I know I need your help!

As we continue to evolve, we will continue to see good signs as well as bad signs such as Mary Cliff’s cancellation. I am hopeful she will find a new home. We also said “farewell” to another radio icon recently, the one and only Gene Shay. Gene has retired from his long running show and the Philadelphia area will miss him. (To read more about Gene, click HERE for Sing Outs recent article about his retirement, and also click HERE to learn about an exciting concert they are hosting in his honor.) Gene helped build a strong community in the Philadelphia area, and I am also convinced that while no one can fill his shoes, folk music will continue to be heard on the airwaves in the the soul of Philadelphia.

It must also be noted that the nations longest running folk music show continues to be heard in NYC. Oscar Brand recently celebrated his 95th birthday and his 70th year hosting “Folk Song Festival” with an on-air party on WNYC. Oscar is the Cal Ripkin of folk radio, having begun his show in 1945. With my own show celebrating its 35th anniversary, I hope I can stay healthy and maybe have a shot at his record – but Oscar shows no signs of stopping, and hopefully he will continue to broadcast for many more years.

I am also encouraged that new folk music shows do crop up on the radio. They may not sound like some of the other shows I mentioned, but they are serving a living folk community and perhaps these new hosts will offer ideas and programming that will pave the way for the future of folk music radio. Here in New Jersey, we have a wonderful asset in “Joltin'” Joe Pszonek, who hosts an incredible show called “Radio Nowhere” on WMSC in Montclair, New Jersey. His show can be heard on Sunday nights from 7 to 9pm, and I am glad we do not broadcast at the same time. Joe does wonderful interviews and has the pulse of the contemporary folk scene.

I believe Joe and others like him are the key to drawing new listeners to the music we love. I only hope that I can keep my own show on the air long enough to learn from people like Joe as we face the future in this ever changing technological world. The music will continue to honor the past and look forward to the future. If we keep up with the times and look for new ways of presenting, folk music radio will always have a spot on the radio dial.

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