Del McCoury & Jon Weisberger will be your hosts, and here’s what lies in store:

BLUE SIDE OF TOWN w/ DEL McCOURY
SHOW #130513

SEGMENT #1
Show Open
“Why Don’t You Tell Me So” Flatt & Scruggs
‘Cept Old Bill” Sam Bush & David Grisman
“Don’t That Moon Look Lonesome” Betty Harper & The Black Mountain Boys

SEGMENT #2
“Give This Message To Your Heart” Osborne Brothers
“Squirrel Hunters” John Hartford
“Wolf Creek Pass” Chris Jones & The Night Drivers

SEGMENT #3
“Cascade” Ashley Lewis
“I Am Ready To Go” Monroe Brothers
“Six More Miles” Don Rigsby

SEGMENT #4
“When We Fall” Rebecca Frazier
“We Can’t Be Darlings Anymore” Bluegrass Album Band
“Jesus Carried Me A Cross” Del McCoury Band
Show Close

And Del and Jon were even nice enough to leave us enough room to end the program with a couple of good gospel numbers to follow that wonderful rendition of “Jesus Carried Me A Cross” from Del and the boys. We’ll have one from Don Rigsby‘s new tribute to Dr. Ralph Stanley, namely “Traveling The High Way Home.” Then we’ll wrap things up with Dailey & Vincent singing “Won’t It Be Wonderful There” from that great new “Brothers of the Highway” project of theirs. 

Join us at 9PM Eastern if you’re in “The Land of Bean Blossom.” You’ll find us at 88.7 on your FM dial, right smack dab in the middle of “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!
The current show is posted on the player on the right side of this very page and updates once a week, friends.

Boy I’ll tell you, if there’s one topic that makes it into more bluegrass songs than any other, mother is sure in the running. Right alongside equally relevant subject matter such as loneliness, murder, the old home place, the road that never ends, and coon dogs. You are sure enough in good company mom!

In all the years “Fields of Bluegrass” has been on the air our approach to this most sacrosanct of subjects has been to spin a bunch of them pitiful, mournful, “Mama’s  up yonder in heaven a-waiting” type numbers and then put it out there that there’s just one more shopping day until you-know-what. No hidden agendas here, pretty all out there indeed.

Larry Sparks will share one in which mama is the first person he writes when life in the big city isn’t all he’d hoped it would be. Newfound Road sings one from the perspective of a daddy telling his motherless little girl what her mommy was like. Lynn Morris sings one written by the great Hazel Dickens about letting your child leave the poverty she was born into for the hope of a better life elsewhere.

Yup, on a ‘pitiful scale’ of 1-10 we’re looking at about a 9.3 this time around, friends.
Any buddy have an ‘in’ with the folks that make Kleenex so we can look into an endorsement deal?

Other artists in the program include Reno & Smiley, Jesse Brock, Flatt & Scruggs, David Grisman, Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, IIIrd Tyme Out, Grasstowne, The Stanley Brothers,The Dry Branch Fire Squad and more. And lest we lose sight of the fact that grandmothers are mommies too, Randy Kohrs will provide a fine number that’ll serve to remind us.

Join us at 9PM Eastern if you’re in “The Land of Bean Blossom.” You’ll find us at 88.7 on your FM dial, right smack dab in the middle of “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!
The current show is posted on the player at the right side of this very page and updates once a week, friends.

Been listening to Doc Watson a lot at home this week. Songs from Peter Rowan and Jack Lawrence gave me reason to believe I’m not the only one. And towards the end of the show Doc will get a nice version of “I Am A Pilgrim” going in the gospel set.

Let’s see. In addtion to those already mentioned…Del McCoury, Gibson Brothers, Ricky Skaggs, Frank Solivan. Sutton, Holt, & Coleman. John Reischman. Steel Drivers. Country Gentlemen, Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass. Ralph Stanley. Don Rigsby.
Yeah, I know. Right?

Join us at 9PM Eastern if you’re in “The Land of Bean Blossom.” You’ll find us at 88.7 on your FM dial, right smack dab in the middle of “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!  The current show is posted on the player at the right side of this very page and updates once a week, friends.

I’d be real surprised if any bluegrass artist performed more songs on the subject of the little winged ones than The Stanley Brothers. And after brother Carter’s passing, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys added quite a few on the subject to their repertoire as well. We’ll even squeeze a Don Reno & Benny Martin collaboration in there that was recorded some time ago too, if time allows.

So, this week, no matter who is singing them, they’re going to be about birds. Redbirds, bluebirds, thrush, white doves, mourning doves, blackbirds and crows of course, and the Eastern Whippoorwill (Caprimulgus vociferus). Even the cuckoo makes an appearance, in the form of an old-timey instrumental from Norman Blake.

Offerings from the modern era include Donna Hughes, Cadillac Sky, King Wilkie, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Blue Highway, The Wilders, The Grascals, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, Tim O’Brien, Rowan & Rice, Reeltime Travelers, Don Rigsby, Laurie Lewis, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper…

…and you’d better know that ain’t all!

We’ll take it on out with a number about a robin that built a nest on daddy’s grave and one popularized by Roy Acuff about that ‘great speckled bird’ from Jim & Jesse.

Join us at 9PM Eastern if you’re in “The Land of Bean Blossom.” You’ll find us at 88.7 on your FM dial, right smack dab in the middle of “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!  The current show is posted on the player at the right side of this very page and updates once a week, friends.

Red Allen

Marty Raybon “The Late Night Cry of the Whippoorwill.” Lonesome River Band “Harvest Time.” Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice “Jesse James.” Town Mountain “Leave The Bottle.”

The Steel Drivers “Cry No Mississippi.” Special Consensus “Monroe.” Rhonda Vincent “I’d Rather Hear I Don’t Love You Than Nothing At All.” Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass “Alcatraz Island Blues.” The Gibson Brothers “Home On The River.”

Osborne Brothers “Mansions For Me.” Blue Highway “Wicked Path of Sin.” Larry Sparks “I Am The Man, Thomas.” The Grass Cats “Meet Me Up In Heaven.” Hot Rize “Man in the Middle.” Tim O’Brien, Charles Sawtelle & Friends “Angel Band.”

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on “The Old Homepage” later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.

Ralph Stanley

Michael Cleveland “Old Brown Co. Barn.” Ronnie Bowman “Cold Virginia Night.” Old & In The Way “Knockin’ On Your Door.” The Dillards “Old Man at the Mill.” The Johnson Mountain Boys “Memories Cover Everything.”

The Gibson Brothers “Buy A Ring, Find Us A Preacher.” Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver “By The Waters of the Clinch.” Leroy Troy & Tennessee Mafia Jug Band “Bald Knob Arkansas.” Sutton, Holt, & Coleman “Down the Road.” Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice “Old Bicycle Chain.” Chris Jones & The Night Drivers “If That Was Love.”

Kim Robins “Heartache & Regret” and “What A Friend We Have In Jesus/Shuckin’ The Corn.” Fiddlin’ Tim Smith “I Saw The Light.” The Louvin Brothers “Do You Live What You Preach?”

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on “The Old Homepage” later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.

We’re still working to squeeze in all the killer new and recent releases we’re dying to share this week, you’d better know it. Fresh material from The Gibson Brothers, Jr. Sisk & Rambler’s Choice, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, Dailey & Vincent, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Hillbenders, IIIrd Tyme Out, The Steeldrivers, Audie Blaylock & Redline and a stand-out track from that new ” The Mandolin Chronicles” project from Alan Bibey & Wayne Benson will all figure prominently in the playlist.

Any classics from yesteryear, you ask? Why, of course!
In addition to the aforementioned Doc Watson number, Flatt & Scruggs, Claire Lynch & The Front Porch String Band, Ronnie McCoury, and Norman Blake, who celebrated a March birthday, all share a song with us. And as if that weren’t enough, the gospel set that closes the program features The Stanley Brothers, Reno & Smiley, and Carl Story and his Ramblin’ Mountaineers.

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on “The Old Homepage” later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.

Well, of course we’ll have a few vintage favorites, not to worry.
Dr. Ralph Stanley, Larry Sparks, and John Duffey have that covered for us.

Check out this list of artists contributing more recent material:  IIIrd Tyme Out, Town Mountain, Noam Pikelny, Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, The Steeldrivers, Dave Adkins & Republik Steel, Volume 5, The Spinney Brothers, Hammertowne, The Special Consensus, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Ricky Skaggs.

You’ve heard about that BIG Pikelny, Sutton, McCoury, Bulla, & Bales deal by now, ain’t it? They’ll be making their festival debut at DelFest on Memorial Day Weekend, but we’ll have an opportunity to catch the tour at Old National Centre right here in Indy on April 10th. Check our ‘Events’ page on this very website or click on the link on the right side of the page here to find out more.

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on “The Old Homepage” later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.

A contributing factor is the great migration of rural southerners in decades past. Many left the farm to relocate to large cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis where factory jobs were plentiful. It’s little wonder then that songs about mom and dad, “The Old Home Place,” and a life left behind resonated with said audience and ultimately sold records.

We’ll get started with one co-written by Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt about a little cabin home on a hill, and I’m bettin’ that rings a bell! Mac Wiseman, Dave Evans, The Dillards, Ricky Skaggs, Laurie Lewis, The Rice Brothers, Larry Sparks, and Peter Rowan & The Red Hot Pickers will all have songs to share on the subject, as does Indy’s own Cornfields & Crossroads.

The gospel set, as you might suspect, will focus on “That Home Far Away.” And Don Rigsby, Paul Williams, JD Crowe, Doyle Lawson, and James King are the artists featured.

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on “The Old Homepage” later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.

Joe Stuart, Randy Davis, and banjo pickers Bob Black and Vic Jordan. And Big Mon showed-up for the recording session despite not letting on as though he would.  Monroe laid down some fine mandolin and brought two new songs to the session, too.

A request for “Pretty Polly” is provided by David Grisman w/ The Nashville Bluegrass Band.
Another number from Roland White and Gene Libbea-era NBB days.

The Grascals. Danny Roberts of The Grascals. Kristin Scott Benson of The Grascals. A song from the band followed by two from solo projects.

The Grascals are a band with deep Indiana connections, and March 8th at Northminster Presbyterian their performance will be a homecoming of sorts, I’d say. Of course I say all kinds of stuff.

We’ll have fun. You know that. FREE. Plenty of seating. Childcare provided, even. It’s a nice room. Events calendar on this website has more info.

And then, let’s see…Larry Sparks, Laurie Lewis, Jeff White, Tony Rice, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Seldom Scene, The Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Del McCoury, Joe Mullins & His Radio Ramblers, Dr. Ralph Stanley, and an excellent gospel number from Reno & Smiley to wrap things up.

If you’re in the greater Indianapolis area, tune in to 88.7 on your FM dial at 9PM EASTERN during “Friday Night Folk” programming on WICR.

Not in Indy? Not a problem!

You can pick up our live stream by clicking on the WICR logo on the right here, or the program will be posted right here on The Old Homepage later this week and remains on our player for 7 days.