I hope you can join us for this week's Across the Blue Ridge. We have some music from two fascinating performers who are seldom heard nowadays. Molly O'Day (not the movie star) was born in Kentucky and spent much of her adult life in West Virginia. She was a full-throated mountain music and country singer. When you hear O'Day, you can't help but notice that some of her style may have rubbed off on the slightly younger West Virginian Hazel Dickens. After several years of success immediately following World War II, Molly O'Day turned away from secular music to focus her life on gospel music and missionary work. On this week's show, we'll hear a couple of her best-known songs from the early period when she performed on radio and at venues around the south.
Jim Eanes is another musician we're spotlighting this week. I had the pleasure of knowing him personally. From the Martinsville, Virginia area, Jim was a magnificent singer with a warm, rich voice, outstanding timing, and a solid guitar style to back it all up. He never reached bluegrass or country music super-stardom, but luck, circumstance and other factors call a lot of shots in life. I think you'll agree Jim Eanes is worth plenty of listening. And for sure, we'll be hearing more of him down the line.
There's lots more on this week's show, just a few days away.