The Bluegrass Jamboree
This month’s cover story artist, Lorraine Jordan, loves to shine the spotlight on other people in her life including the radio announcers who play her music. Two of those broadcast professionals are David Pugh and Doug Whitley from The Bluegrass Jamboree internet radio. David hosts Mountain Bluegrass Sundays 9:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. ET, and Doug is the host of Hwy 40 Bluegrass Tuesdays 4:00-7:00 p.m. ET.
Behind the Mic with David Pugh
Radio broadcaster David Pugh worked at several AM and FM radio stations primarily through the ‘70s and ‘80s, but he had never done a live interview. Only taped ones. So, his very first one for his new gig on The Bluegrass Jamboree had to be extra special.
“I wanted a great artist who would be easy to talk to,” Pugh tells Bluegrass Unlimited. “Friends, I was getting nervous. So, I got a phone call one evening from Lorraine Jordan. This is a person who I had always admired in the bluegrass world, and not somebody that I thought would take time out to interview with me. I mean, I was the new kid on the block again. Lorraine had heard a demo interview that I had recorded with Williamson Branch. Lorraine said, “I don’t know what you’re all about yet, but I want to be a part of it. My heart dropped as I started talking to a living legend in bluegrass and wrote down a date and time for my first live interview.”
Whatever potential Jordan saw from that initial demo interview led to more than a professional relationship. “This started possibly my greatest friendship ever. Lorraine Jordan and I began to talk, email one another, and develop a friendship as we talked about this wonderful business that we both love. This beautiful person has supported me in my shows, talked about me while on stage at many bluegrass festivals, and just brought a level of positivity to me that I was needing in my second start at life, in the world of bluegrass radio.”
This past year Jordan recorded the David Stewart song, “A Little Bit of Bluegrass,” that topped the charts for 15 weeks on Pugh’s Mountain Bluegrass chart. The song, which also topped the BU chart in June and July, became the theme song for Pugh’s show. “We had all gotten so tired of hearing the bad news on TV, going through a pandemic, and just feeling like we were being destroyed by this world day in and day out. The song simply stated “A Little Bit of Bluegrass” might help to take your blues away. I immediately knew this song was going to be something listeners all over the world were going to listen to and feel better. I got behind the song and made it my mission to let people hear it every time I went on the radio.”
Pugh’s Beginning
Before Pugh was playing other people’s music on the radio, he enjoyed hearing it across the airwaves. He first fell in love with bluegrass and traditional country music as he grew up in the hills of West Virginia. Old hymns of the church captured David’s heart too, complemented by the talented tenor quartet singing of his dad who showed him how to harmonize.
“Our family moved to Kentucky when I was 11 years old. My dad’s job had transferred him there. We were just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. My mom and I had shared music together too, and we both loved the Jimmy Dean show. “Big Bad John” had gone to #1 on Billboard in the early sixties. In 1966, when I was 12, my mom said, “We’re going to go see Jimmy Dean at the Cincinnati Gardens.” This would be my first concert ever, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. We walked into a sold out house and began waiting for some local group to get things started. Nobody around us had heard of the opening band, and I had never heard of them either. The lights went down, and the announcer introduced Sonny & Bobby, The Osborne Brothers! I was on the edge of my seat like everyone else. These boys were amazing, and I had just fallen in love with bluegrass. The crowd wouldn’t let them off the stage as the ovations started time and time again. When we left that day, I begged my dad for a mandolin and we started doing several songs by Sonny & Bobby.”
In 1972, the 18-year-old Pugh formed a country band that performed several gigs in the region. His highlight of that period came when his mother sent a letter asking for a spot for her son’s band on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance. “The only thing bigger right then for me would have been the Grand Ole Opry. The manager wrote back and booked us as special guests for two shows on a Saturday night. I was so nervous. We went down there and ended up getting the biggest applause of the night. Standing on that stage with all the lights, and almost a thousand people in the seats clapping for us. It was so surreal. Red Foley, The Osborne Brothers, Mac Wiseman, the Coon Creek Girls, Slim Miller, Pee Wee King (who wrote the “Tennessee Waltz”), and Old Joe Clark had all stood on that stage where I was now playing and singing. We were asked to return several more times. It was my biggest thrill ever getting to perform at a venue like this.”
In addition to his band gig, Pugh began working in mainstream radio. In 1978 he was hired for his first job at WVCM-FM in Carrollton, Kentucky. Later that year he landed the afternoon drive spot at a huge southern gospel station, WHKK, in Erlanger, Kentucky. “It was there that I began doing interviews. I was playing The Lewis Family, The Kingsmen Quartet, The Gaithers, The Rambos, The Blackwood Brothers, the Hinsons, and many more. My biggest interviews were with gospel legend, and Hall of Famer, James Blackwood, and then Ronnie Hinson, who wrote my all-time favorite song, “The Lighthouse.”
David enjoyed his radio career, but the pay was poor. He entered the “real work world” in 1982 at the U.S. Postal Service where he stayed for 32 years until his retirement in 2012. “After retiring I still had radio in my blood. Keeping up with the technology, the best that I could, I started hearing about podcasts and streaming radio stations. I got in touch with Gracie Muldoon, a friend on Facebook, who owned a streaming radio station that played bluegrass. We talked and Gracie asked me to try running my own show on World Wide Bluegrass.” A month later he began Mountain Bluegrass with David Pugh, sharing his heritage with the mountains of West Virginia and the bluegrass of Kentucky.
“Now, technical radio was a lot different than mainstream radio. I had always worked on an old-fashioned radio board with a microphone, and volume control knobs. I played 45 rpms, and LPs. My interviews were primarily done on reel-to-reel tape recorders. Now, I am in a land of computers, mp3’s, wav files, and mixers. You build your own radio station so to speak, and through satellites in space you hook into the worldwide web. It’s amazing getting out to people in all 50 states, and several countries that surround us. The possibilities are endless.”
In 2019, when news got out that WWB would be signing off the air, Pugh began looking for a new home for his show.“The Bluegrass Jamboree struck me as being the right station for me. I emailed the owner, Annette Grady. Annette’s story was similar to mine and we got along great. Annette said to bring Mountain Bluegrass to the Bluegrass Jamboree and keep doing whatever you have been doing. My show was starting to take off.”
Mountain Bluegrass streams Sundays 9:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. ET on www.thebluegrassjamboree.com.
“I made it my goal to start doing live radio interviews when I went to the Bluegrass Jamboree. I had always been a pretty good interviewer in mainstream radio. I love it, and you get to bring the listeners into the whole mix of things. My listeners love hearing their favorite artists talking right to them, and it creates a common bond like family. I also bring on the writers to talk about the stories behind some of our greatest songs.
“This is what live personality radio is, and it’s my passion. I want to preserve traditional bluegrass, country, and gospel. By doing this, we are also saving live personality radio. I refuse to listen to pre-recorded music on mainstream radio, knowing that nobody is actually there doing a live show. I may have to pass on the steak, and have a hot dog, but friends I am here to stay as long as you will listen to my shows.”
Doug Whitley—The Golden Voice
Bluegrass artist Lorraine Jordan likes to call Doug Whitley the “golden voice.” As soon as she heard his resonating tones, she wanted the veteran broadcaster to join her business, Lorraine’s Coffee House & Music. He hosts the bluegrass shows there on Friday night, Live At Lorraine’s, a live stream on Facebook that goes out all around the world. He’s the emcee for festivals like “Bluegrass Christmas in the Smokies,” “Bluegrass in the Blue Ridge,” “Willow Oak Festival” and the Legends show at her café. Listeners can also tune in to hear Whitley on the Bluegrass Jamboree internet radio show, Hwy 40 Bluegrass, live on Tuesdays from 4:00-7:00 p.m. ET.
Regarding the festival work, Doug said, “Lorraine’s dad Royce Jordan and I share emcee duties and we have become very close friends over the years. He had done the emcee work at Christmas in the Smokies and I came along to help him to host the show. At 92 years old I always tell him to do as much as he feels like and I’m always there to handle it when he needs me.”
“I play the best in bluegrass, yesterday and today, classic country (the kind radio is too afraid to play) as well as some great gospel favorites,” Whitley says. “I even throw in some comedy from time to time.”
Bluegrass stars like Larry Sparks, Doyle Lawson, and Paul Williams have frequented the show for interviews with Doug along with others like Joe Mullins, Larry Stephenson, Junior Sisk, Danny Paisley, Little Roy and Lizzy who have played Lorraine’s Coffee House or one of the festivals that Whitley has emceed.
Whitley’s more than 30-year radio career began in 1974 when his sister met a friend at a church social. Steve Pritchard was the Program Director at WRNC, a small AM station in Raleigh that played Southern Gospel music.
“He came over to our house, and he and I started talking about music,” Whitley remembers. “I’ve always loved all kinds of music, especially country, bluegrass and gospel. I thought broadcasting was fascinating, and it would be cool to be a DJ on the radio. He invited me to the station, showed me around, took me into a production studio, gave me a commercial script, started a reel-to-reel and hit record. After listening back, Steve said you have the voice, all you have to do now is learn the control board.”
Observing the station’s morning show jock, the teenage boy started learning the technical aspects of his future career. “We were playing vinyl, had three turntables and a lot of controls. I was told you have to learn what your hands are doing before you speak.”
He started working weekends part-time and quickly gained the attention of popular WPTF 680 AM, a 50,000 watt radio station that covered the eastern seaboard, from New York to Florida. “The show was called Interstate 68, an overnight request show playing country, bluegrass and gospel. It also included the comedy corner. Hap Hanson was the host of Interstate 68 during the week, and I did the weekend. I filled in anytime Hap wasn’t there. WPTF played a big role in the careers of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers and many others. All had worked at WPTF between the 1930s and 1950s.”
In the 1970s, Whitley transitioned to WYNA 1550 in Raleigh to host a Saturday afternoon bluegrass show. “Every weekend there was a guy who would call and ask for a request by Flatt & Scruggs or J. D. Crowe. That was Steve Dilling! We later met and have been friends since. He’s still a fan of Hwy 40 Bluegrass. I’ve had him on several times.”
Whitley’s resume includes stops at WKIX 850, WQDR 94.7 FM, WTRG Oldies 100.7 and WPCM 101.1 (which later became Super
Country WKIX 96.9 and 101.1). His talented voice earned the admiration of listeners and radio employers but also envy among fellow broadcasters. “I was told early on that there were other DJs that didn’t like
me. The late Dale Van Horn, longtime radio personality [who he worked with at WKIX and WQDR], explained that radio is an ego driven business, and some jocks will feel threatened by your voice.”
Around 2004 Doug decided to hop out of the radio business and continued a private DJ/karaoke business for corporate events, weddings, and other occasions. But in 2016 Whitley’s world came crashing down when both of his parents died only 34 days apart. “It was a game changer,” Whitley admits. “I was devastated. I still had my incredible kids and grandkids. Looking for things to do, I started going to bluegrass jams and various shows at Lorraine’s Coffee House in Garner, North Carolina. Through a good friend, I met my wife [Elise] there. We were married later that year. We like to say there must be something in the coffee.”
Doug lent his voice to emcee work and hosting shows and karaoke at Lorraine’s. “Working with Lorraine Jordan at the Coffee House, a very friendly and family-oriented place, is our home away from home. There’s always something going on at Lorraine’s. We have a lot of big-name artists that play the Coffee House.”
Jordan holds a special place in Doug’s heart for the opportunity she has given him as well as others in the bluegrass world. When the pandemic shutdown the music world, Jordan helped her fellow musicians survive. “She brought in bands without an audience and live streamed them on Facebook. We had a skeleton crew which included the sound people, the band and me. No money was coming in, but she paid the bands, to come.”
Lorraine saw her chance to help again when Annette Grady, owner/operator of The Bluegrass Jamboree internet radio, invited Doug to join the network. Jordan sponsored his new radio show, Hwy 40 Bluegrass. “I-40 runs from Carolina to California. I told Larry Cordle I had named my show Hwy 40 Bluegrass, and he thought that was pretty cool.” Cordle penned the song “Highway 40 Blues,” which went to #1 on the country charts for Ricky Skaggs.
While the seasoned announcer has spent much of his life introducing other artists, he never ventured into the singer side of entertainment because of family obligations. But these days he has the opportunity when he performs on stage with Lorraine’s Legends and at some of her festivals. Whatever role he plays on stage Doug says he just wants to continue to bring joy to other people through music. “You never know what a person is going through when they request a song. A special song may bring comfort to someone when they need it. Knowing it brings a smile and sometimes even a tear, I feel like I have somehow had an impact on that person. Music is powerful. I really enjoy what I do. Making precious memories through sharing music is like faith and family. It’s all priceless.”
