Part Four – The Music and the Laughter
One of the best parts of the Radio Show is always the live musical acts. Since the beginning, the Radio Show has featured regional artists. If you have a variety program, you’ve got to have music. In our thirteen years, we’ve had Momma Molasses, Virginia West, George Bailey and Jukebox Jess, Aaron Jaxson, and of course local favorites the Jonesborough Novelty Band. We’ve had everything from country, bluegrass, gospel, rock and roll, blues, showtunes, jazz, and more. You name a musical style; we’ve probably had it in some form or fashion.
The Radio Show is also a great venue for high school acts. Every season we bring the Madrigal Singers from David Crockett High School to the stage. This season we also had Portail du Son made up of musicians from Dobyns Bennett High School. If there are any other high school musical acts looking for a fun venue to play at, the StoryTown Radio Show is the perfect place. The Madrigal Singers will be with us in September, and we’re excited to have the Golden Heirs Community Choir joining us in October.
This month, for the July 22nd show, we have the Jimmie D. Band. Word has it they brought the house down when they played their rock and blues for the Radio Show in 2023. You won’t want to miss their performance.
In addition to musical acts, the StoryTown Radio Show features an original theme song written by Heather McCluskey. Her son Brett McCluskey provides background music throughout the show, just like they did on the radio shows of the 1930s and 1940s. He helps to set the tone with public domain songs and lots of original compositions. We are forever thankful to Brett and his ability to set the scene for the audience with just a couple notes. He’s also there for the musical sound effects, usually a rimshot to accompany the perfect bad joke.
“It was so dry.
How dry was it?
It was so dry that baptizing was a challenge that year, the Baptists started sprinkling and the Methodists used a damp wash cloth!” (Joke courtesy of Guerry McConnell)
That’s another thing that’s so great about the Radio Show, the humor. There’s lots of heart in the show, too, but people also like to laugh, and sometimes we need to laugh. The July show is all about embracing our mistakes and learning to laugh about them. It’s called “Epic Summer Fails” and is full of stories about what goes wrong, even when you’ve planned and planned and then planned some more. The StoryTown Radio Show is a great place to forget about your troubles for a moment and just have a good time.
Get your tickets for the July 22nd show now at Jonesborough.com/tickets or by phone at 423.753.1010.