When John Lair left WLS in Chicago to start the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, he had the performers, the sponsor, and a contract with WLW in Cincinnati to broadcast the show, but no barn. Before land was acquired for a performance barn and other buildings to be constructed at Renfro Valley, Kentucky, the show was broadcast from Music Hall in Cincinnati from October 1937 until late 1938. It was then moved to Memorial Hall in Dayton, where it remained until November 4, 1939, when it finally was broadcast from the barn at Renfro Valley. Early artists in Cincinnati and Dayton included Red Foley, the Duke of Paducah (Whitey Ford), Lily May Ledford and the Coon Creek Girls, fiddler and comedian Slim Miller, Millie and Dolly Good, the Callahan Brothers, and others. Years later, when Paul Braden founded WPFB in Middletown, he hired Renfro Valley artist Smokey Ward, who raided the talent at Renfro Valley, bringing along with him Little Eller, Shorty Hobbs, Old Joe Clark, and Fairley Holden.
Renfro Valley Barn Dance