WYSO

Licensed to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, WYSO-FM went on the air in 1958. As early as 1973, the station was programming bluegrass and old-time country music with shows such as Live Music Crawling Out Of Your Radio and Traditional Country Music, followed in 1974 by the WYSO Country Jamboree. Other shows which have featured bluegrass over the years include Walkin’ In the Parlor, Rise When the Rooster Crows, Saturday Night Request Show, Faded Love, The Country Music College of the Air, Bluegrass Breakdown, and Bluegrass Countdown. All of these shows were staffed by volunteers who provided a wide and varied music selection and opinion about bluegrass music. From 2002-2008, Banks of the Ohio, a weekly web/broadcast/satellite program dealing with the history of bluegrass music, originated at WYSO; conceived and hosted by long-time broadcast personality and bluegrass authority Fred Bartenstein, it was a production of the International Bluegrass Music Museum. In 2016, WYSO’s bluegrass-related programs included Down Home Bluegrass, Rise When the Rooster Crows (Sunday morning gospel), and Country Ramble. An interesting sidelight is that WYSO station manager in 2016 is Neenah Ellis, daughter of “Uncle” Len Ellis, longtime country DJ and member of the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame and one of the founders of the Country Music Association, holding membership card #1.