RENFRO VALLEY, Ky. (TN Tribune) – The 12 foot wide WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour stage sign will be dedicated as part of a special history exhibit set to be unveiled at the Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame on Saturday, April 30 at 1pm ET in Renfro Valley, Kentucky during the 2022 National Gathering of SongFarmers, organized by the WoodSongs Front Porch Association.
The original WoodSongs sign was used through 1000 live audience broadcasts since 1998, when Folksinger Michael Johnathon originally launched the show. Since then, it has been seen in millions of homes across North America on PBS-TV (regionally on KET), nationally on RFD-TV, along with tens of millions more on YouTube videos. More than 60,000 fans have attended the broadcast tapings of WoodSongs at the Lyric Theater in Lexington, Kentucky.
“We were not sure what to do with the old sign,” explained folksinger Michael Johnathon, creator and host of the syndicated broadcast. “We called it ‘Franken-Sign’ because it was repaired so many times. But so much history belonged to it. We did not want to cut it up and sell it … we wanted to find a permanent resting place for it.”
The WoodSongs sign has become a major symbol of Kentucky media history alongside the Renfro Valley Barn Dance and others, and will be on permanent display along with a video presentation of the history of WoodSongs, a tribute to the amazing volunteer crew that made this happen.
Thanks to the kindness of an audience member, WoodSongs has since replaced the original sign with a brand new stage sign.
“The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame exists to preserve and promote the rich musical heritage of Kentucky and its people,” said Emily Bullock of the Kentucky Hall of Fame and Music Museum. “It is only fitting that a Woodsongs display would find its home in our museum with such a meaningful history and contribution to music in Kentucky and across the world.”
