One of the very first things I heard on Ray Edlund’s show, “Pig in a Pen,” was a field recording of E.C. and Orna Ball playing “Jenny Jenkins” and “Pretty Polly” in 1937. They were made for the Library of Congress by musicologist John Lomax. Quite an introduction.
In the coming months, I would listen to Ray on KPFA 94.1 FM as he played the Dixon Brothers, the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, the Bailes Brothers, Fiddlin’ John Carson; or more “recent” acts such as Charlie Moore, the Country Gentleman, and the Kentucky Colonels. And of course hundreds of other artists playing traditional American music.
I was hooked. I had heard some mainstream bluegrass, but this was incredible. For more than forty years, Ray’s voice has been a beacon of bluegrass and old time music in Northern California. I think of the influence his show has had on me, and I can only wonder how many others have been similarly “turned on.”
After about a year, I began to record “Pig in a Pen” on a regular basis. Every other week, I had to schedule my Sunday to be sure that by 3 pm, I was home and ready to pop a blank tape in the deck. It was only for personal use at home, of course. I remember the first time we bumped into Ray at the Grass Valley Father’s Day Festival. It was just in passing, but I mentioned how much I enjoyed his show. I hesitated slightly, and then told him that I was taping it each time. He didn’t seem to mind.
For me, Ray’s show has been a building block of an ongoing education. I wanted to learn as much as possible about this incredible music that was still somewhat new to me. And creating what would eventually become my own “KPFA archive” was part of that process. Eventually my collection of tapes grew to nearly 150. These days, I only record the show occasionally, thanks in part to the fact they are now archived (but only for two weeks) on kpfa.org. I’ve also started to transfer my dusty tapes to digital format.
A few years down the road, I started seeing Ray more and more at festival campouts and Sonoma County jams. It turns out we had a few friends in common. As we became closer friends over the years, Ray and I have had many conversations about this great music. I told him about my dream to someday host my own show. He told me about his personal collection (can you imagine!) at his home on the north Sonoma coast. I’ve heard from others about his legendary storage shed “out back” where he stores much of his music. When I do see it for myself, it will be the candy store and I will be the kid.
Just a few years ago, in December 2012, it was a dream come true when Ray (at the encouragement of our mutual friend and fiddler Linda) invited me to the KPFA studios to co-host the show with him. Pinch me as hard as you can for I do believe I’m dreaming! I worked on the selection of music for at least three weeks, re-arranging the order many times. When that Sunday finally rolled around, I took BART over to Berkeley. I was so anxious and kept thinking to myself: Will Ray like the show? Will the regular listeners listen? Ray put me at ease right away, saying something like: “Hey relax, it’s just you and me hanging out and talking about some great old records.” It helped that his beloved pooch Shady Grove was there with us. To sit across the console and watch Ray work his magic was both thrilling and—knowing there was a microphone in front of my face—nerve-wracking. I’ve co-hosted with Ray three times now, and we have plans for our next installment later this year.
I think one reason so many of us love “Pig in a Pen” is that it’s grounded in traditional bluegrass music. Fans of that driving old time music tune in, as this is one of Ray’s passions. Yet you will also hear some of the newest, young talent in the bluegrass world (artists from all around this world mail CDs to Ray). But the program most always comes back to the traditional music of the 1940s and ’50s we love so much. And Ray is not just spinning discs, he is also spinning tales. He is a great storyteller. His stories and his sense of humor add so much to his program.
I’ll wrap up now, but really I just thought it was time we all gave Ray some love, and thanked him for bringing such great music to all of us lo these many years.
