Barn Dance - Radio Adaptations

Radio Adaptations

WLS in Chicago is credited with developing the “barn dance” radio format, which was in large part responsible for the advent of country music in the United States. The National Barn Dance began as a program of old-time fiddling on April 19, 1924, with George D. Hay as the show's host and announcer. A year-and-a-half later, Hay moved to Nashville, Tennessee and brought in an old-time fiddler to launch the WSM Barn Dance; this show is now known as the Grand Ole Opry and remains on the air to this day. Dozens of similar programs cropped up on AM radio stations all across the United States, from New England to Los Angeles, including the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia (1933), the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in Kentucky (1939), the Louisiana Hayride (1948), the Tennessee Jamboree (1953) and Ozark Jubilee (1954). Television adaptations (often under the guise of early variety shows) were popular in the 1950s and early 1960s but eventually faded out of style.