Carolina Barn Dance
Media / Broadcast
The Carolina Barn Dance (1949–1954) was an American country music radio program broadcast from the Carolina Theatre on Lower Street in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Theatre operators O.D. "Cal" Calhoun and J. Myron Houston started it from talent nights at the theatre, where Calhoun chose many of the acts who later appeared on the show. Calhoun also hosted. The program aired locally on WBRM in Marion. From September 1949 until November 1954 it was carried nationally by the Liberty Broadcasting System of Dallas, which received the Friday-evening show by telephone line and distributed it to more than 500 stations. Regular performers included Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman, Fiddlin' Red Wilson, the Buchanan Brothers, the Burleson Sisters, the Briarhoppers, Claude Casey, Whitey and Hogan, and Betty and Buck. Guest stars included Bill Monroe, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Hank Snow, Sonny James, Chet Atkins, Stringbean and the Stanley Brothers. The program ended after the Liberty network went out of business in 1954. The Carolina Theatre Preservation Association was founded in 2004 to restore the building.
In the newsletter
- No. 18 Winter 1999