Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Keepin it Western!‏

Ralph Hampton and Tamara Boatright were awarded the "Radio Station of the Year" award from the Western Music Association. The award was announced at the annual Awards Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 21. Hampton and Boatright were on hand to accept the award. The Western Music Association is comprised of fans, western music artists and djs. The awards are nominated and granted based on the voting membership.

Hampton and Boatright started the Ralph's Backporch show, 2 years ago from their home office in San Augustine TX. Using an internet website, they broadcast western music, cowboy poetry and interviews to a global audience over the internet three times a week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings they can be found sitting at their desks with headphones, talking and joking it up for a growing western music audience.

"Western Music is on the rise, Ralph's Backporch is at the fore front of making that happen" said Paul Harris, western music performer and member of the Western Music Association. "They do things their own way, not following the lines of traditional radio, their show not only showcases the music and poetry of the western artists, it brings the artists to the audience, through live interviews, and special live performances."

Hampton defines the music that they play as "anything a cowboy will play, sing or dance too" giving the show a range of music on any given night. Often you will hear rodeo rock, a buckle polishing tune followed up by a thoughtful cowboy poem. Western music and poetry gained popularity during the 1930s and 40's with singing cowboys like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Bands such as the Sons of the Pioneers were touring the country capturing the imagination and hearts of children longing to be cowboys. That generation is now grown, but remembers those days, the cowboy code and the romance of the cowboy. Hampton credits part of the success of the show to the fact that as life gets more complicated, people want to go back to the simpler, cowboy way. The classic and modern western tunes of horses, open spaces and family values touches all of us wether were sitting at a desk on wall street or the computer in the living room of the ranch in wyoming.

The show registers thousands of listeners each month, many of them live while on air, more in the archived version of the shows. One of the small town aspects of the show includes a "chat room" where regular listeners congregate. Everyday people such as Slim McNaught of New Underwood South Dakota and locals such as Kathy Brittian of Shelby County listen, fellowship and add color and character to the show as Boatright and Hampton feed off of the comments. The live audience becomes part of the show.

Others credit their success to the music that they play and their relaxed interviews. It balances the classic western and western swing with the up and coming cowboy singers of today who often break the "traditional" rules. Western music encompasses a broad spectrum of influences and styles and the show blends those seamlessly at times, other times contrasting them to show its diversity. The interviews, always live, are relaxed and give listeners a glimpse into the lives of people who are as diverse as the music itself. Ralph often tells a guest, "sit back and relax, were just visiting here on the backporch." Whether its talking about horses bloodlines with someone like Michael Martin Murphy to the struggles of a relatively unknown New Mexico artist, Ralph's Backporch is allowing a growing international audience to get a glimpse into the lives and minds of those creating the music that they love.

Along with a world-wide listening audience you can log on to your home computer and tune in to Ralph's Back Porch each Monday, Wednesday and Friday night, 7 until 9 pm cst at www.blogtalkradio.com/ralphsbackporch Ralph and Tamara invite you all to tune in for some good old Western fun!

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