We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Big Al Weekley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Big Al, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Music made a huge impact on me at an early age. My Dad and my brother played old time music and played a variety of stringed instruments. I would often sit and listen at them. My Mom showed me three chords on the guitar, and I started sitting in with them as I learned. As a family, we would often sing songs together from a hymnal. I continued to learn chords and sing different vocal parts. When I was 13, my brother John, left his guitar for me so I could learn more about it. I would sit in the bedroom after school and play along with Hank Williams records. Even though I can’t read music, I can play the guitar.
When I was 12 years old, my grandmother brought me a transistor radio. I fell asleep each night listening to that radio. I remember thinking about all the people who were listening to that DJ and wondering what they were doing. Every Sunday after church we regularly went to my grandma’s house to eat dinner. I remember on one particular Sunday; she had bought a brand-new stereo. It had an FM dial and I had never seen one of those in West Virginia. It was something new. As I turned that FM dial, I happened upon a man named Bill Monroe singing bluegrass music. That moment in time I feel was the beginning of my journey down a creative/artistic path. I didn’t know it at that time, but the very radio station on which I was listening to Bill Monroe on that particular day would be the very same radio station where I would start my broadcasting career some 11 years later.
In moving forward those eleven years, we were asked by WOUB-FM to play a show on the radio station at Ohio University. After completing the show, I talked to the communications director. As we talked, I was watching the DJ spin records. My comment to the communications director was, “that looks like fun.” The Director said, “it is”. Then he asked, “Do you have any radio experience?” I said, “yeah, I just talked and sang on the radio for an hour.” We both laughed. He said, “Be here next Sunday I am going to train you to be a DJ.” I showed up the following Sunday and started a career which has now spanned almost four decades.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” For the last three decades, 36 years to be exact, my life has been enriched as a result of my contributions and service to Bluegrass, Classic Country and Gospel music both on a national and international level as a radio broadcaster. Radio, I feel, is the theatre of the mind. Each person will have their own experience with the music. I am a common man with deep feelings who has been rewarded with the opportunity to paint the picture for my listeners. As a result, I have established professional relationships, acquired many valued friends and formed a special connection with people.
As a Broadcaster with many years of experience, I have always strived to present both an entertaining and professional program and present music the way I think it should be. The way I think it should be is a result of a lifetime of education and experience which I have gained “learning by doing.” When I go into the studio to host a program, I leave the problems outside the door. Thusly, creating a positive experience at all times for the listener. I consider an interview a cold word, I call it a conversation for both me, the artist and the listening audience.
Currently, I have two live programs and a syndicated program. The syndicated program is three hours long and is called, “The Big Al & Sandy Show”. This program provides news on the Bluegrass Industry, Up-to-date music which is being released and Conversations with Artists. This program currently airs on Country Music News International Magazine & Radio in Germany, UK and the US. It also airs on the Bluegrass Jamboree.com and 92.1 FM WDIC in Clintwood, Virginia. One of the live shows is called “Overdrive’s Music to Truck By”, a three-hour show dedicated to the truck driver, the men and women behind the wheel It airs on The Bluegrass Jamboree.com and WDIC. Then the Big Al & Sandy Show Live on WDIC-FM. This is me and my wife where we let our hair down and have a cup of coffee with everyone on air.
During my career I have been honored with a variety of nominations and awards and I am proud of those accomplishments which include International Bluegrass Special Award Nomination for Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year (2003,2014 and 2021); Induction to the Nebraska Country Music Hall of Fame (2013); Miles of Memories Country Music Festival, Hastings, NE. Recognition Award for Promotion of Local and Regional Artists (2013); Branson Gospel Singer Songwriter Association Honorary and Lifetime Membership Award (2009); Nebraska Navy Admiral Certificate Award, received from the Governor of Nebraska for the promotion of the state (2006); Performed with Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires in Holdrege, NE and also with James King Band (2006); Nebraska Veteran of Foreign Wars Memorial highway 83 Award (Veterans honor award for recognition of Veterans and Gold Star Families) (2006); and KNOP-TV Hometown hero Award, North Platte, NE (2004).
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The pandemic of 2020 brought difficult times and uncharted waters for many. Bluegrass artists were unable to travel, earn their wages and share their craft. Venues were locked and empty with the lights turned out. The radio station, WMMT, where I worked wouldn’t even let the DJ’s come in to do their programs. I found physical distancing from the things I enjoy and the people to be somewhat devastating. Even though I too suffered with the COVID virus, I started looking for an alternative with a positive outcome.
The first thing I did was to build a professional broadcast studio in my home. Then I contacted WMMT and “the Big Al & Sandy Show”, the program I do with my wife, was back on the air with a 4-hour bluegrass show. I also offered the show to TheBluegrassJamboree.com and they eagerly accepted. I thought of stories my parents told me of a time when they would gather around the radio for entertainment. I remember thinking, “It’s time for that again.: The more I thought about it the more I recognized a win-win opportunity. Not just for me, but for the listeners, the artists, and the bluegrass music.
I contacted Melanie Wilson, publicist for some of the artists, and said, “We need to get these bluegrass artists on the air and let the listeners know everything’s alright.” With Melanie’s help we gave the artists she represents and many more the platform to visit with listeners, share information on how to purchase their music and let them gain some bluegrass music history. Overall, the listeners knew bluegrass music is alive and well. In addition to the music, one or two interviews with the bluegrass artists and songwriters was featured nearly every week for over a year.
When the momentum gets going, it is not time to slow down. I realized it was time to expand and offer bluegrass music to a larger audience. Being a truck driver for 44 years, my job and the job of other truckers is to keep the country supplied with everything. This became even more important during the pandemic. My thought about this, they need entertainment too. I contacted the largest magazine in the trucking industry, Overdrive. Overdrive Magazine, which was celebrating 60 years of trucking that particular year, was the voice of the American trucking industry with over 400,000 subscribers and over 400,000 face book followers. I proposed to Overdrive management a radio show for tuckers which would include bluegrass music. They were enthusiastic. I then contacted Annette Grady with TheBluegrassJamboree.com and arranged a two-hour time slot for the program. The initial agreement between all involved was a two-hour pilot show to see if the program would gain momentum. It did! At the conclusion of the second program aired, the number quadrupled. At the conclusion of the fourth pilot show, we all agreed to make the program permanent. The two-hour show airs each Friday and is called “Overdrive’s Music to Truck By.” It offers listeners new and classic trucking songs, interviews, truck news, and Bluegrass Music. It is also rewarding to see the word Bluegrass, TheBluegrassJamboree.com, and Bluegrass Artists featured on the cover page of the largest and most prestigious trucking industry magazine. This show is also offered on demand via podcast after it airs on TheBluegrassJamboree.com.
In addition to furthering bluegrass music, I also had the opportunity to work on several TV shows featuring interviews with Bluegrass artist on ARC TV located in Norton, Virginia. Their potential Viewing audience is three million.
In conclusion, I sailed through the uncharted waters of the pandemic and found the positive outcome for which I was looking.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
As I said earlier, “Radio is a theatre of the mind, you have to the paint the picture.” I have enriched my life painting many pictures in new radio ventures both nationally and internationally.” I have been a lifelong learner who loves people and wants to share with others the experiences I have learned by making mistakes, but yet finding solutions and not giving up. Mistakes are almost as important as getting it right. When at your lowest point in life, one needs to realize it doesn’t last forever. Only death is forever. So, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue on the journey. I have had a creative journey, but that journey is ongoing. The Lord has blessed me even though I have had many detours in my life. However, the greatest part is yet to come for I am not done yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bigalweekley.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBigAlBluegrassShow/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/big-al-weekley-43060445/