“Woody’s Children,” Bob Sherman’s folk radio program that airs Sunday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. on WFUV in New York, marks its 40th anniversary in January, while “The Session,” an hour-long Celtic music program that Ron Olesko hosted from the studios of WFDU in New Jersey, bowed out Jan. 2 after a nine-year run.
Bob Sherman, 76, created “Woody’s Children” — which takes its name from a phrase coined by Pete Seeger to describe the singer-songwriters following in Woody Guthrie’s footsteps — in 1969, while working as program director for WQXR, New York’s eminent classical music station. Cancelled by WQXR in 199, the show was pickled up by WFUV, based at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, and has aired on Sundays since September of that year.
Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, Tom Chapin and Christine Lavin are among the folk luminaries slated to pay tribute to Bob Sherman and his long-running radio show during Woody’s Children: A 40th Anniversary Celebration and Concert at New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall on Jan. 7. The concert will be dedicated to the late Odetta, a friend of the radio station, who had performed live on the program, like many of the artists who will be performing that evening. The concert will be recorded for broadcast on Sunday, Jan. 31, on WFUV 90.7 FM and online at www.wfuv.org.
“With all these wonderful performers from the show’s early days coming together for this concert, I feel like “Woody’s Children” is coming full circle,” says Sherman. “I’m thrilled, grateful and a little bit astonished that I’m as excited about doing the show as ever,” said the man who has previously self-deprecatingly commented on how the show apparently hit a nerve and was an immediate success “despite my stiffness and weird-sounding voice.”
In addition to his love of folk music, Sherman maintains a strong interest in classical music. He has taught The Business of Music at The Julliard School, served as emcee for classical concerts in New York City, and co-authored two books with musical comedian Victor Borge, as well as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Music.
Celtic Music Program on WFDU-FM Signs Off
Although New York metropolitan area fans of Celtic music can still get their fix on WFUV, Ron Olesko has opted to discontinue “The Session” on WFDU. The radio station, based at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, is altering its schedule to make room for a new series that is being produced by a local hospital.
“The Session,” which debuted in January 1990 as “The Sunday Session” before moving to Friday afternoons in June 2006, showcased Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, Cape Breton and elsewhere. Featured guest artists over the years included Karan Casey, James Keane, Old Blind Dogs, Cathie Ryan and Sharon Shannon, among others.
Olesko acknowledges that the decision to pull the plug on “The Session” was not an easy one. “Since the show premiered in 2000, I have enjoyed the weekly exploration of Celtic music and all of its offshoots. I’ve had fun, learned a lot and enjoyed spending my lunch hour with you on Friday” he wrote in a recent posting on his Folk Music Notebook blog. Olesko plans to devote more time and effort to his website, running and booking the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club in Fair Lawn, NJ, and to “Traditions,” the long-running Sunday afternoon radio program that he co-hosts with Bill Hahn.
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