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“Everybody is healthy in the family, the band and with the radio network,” Mullins said. “The station only has 10 employees total, between full-time and part-time, and we’re not all in the building at the same time. We’re being practical so we can stay on the air seven days a week no matter what.”
WBZI Real Roots Radio, broadcasting locally at 100.3-FM and 1500 AM, launched a podcast after the lockdown.
“We’re feeding in new content almost every day,” Mullins said. “The music programming isn’t set up for the podcast but we have important information and fun things connected to entertainment. We do so many exclusive features, whether it’s daily or weekly features connected to community activities and high profile interviews for the music world.”
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One casualty of the shutdown was the spring edition of Mullins’ twice-yearly Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival, originally scheduled for March 27 and 28.
“Postponing the festival was very painful,” Mullins said. “As things unfold … we may have to cancel. The verdict is out on that for now. Since it’s an indoor event, it might be harder to facilitate and harder for folks to maintain social distancing and be comfortable.”
Business shutdowns forced a temporary hiatus for Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, which has won eight awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association, including Entertainer of the Year in 2019.
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“The band lost 18 or 19 scheduled performances, near and far,” Mullins said. “We’ve lost dates throughout the U.S., from Florida to Pennsylvania, from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Danville, Indiana. Dates are still up for mid-June on and about half the shows taken off the current calendar have been rescheduled. We have to wait and see.”
The band also postponed recording studio dates for the follow-up to its 2019 album, “On the Record.”
“We record at a couple of different studios in Nashville and eastern Kentucky but everything is shutdown,” Mullins said. “And the band has two Ohioans, two Kentuckians and one in Tennessee, so coming together with a couple engineers would be totally irresponsible and not recommended for us. It’s a really tough spot for the Radio Ramblers — but we’ll survive.”
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Artist info: www.radioramblers.com
More info: realrootsradio.com
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