[155] ‘MTSU On the Record’ transitions from piano keys to acetate discs

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A company that recorded some of the most vital sounds of American music is the focus of the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Charlie Dahan, a professor of recording industry, will air from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, on WMOT-FM/Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Dahan is co-author with Linda Gennett Irmscher of “Gennett Records and Starr Piano,” the story of a Richmond, Indiana-based piano manufacturer that expanded into the production of phonograph records in the early 20^th century.

It was through the Gennett label that the music of underrepresented groups in society became more readily available to the masses. This included jazz, blues and country music. Artists who recorded for Gennett included Jelly Roll Morton, Uncle Dave Macon, Louis Armstrong and Gene Autry.

“They had really the only recording studio in the Midwest,” said Dahan. “So they had this sort of vacuum where they were really the ones who could consistently record and were sort of in the right place at the right time to sort of hit upon that hot jazz sound of the 1920s.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.