[454] ‘MTSU On the Record’ fiddles around with co-author of John Hartford book

MURFREESBORO — The publication of previously unrecorded tunes by the late John Hartford is the topic of the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Greg Reish, director of MTSU’s Center for Popular Music, will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, May 27, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Reish, a music history professor and accomplished musician, wrote the text for “John Hartford’s Mammoth Collection of Fiddle Tunes” with former John Hartford String Band member Matt Combs and Hartford’s daughter, Katie Hartford Hogue.

The collection of 176 original fiddle tunes was culled down from more than 1,000 numbers that Hartford had written in more than 60 music journals he had squirreled away in boxes before his 2001 passing from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Hartford is best known as the composer of the Glen Campbell hit “Gentle on My Mind” and for his late ‘60s and early ‘70s television appearances on “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” and “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”  

However, Reish said, his blend of traditional folk and bluegrass music with contemporary twists continues to influence musicians of various genres.

“There’s always something distinctive and original in John’s music, and that’s true of his instrumental tunes as much as it is of the songs with words,” Reish said. “His influence seems to be as big as it ever was.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.