|
| |
-
KANSAS COUNTRY
MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM
Martina Mariea Schiff McBride was born in Medicine
Lodge, Kansas, in 1966. She was raised in nearby Sharon, Kansas, a
small town that consisted of about 200 people. Her father, who was
a farmer and cabinetry shop owner, exposed McBride to country music at a
young age. Listening to country music helped her acquire a love
for singing. To read more about Martina, go to her website.
-
-
JOHNNY WESTERN - 2007
Johnny Western's career reads like A-Autry, B-Boone and C-Cash. Johnny
started his career as an actor. He has appeared in 37 features and western
TV series. "Have Gun Will Travel," Johnny wrote and sang the theme song,
"The Ballad of Paladin." he wrote the song as a musical thank you card to star,
Richard Boone. His many years in radio was spent (still currently) in
Wichita, KS. His bio reads in length, please go to his website and read
all about his life in acting, music and radio.
Although her voice has been heard for more than 32 years on KTPK-
FM, Marlena Adkison says she made history on another Topeka radio
station. It was in the late 1970s when the now-defunct KSWT-FM was
playing an all-instrumental, easy-listening format. In other words,
elevator music. "They would not allow any female-voiced
commercials. They wanted all male-voiced commercials," recalled the
midday DJ and production director of Country Legends 106.9. KTPK
had produced for Ray Christian Jewelers, a then-downtown Topeka
merchant, a commercial with Adkison as the vocal talent. Christian
took the spot to KSWT, but the station refused to accept it -- at first.
"Ray said, 'Well, I'm not going to advertise on you if you won't play my
commercial,' " Adkison said. Business being business then and now,
KSWT chose money over policy and aired the commercial, making Adkison's
the first female voice heard on the station.
However, it is on KTPK, Topeka's first country music-format FM
radio station, that listeners have heard Adkison since April 1976 when
she joined the staff while still a senior at Kansas State University.
"They needed a part-time gal on the weekends, and I needed to get my
foot in the door," Adkison said. She was made full-time after
graduation. Since then, Adkison has done just about everything one can
do at a radio station at KTPK and earned awards and honors for her
efforts.
-
-
LITTLE JIMMY DICKENS - 2008
Although Little Jimmy Dickens was unable to attend his induction October
2008, Bill & Brenda Harris presented him his "Kansas Country Music Hall
of Fame" plaque in Nashville, TN July 28, 2009. His Kansas
link was in 1946, he moved to WIBW Topeka, KS, performed and was on the
staff at WIBW.
Little Jimmy Dickens is the master of the country novelty song, as
well as a renowned ballad singer. He also known for his diminutive
stature -- he's less than five feet tall -- and his affection for
flamboyant, rhinestone-studded outfits and country humor. Although he
never had a consistent presence on the charts, he managed to have hits
in every decade between the 1940s and the 1970s, and he became one of
the Grand Ole Opry's most popular performers. To see his entire
bio, please go to his website.
DON WILLIS - 2009
-
- Willis, who grew up in Kansas City, Kan., started his
broadcasting career in 1956 after completing his studies at the
Central Technical Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and passing the exam
for his FCC-issued, first-class radiotelephone operator license.
After nine months at KAWL in York, Neb., he joined
the staff of KCKN in Kansas City, Kan., where he did a
midnight to 5 a.m. show until 1958, when he moved to
Ottawa as chief engineer and country DJ for KOFO-AM. In
1962, he helped launch KOFO-FM, the first FM station in
Kansas. You can see more info pulling up info on
the internet for "Don Willis"."Over my career,
I have interviewed more than a hundred country music
stars, including Roy Rogers and Dale Evans twice,"
Willis said.
"Most of the people I've interviewed are now
dead," he added, citing Eddy Arnold, Buck Owens, Roger
Miller and Tammy Wynette as examples. "Yeah, I've had
quite a career over the 48 years."
|
|
.
|
|
