Tom Ball
Business & Community Development Specialist / Host of HomespunContact Tom Ball:
📧 ball1t@cmich.edu 📞 989-774-3105
Tom Ball is the host of 'Homespun' on WCMU, and is also a Business & Community Development Specialist for the station. He is responsible for securing program sponsorships for both WCMU Public Radio and WCMU Public Television.
Tom has been married for nearly 20 years to his lovely and talented wife Diana. They have one cat, and a yard full of beautiful flowers (no thanks to him!). Tom has been associated with WCMU for over 35 years, doing everything from fundraising, to filling in for vacationing staff members, to even taking out the trash!
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...On Homespun this week, we tip our caps to recent International Bluegrass Music Association inductee Barry Poss. He was Sugar Hill Records label head for 10 years and put out numerous traditional music records by Hot Rize, The Duhks, Guy Clark and many many others. -
…No spookiness taking place on this week’s episode of Homespun; just good folk music to you in the Halloween mood! Billy Strings, The Steeldrivers, Mike Seeger, Chris Smither and other goblins should scare you to snap your fingers and tap your toes!
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…Homespun this week covers some early recordings of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrrard, Al Jones and Frank Necessary, plus the legendary Skaggs & Rice. We’ll also hear the Irish tin whistle of Mary Bergin and the songs of Dick Gaughan!
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…On the next edition of Homespun, we’ll catch some new sounds from Kenny & Amanda Smith, Darcy Wilkin, and a recording from Rodney Crowell that sat on the shelf for 10 years! We’ll also go Honky Tonkin’ with Webb Pierce , Carl Smith , Lefty Frizell, and the Possum himself, George Jones!
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…Homespun this week gives us new music from Wood Box Heroes in tribute to the Delmore Brothers, and a hot new Instrumental from fiddler Andy Leftwich. We’ll also go down south with Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith, and up north to British Columbia, Canada with Pharis & Jason Romero!
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As the days get shorter and leaves begin to fall, we sample the new sounds of Daryl Mosley, The Grascals, plus Kenny & Amanda Smith on Homespun this week! We also get the blues with Son House and Paul Butterfield, and hear the story of Elvis Presley’s Blues from Gillian Welch & David Rawlings.
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…Homespun this week gives us new music from fiddler Andy Lewftwich and North Carolina’s Unspoken Tradition. We swing just a bit with The Tobacco Tags, Ann Savoy, and Don Stiernberg, and we celebrate the 10th Anniversary release of the album “Undercurrent” by Sarah Jarosz!
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This edition on Homespun finds us with our fundraising hat on! If you can, please make a donation at 800-999-5656 or online at WCMU.ORG! Thank you!
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…Homespun this week celebrates the life of singer, songwriter, actress, entertainer Dolly Parton . We’ll spin tracks from Dolly as well as others who recorded her songs: The Lynn Morris Band, Linda Ronstadt, Mindy Smith , The Trio, and much more.
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…This week on Homespun we bid a melancholy happy trail to singer, songwriter, guitarist Pat Enright who passed away recently. We’ll celebrate his music with the Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Dreadful Snakes, and Tasty Licks. We’ll also look back at Shawn Colvin and Levon Helm’s debut albums.
