''The Folk Sampler'' was a nationally syndicated show, produced and hosted by Mike Flynn, that showcased

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

both modern and old.

History

Originating as a 15-minute program at WMBI in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

by host Mike Flynn, it only aired for 13 episodes. After taking a job in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, Flynn began broadcasting another early version of ''The Folk Sampler'', from first KBEZ then at KRAV. This incarnation ended following Flynn's graduation. After moving to

Siloam Springs, Arkansas Siloam Springs is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County, Arkansas, United States, and located on the western edge of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan area, Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Unite ...

, he began broadcasting the now hour-long program in 1978. In 1982 the program became syndicated initially through

American Public Radio Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmin ...

then through

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Each week's show has a theme which all songs featured fit into either by release date or actual song theme. It is reported that he spends 15–20 hours a week preparing each show.

Host

Flynn grew up in sparsely populated rural

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. He studied broadcasting at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and worked on stations KRAV and KBEZ, with a period working in

on WMBI. He then worked as a

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

and weatherman on

KOTV KOTV-DT (channel 6) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Griffin Media alongside Muskogee, Oklahoma, Muskogee-licensed The CW, CW affiliate KQCW-DT (channel 19) and radio stations KOTV ...

Channel 6 in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. He moved to

John Brown University John Brown University (JBU) is a private interdenominational Christian university in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Founded in 1919, JBU enrolls 2,343 students from 33 states and 45 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online, and c ...

to teach communications, retiring as head of department in 1999. In 1977 he and his wife, Sandy Flynn, moved to

bordering the Arkansas Ozarks, starting ''The Folk Sampler'', with his wife as co-producer. In 1993, Sandy died; although Mike had threatened to quit doing music if she died before him, she had been able to convince him that carrying on the folk music tradition would be just what he needed. He continues to carry the tradition with each week's broadcast. In the broadcast of April 21, 2018, Flynn announced that he will be retiring and that ''The Folk Sampler'' will be ceasing production with episodes airing through June. Repeats still air on some public radio stations that carried the show first-run.

References

External links

American music radio programs Folk music mass media NPR programs 1978 radio programme debuts 2018 radio programme endings {{US-radio-show-stub