We spent some time this week with Van Williamson, the fellow with the big-time radio voice and an endless supply of friends, and are pleased to report the following:
The taping of the new and improved RFD was a success, and a good time was had by cast, crew and audience. We can expect to hear the performance again this coming Saturday evening at six o'clock p.m. on WESM Radio, the campus radio station of The University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. It is 91.3 on the FM dial.
Having done well over thirty radio programs here on the Shore, the on-air cast and technical crew perform like a well-oiled machine, albeit a Rube Goldberg one. Putting on the show is a great deal of work, there are stacks of technical drawings, scripts and layouts, segments to time, and conflicts to resolve. Hundreds of hours of work go into the three-hour performance and two-hour taped broadcast.
"It would be nice to do a run." he says, relaxing in his second-floor windowed study filled with books, music, musical instruments, and memorabilia documenting an accomplished and varied creative career. "But that's not the way radio is. We could do a series of shows, though, if we could find a way to make it profitable."
That should not be so difficult. At least, so it seems to our simple understanding of the universe. As Admiral Whatsisname said during the War about Whateveritwas, "Damn the demographics. Full Speed Ahead !" Surely there are many Shore businesses who cater to the large and quite active creative community in our region who would support such a worthy (and always amusing) enterprise.
And, since "a dollar is a dollar, and a dime is a dime," we have no doubt that Mr. Williamson and the RFD company will deliver a pound of entertainment for a penny's investment. Because when you're ridin' with the Snake Boys, you're ridin' with the best.