''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 music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

both modern and old.

History

Originating as a 15-minute program at WMBI in

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

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, Flynn began broadcasting another early version of ''The Folk Sampler'', from first

KBEZ KBEZ (92.9 Megahertz, MHz, "92.9 The Drive") is a commercial FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It is owned by Griffin Communications and airs a classic hits radio format. Its studios are located in Downtown Tulsa ...

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, United States. The city shares a border on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line with the city of West Siloam Springs, Oklahoma, which is within the Cherokee Nation territory. The town was founded i ...

, 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. 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 state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. He studied broadcasting at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and worked on stations KRAV and

, with a period working in

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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 Channel 6 in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. He moved to

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

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 {{US-radio-show-stub 1978 radio programme debuts 2018 radio programme endings