Barnes Newberry Returns on WMVY: Cue Rejoicing!

Peru, Vermont: Music Makers at Peru Fair 9/2010

             Until the show ended abruptly in early 2010, I listened regularly to Barnes Newberry’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ on WUMB in Boston.  I have mourned its loss. 

           But today from NorthEastFolknRoots comes great news: Barnes Newberry has returned!  With a celebration of Dylan’s 70th!

           He is now on a 13-week trial run at WMVY on Martha’s Vineyard on Saturdays at 8 a.m. (Eastern), and his shows, ‘My Back Pages’, are available on demand.

           I know a lot of people who know the North American and British folk/folk rock end of music from the 60s and 70s.  I know a few people who’ve tracked covers of that music across the intervening decades.  But I know no one who combines the two and can put them into fascinating play lists with just the right amount of intelligent commentary.

           Except Barnes Newberry.

            ‘Highway 61′ ran Saturday mornings for four hours.  Saturdays being Saturdays, I could rarely listen to a whole show.  So, I recorded them for long drives and winter evenings.  A delightful companion, Mr. Newberry.  I treasure my library of ‘Highway 61s’.

           In fact, as a presenter he has had few equals in my listening.  Dave Palmater’s ‘Folk Tracks’ formerly on WMBR in Cambridge and Rich Warren’s ‘The Midnight Special’ on WFMT in Chicago are the only names on that peerage.  (Warren’s national show, available on WUMB, is very good, but I prefer the longer, more local Chicago version.)

           NorthEastFolknRoots reports that WMVY wants a demonstration of support for Barnes’s new ‘My Back Pages’: 25 pledges of $100 will keep him on the air for a year.  I made mine before listening to the first show.  Give Barnes a listen, and then make yours.

           Welcome back, Barnes!